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09/08/2010 -
JoePa visits the Bear's house. The 'Canes blow into the Horseshoe for a rematch of the 2002 national championship game. Florida State's first big game post-Bowden takes place in Norman, Okla., a rematch of the 2000 national title game.
The second week of the college football season is so jammed pack with intriguing games that Brian Kelly's first foray into the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry can't even crack the top three.
Hey, neither the Fighting Irish nor the Wolverines is ranked.
Joe Paterno, who broke Bear Bryant's record on the way to becoming the winningest coach in the history of major college football, brings Penn State to Tuscaloosa to face No. 1 Alabama.
The Nittany Lions and Crimson Tide routinely squared off in the 1970s and early '80s, when Bear Bryant was stalking Alabama's sideline. The Bear is gone now, but the Tide's stadium is named after him. Meanwhile, the 83-year-old Paterno has 395 victories.
Even if Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram (knee) can't play Saturday, beating Nick Saban's defending national champions would rank as one of Paterno's most surprising victories.
The last time Ohio State played Miami, it was the Buckeyes pulling off the upset.
Ohio State's 31-24 double-overtime victory in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl kept the Hurricanes from repeating as national champions and made the Buckeyes champs for the first time in more than three decades. It was also the night official Terry Porter became famous for throwing a flag for pass interference on Miami that is debated to this day.
``It's like everyone is making sure that we remember what happened,'' said current Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who are the underdogs this time to the second-ranked Buckeyes.
Since Bob Stoops took over at Oklahoma in 1999, the Sooners have been perennial contenders. But they haven't won a national championship since Stoops' second season, when the Sooners beat Bobby Bowden's Seminoles 13-2 in the 2001 Orange Bowl.
That turned out to be Bowden's last shot at a national title. Florida State had some good teams after that, but Bowden's long run of excellence ended that night in Miami.
Stoops is still cranking out wins in Norman, but Bowden's time at Florida State is over. It's now Jimbo Fisher's job to return the 17th-ranked Seminoles to elite status and beating No. 10 Oklahoma would be a giant step in the right direction.
The picks:
Thursday
No. 21 Auburn (minus 2) at Mississippi State.
Matchup of spread offenses and promising QBs ... MISSISSIPPI STATE 31-24.
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Friday
No. 23 West Virginia (minus 13) at Marshall.
Mountaineers 9-0 in Friends of the Coal Bowl ... WEST VIRGINIA 31-14.
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Saturday
No. 18 Penn State (plus 11 1/2) at No. 1 Alabama.
Saban on one side, frosh QB playing first road game on the other ... ALABAMA 24-10.
No. 12 Miami (plus 9 1/2) at No. 2 Ohio State.
Can Jacory Harris avoid the big mistake? ... OHIO STATE 20-14.
Tennessee Tech (no line) at No. 4 TCU.
Tennessee Tech goes from Razorbacks to Horned Frogs ... TCU 50-10.
Wyoming (plus 29) at No. 5 Texas.
These Cowboys won't fare well in Texas ... TEXAS 45-14.
Idaho (plus 28 1/2) at No. 6 Nebraska.
Huskers redshirt freshman QB Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards in debut ... NEBRASKA 42-10.
No. 7 Oregon (minus 13) at Tennessee.
After 72-point opener, Ducks get back star TB LaMichael James ... OREGON 35-20.
South Florida (plus 15 1/2) at No. 8 Florida.
Gators problems should be a snap to fix ... FLORIDA 28-10.
Iowa State (plus 13 1/2) at No. 9 Iowa.
Cyclones haven't scored TD vs. Hawkeyes in last 14 quarters ... IOWA 21-10.
No. 17 Florida State (plus 8 1/2) at No. 10 Oklahoma.
Sooners need to fix secondary quick with Christian Ponder coming to town ... OKLAHOMA 37-21.
San Jose State (plus 38) at No. 11 Wisconsin.
Badgers have won 14 straight home openers ... WISCONSIN 45-14.
James Madison (no line) at No. 13 Virginia Tech.
Hokies dealing with annual early season disappointment ... VIRGINIA TECH 35-17.
Louisiana-Monroe (plus 34) vs. No. 14 Arkansas at Little Rock, Ark.
It's officially a ULM home game ... ARKANSAS 48-21.
No. 15 Georgia Tech (minus 13 1/2) at Kansas.
It doesn't get any easier for Turner Gill at KU ... GEORGIA TECH 31-21.
Virginia (plus 19 1/2) at No. 16 Southern California.
Trojans are 12-6 against ACC teams ... USC 38-17.
No. 19 LSU (minus 10) at Vanderbilt.
Tigers have won six straight vs. Commodores ... LSU 28-14.
UNLV (plus 23 1/2) at No. 20 Utah.
Utes home winning streak is at 18 ... UTAH 45-16.
No. 22 Georgia (plus 2 1/2) at No. 24 South Carolina.
Bulldogs have won seven of last eight and four in a row at USC ... GEORGIA 24-21.
No. 25 Stanford (minus 6 1/2) at UCLA.
Bruins offense is a mess ... STANFORD 30-17.
Michigan (plus 3 1/2) at Notre Dame.
Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez needs it more than Kelly ... MICHIGAN 27-21.
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Last week: 21-1 (straight); 9-5-1 (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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Marlins to skip Johnson's next start >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson will miss
his next scheduled start because of shoulder and back pain.
Johnson was slated to pitch Friday against Washington, but the Marlins now
plan to start Alex Sana
A's hope to build a win streak versus Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - At seven games off the pace in the American League West
Division, time is running out on the Oakland Athletics and their hopes for a
postseason berth. The A's will try to get a winning streak going tonight in
the finale of a
Als seek return to win column in clash with Tiger-Cats >>
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes continue to compete
without the services of quarterback Anthony Calvillo as the team challenges
the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this weekend at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Calvillo, who suffered a chest
Familiar foes do battle in Winnipeg >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in as many weeks the
Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers find themselves pitted
against each other on the gridiron, this time at Canad Inns Stadium on Sunday
afternoon.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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