The USC Trojans are 0-3 straight up and against the spread in their last three games against the Stanford Cardinal. The Trojans will try to snap that losing streak with a win at home over Stanford on Saturday.
USC, Ohio State, Clemson among Week 2’s big betting favorites
Here are some of Week 2’s biggest early lines and trends.
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USC is a 7-point betting favorite at the Coliseum at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The line opened at some books with the Trojans as a 4-point favorite, but the betting public pounded the home team all the way up to 7 points over the weekend.
Bettors seem undeterred by the fact that USC looked shaky in its 49-31 home win over Western Michigan and Stanford looked extremely sharp in a 62-7 blowout over Rice in Australia.
Stanford at USC is one of three games this week being played between two teams in the AP Top 25. The others are Auburn at Clemson (-6.5) and Oklahoma at Ohio State (-7.5). Georgia at Notre Dame may be added to this list as well if Notre Dame cracks the Top 25 this week on the heels of a 49-16 win over Temple.
College Football Week 2 Odds (see the complete list at OddsShark)
- Fresno State at Alabama (-42.5)
- Cincinnati at Michigan (-33)
- Miami (-13.5) at Arkansas State
- Louisville (-8) at North Carolina
- Oklahoma at Ohio State (-7.5)
- Stanford at USC (-7)
- Auburn at Clemson (-6.5)
- Georgia at Notre Dame (No Line)
Oklahoma got embarrassed by Ohio State on its home field last season, falling to the Buckeyes, 45-24. That loss sparked a 10-0 SU and 7-3 ATS run to end the season for the Sooners, who will try to return the favor this year by handing the Buckeyes a loss on their stomping grounds.
The Buckeyes are 5-2 SU and 6-1 ATS in their last seven games against Big 12 opponents per the OddsShark College Football Database.
Two teams that will have to avoid trap games on the road this week are the Miami Hurricanes (-13.5) at Arkansas State and the Louisville Cardinals (-8) at North Carolina. Miami plays one of the biggest games on its schedule next week at Florida State, and Louisville will be hosting the defending champion Clemson Tigers next week.
Neither team can afford to look ahead while facing potentially dangerous home teams on Saturday.
For Alabama and Michigan, the proceedings figure to be a lot easier on Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Wolverines both picked up impressive wins against ranked teams last Saturday, and will get much easier tasks this weekend as Michigan is a 33-point home favorite against Cincinnati and Alabama hosts Fresno State as a 42-point home favorite.
