College Football Betting Odds Week 2: Picks Against the Spread for Top 25 Schedule
Week 2 of the college football season offers up two different types of Top 25 matchups.
The Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide collide for the second straight year in a battle of the sport's marquee programs.
Alabama beat Texas by one point last season, and the Longhorns are hoping they can return the favor with a healthy Quinn Ewers under center.
The Ole Miss Rebels are the road team in the rare Power Five-versus-Group of Five battle between ranked foes. Lane Kiffin's side visits the Tulane Green Wave.
Tulane had the more impressive victory in Week 1, but Ole Miss has an opportunity to overwhelm a certain part of the Green Wave defense.
Saturday, September 9
All times ET.
Ball State at No. 1 Georgia (-41.5) (Noon, SEC Network)
Youngstown State at No. 5 Ohio State (Noon, BTN)
Delaware at No. 7 Penn State (Noon, Peacock)
No. 10 Notre Dame (-7.5) at NC State (Noon, ABC)
No. 12 Utah (-7.5) at Baylor (Noon, ESPN)
Troy at No. 15 Kansas State (-17) (Noon, FS1)
Nebraska at No. 22 Colorado (-3) (Noon, Fox)
Charleston Southern at No. 25 Clemson (2:15, ACC Network)
UNLV at No. 2 Michigan (-37) (3:30 p.m., CBS)
No. 20 Ole Miss (-7) at No. 24 Tulane (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)
No. 23 Texas A&M (-3.5) at Miami (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Tulsa at No. 8 Washington (-34.5) (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
Austin Peay at No. 9 Tennessee (5 p.m., ESPN+)
Appalachian State at No. 17 North Carolina (-19) (5:15, ACC Network)
SMU at No. 18 Oklahoma (-16) (6 p.m., ESPN+)
Lafayette at No. 21 Duke (6 p.m., ESPN+)
No. 11 Texas at No. 3 Alabama (-7) (7 p.m., ESPN)
No. 13 Oregon (-6) at Texas Tech (7 p.m., Fox)
Grambling at No. 14 LSU (7:30 p.m., ESPN+)
No. 19 Wisconsin (-6) at Washington State (7:30 p.m., ABC)
Southern Miss at No. 4 Florida State (-31) (8:30 p.m., ACC Network)
UC Davis at No. 16 Oregon State (9 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
Stanford at No. 6 USC (-29.5) (10:30 p.m., Fox)
For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
The sequel to last year's epic battle in Austin takes place under the lights in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
Some of the main characters have changed from Alabama's one-point victory a year ago. Jalen Milroe replaced No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young under center for the Crimson Tide and Texas replaced Bijan Robinson with a handful of running backs.
Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthy are still on the Texas roster, and they could be the two difference-makers inside Bryant-Denny Stadium who shift the game in favor of the Longhorns.
Worthy caught five balls for 97 yards in Austin last year and Ewers had the Longhorns in front before he suffered an injury and was replaced by Hudson Card.
Alabama needed Young to bring it back in the fourth quarter to leave Texas with a victory.
Although Milroe will play at home, Saturday marks his first massive test as the Alabama starting quarterback.
Texas at least has an experienced commodity in Ewers and a top wide out to trust in Worthy.
Beating Alabama at home in nonconference play is a near impossible task. Nick Saban's last nonconference home loss came against UL-Monroe in his first season in charge. Saban is also 28-2 straight up against his former assistants.
Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns can still keep the game close within one score and lose, and given its success last year against the Crimson Tide, it feels like they will not get blown out in Tuscaloosa.
A win would skyrocket Texas up the Top 25, but even if it covers the seven-point spread and loses, it could teach us something about how competitive the program will be in 2023.
Ole Miss-Tulane is a fun appetizer to the Texas-Alabama showdown.
The Rebels and Green Wave are expected to put up a ton of points in New Orleans. Ole Miss scored 73 in a rout of the FCS Mercer Bears in Week 1, while Tulane put up 37 points in its victory over the South Alabama Jaguars.
Tulane faced the tougher Week 1 test, as South Alabama is expected to compete for the Sun Belt title.
The Green Wave held USA to 75 rushing yards, a key stat to keep in mind for the matchup against Ole Miss' Quinshon Judkins.
Judkins scored twice on the ground, a complement to Jaxson Dart's four passing touchdowns, in Week 1.
Tulane needs to contain Judkins to keep Ole Miss from sustaining a handful of long drives in which its defense tires out.
Judkins ran for over 100 yards three times on the road in SEC play last year. Dart did not throw for 300 yards in any of those contests, but Ole Miss' goal may be to wear down the Tulane defense.
Tulane has a mighty passing game of its own, led by veteran quarterback Michael Pratt, who is one of the best Group of Five quarterbacks.
Pratt is capable of going throw-for-throw with Dart, but Tulane does not have the edge at running back now that Tyjae Spears in the NFL.
The fear for Tulane is Ole Miss overwhelming it on the interior, and that will be the key for the SEC side in picking up an early Top 25 victory.
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