COLLEGE FB PACKAGE: Buckeyes, Bulls face trick first tests as new Nos. 1 and 2

NCAA Football Betting Lines

10/17/2007 -

It had been 11 years since Nos. 1 and 2 lost on the same day before LSU and California pulled the trick last week.

In this unpredictable college football season, would it be all that surprising to see the top two teams in the AP poll and the BCS standings go down in the same weekend again?

Top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 South Florida both face unranked opponents. But 10 teams with top-10 rankings have already lost to unranked opponents, so what's a couple more?

The Buckeyes' (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) first game this season as No. 1 will be at home against Michigan State and former Ohio State defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio, who in his first season as head coach has the Spartans (5-2, 1-2) well positioned for their first winning season since 2003.

Dantonio has the Spartans getting after the quarterback, they're second in the nation in sacks with 29, and running the ball well (243 yards per game).

Ohio State's rise from No. 11 to start the season includes only one victory over a team that's been ranked at any point this season.

South Florida, the feel-good story out of the Big East, faces last year's feel-good story out of the Big East. The Bulls (6-0, 1-0) visit Rutgers on Thursday night.

The Scarlet Knights (4-2, 1-1), who started the season 16th in the rankings, broke a two-game losing streak with a win over Syracuse last week. Another conference loss would put Rutgers' league title hopes in peril.

The picks:ThursdayNo. 2 South Florida (minus 2 1/2) at Rutgers

Scarlet Knights stopped late 2-point conversion to beat Bulls last season ... USF 24-23.Saturday's GamesMichigan State (plus 17) at No. 1 Ohio State

Buckeyes have won 10 of 12 against Spartans ... OHIO STATE 28-10.No. 4 Oklahoma (minus 29) at Iowa State

Cyclones have worst offense in Big 12 ... OKLAHOMA 48-14.No. 18 Auburn (plus 11) at No. 5 LSU

Auburn won last season's Tiger Fight 7-3 ... LSU 21-13.Vanderbilt (plus 13) at No. 6 South Carolina

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier has never lost to Vandy ... SOUTH CAROLINA 34-17.No. 7 Oregon (minus 11) at Washington

The 100th meeting between Ducks and Huskies ... OREGON 35-21.No. 14 Florida (minus 7) at No. 8 Kentucky

Gators have won 20 straight against Wildcats ... FLORIDA 34-28.Mississippi State (plus 23 1/2) at No. 9 West Virginia

Mountaineers won first meeting 42-14 last season in Starkville ... WEST VIRGINIA 41-17.No. 10 California (no line) at UCLA

Status of Cal QB Nate Longshore (ankle) questionable ... UCLA 28-24.No. 13 Southern California (minus 18) at Notre Dame

USC has won five straight vs. ND, though last trip to South Bend needed Bush Push to win ... USC 34-14.No. 15 Kansas (minus 4) at Colorado

KU QB Todd Reesing debuted vs. Buffs last season with three TDs ... KANSAS 29-17.No. 22 Texas Tech (plus 3 1/2) at No. 15 Missouri

Red Raiders are No. 1 passing team in nation; Tigers are fifth ... MISSOURI 54-43.No. 19 Texas (minus 24 1/2) at Baylor

Longhorns have scored 125 points in last two seasons against Bears ... TEXAS 50-17.No. 20 Tennessee (plus 1) at Alabama

Volunteers have won 10 of 12 in rivalry ... ALABAMA 31-28.No. 23 Cincinnati (plus 9 1/2) at Pittsburgh

How bad has it gotten for Panthers? Their coach is injured ... CINCINNATI 33-21.No. 24 Michigan (minus 2 1/2) at Illinois

Wolverines are 38-4-2 against Illini since 1959 ... ILLINOIS 28-24.No. 25 Kansas State (plus 3) at Oklahoma State

Cowboys have run for more than 200 yards in six straight games ... KANSAS STATE 34-30.

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Last week's record: 15-6 (straight); 13-7-1 (vs. points)

Season: 123-25 (straight); 67-62-2 (vs. points)Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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