The college football season has moved through two weeks, and there is now some movement on the national leaderboard thanks to some big games and a few upsets from the past weekend.
1. Florida State Seminoles
This week: +385
Last week: +365
The Seminoles played a Football Championship Subdivision team, The Citadel, and lost three defensive tackles, two of them starters, to injuries. The length of those injuries is what a lot of people are waiting to find out about. In any case, the Seminoles don’t have quite as much depth as they did last year. They still have a lot of great players, but their cushion might not be what it once was. This is going to be something to watch with Florida State through most of the rest of the season. It’s a good thing the Seminoles get Clemson at home in the ACC schedule this year.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
This week: +700
Last week: +600
The Crimson Tide beat up a small team in a game that was stopped for a lightning storm. It’s going to be a few weeks before bettors and analysts get a better idea of what the Crimson Tide are made of as a team. Playing the meat of the SEC schedule is what will bring forth more information and a greater understanding of where this team can be pressured. The Crimson Tide know that in the next significant and challenging game they play, they’ll need to fix so much of what went wrong against West Virginia in a wobbly season-opening win.
3. Oregon Ducks
This week: +700
Last week: +746
The Ducks scored the biggest win of any team in the country last weekend, surviving a 20-0 Michigan State scoring surge to come back and beat the Spartans by 19 points, 46-27. The Ducks were up 18-7, then down 27-18, and then they scored the final 28 points of Saturday’s game on their home field. Quarterback Marcus Mariota made all the plays he needed to make, and Oregon’s defense, after allowing 24 points to Michigan State in the second quarter, settled down and played the way it was capable of playing. Being at home in very hot weather conditions, the Ducks looked like the fresher team than Michigan State in the last one and a half quarters. This is not an indication of how bad or inferior Michigan State was. This was a demonstration of how talented Oregon can be.
4. Oklahoma Sooners
This week: +865
Last week: +927
The Sooners haven’t really been confronted with a big challenge. They will at least play a tougher team than what they’ve faced so far this weekend when they go up against the Tennessee Volunteers. Oklahoma is getting solid, consistent play from both its offense and its defense. A question to follow with the Sooners is if one side of the line of scrimmage suffers and the Sooners face some difficulties, will the other unit on the other side of the line of scrimmage be able to pick up the team? Let’s say quarterback Trevor Knight struggles against Tennessee. Will Oklahoma’s defense have his back? That’s the kind of thing to look out for with the Sooners.
5. Georgia Bulldogs
This week: +1000
Last week: +1253
The Bulldogs are coming up on a huge game, one of the most important in their season. Georgia faces South Carolina, a team that has beaten Georgia the last two times the Bulldogs have traveled to Columbia and the Gamecocks’ home stadium. Georgia’s offense has been intimidated the past several times it has gone to South Carolina. Georgia has not been able to find a good rhythm in the passing game, so when it has fallen behind on the road against South Carolina, it has not been able to find a way to come back. However, Georgia is a much better running team than South Carolina, and if the Bulldogs are able to run the ball against a so-so South Carolina defensive line, they can take a lead and put themselves in a position where they won’t have to throw the ball that much. A win would give Georgia a commanding lead in the SEC East Division.
6. Auburn Tigers
This week: +1700
Last week: +1857
The Tigers cruised past San Jose State and showed no signs that they’re being complacent one year after winning the Southeastern Conference and coming within one win of the national championship. Nick Marshall seems to be finding a groove at quarterback, and beyond that, Auburn’s offense is simply very comfortable. This team knows what it can do, and it is intent on proving itself each and every time it takes the field. People are waiting to see what Auburn will do on the road, though. The Tigers have not yet played a road game this season.
7. UCLA Bruins
This week: +1750
Last week: +1455
The Bruins are the worst team in the top nine of this odds list. UCLA is 2-0, but the Bruins have looked below average in two very close wins over teams that are not supposed to be very good, Virginia and Memphis. What should also concern the Bruins is that their defense and offense have both played poorly, the defense against Memphis and the offense against Virginia. If this team can’t find some consistency, it’s not going to remain unbeaten very long.
8. Texas A&M Aggies
This week: +1850
Last week: +1994
The Aggies coasted past a smaller division team last week. A&M knows it has something special at quarterback in Kenny Hill. A lot of football commentators around the country are waiting to see if Hill will be able to play well against the top teams in the SEC West Division. Those challenges will come soon enough. While A&M moves through the early weeks of its schedule, the team needs to be able to get better play from its defense, especially the pass rush.
9. USC Trojans
This week: +2000
Last week: +2908
The Trojans’ defense kept stopping the Stanford Cardinal last Saturday. Stanford moved the ball inside the USC 30 on nine different possessions, yet scored only 10 points. USC was able to be very tough in short-yardage circumstances, and while Stanford missed a couple of field goals, USC allowed only one touchdown, which was an extremely solid performance from a defense that knew it had to win this game on the road. USC dramatically improved its odds of facing Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game with this win, but the Trojans’ season is just getting started.
10. LSU +1650
11. Baylor +2400
12. Michigan State +3300
13. Notre Dame +4487
14. Florida +5000
15/ Ohio State +7000
