Updated Las Vegas Odds

	NESS NOTES (CFB) Much was made last weekend that with USC hosting Cal and Oklahoma and Texas meeting in the Cotton Bowl that it was a showdown Saturday. One could argue that just about every Saturday from here on out will be a showdown day for any number of college football programs, as the season's initial BCS rankings are due to released on Monday.... There will be little rest for the weary as the schedule is once again filled with any number of 'key' contests. Thursday night's meeting of No. 18 Louisville at No. Miami starts things off. The Cardinals are one of three non-BCS schools (No. 11 Utah and No. 21 Boise State are the others) that have hopes of 'crashing' the BCS party. In order to do that, they'll have to remain unbeaten with a win in Miami against a team that has allowed just 6.5 PPG. Of course the Cardinals are averaging 43.3 PPG, second-best in the nation.... Saturday's top matchups feature a Big-10 showdown between No. 5 Purdue and No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 6 Virginia visiting No. 7 Florida State in the ACC and No. 1 USC hosting Pac-10 rival No. 15 Arizona State. As for those two other non-BCS contenders, Utah is around a three-TD favorite at home over North Carolina and Boise State around a three-TD road favorite at Tulsa.... Purdue is third nationally averaging 509 YPG and is fourth in scoring, averaging 41.8 PPG. Wisconsin is the nation's top-ranked defensive team allowing just 198.3 YPG and is tied with Miami in scoring defense at 6.5 PPG!... Virginia is 0-6 in Tallahassee since Florida State joined the ACC, losing by an average margin of 23.8 PPG. The Cavaliers aren't alone though, as since joining the ACC in 1992, the Seminoles have hosted 12 ranked ACC teams over the years winning all 12 with an average margin of victory of 27.3 PPG.... One week after 'escaping' at home versus Cal and its QB Aaron Rodgers, USC faces another 'hot' QB in ASU's Andrew Walter. Walter will have to go some to duplicate Rodgers' 23 consecutive completions to open the game but with 15 TD passes and just one interception on the year, USC's defense will once again be tested.... Notre Dame's visit to the Meadowlands to meet Navy is one of the weekend's most intriguing games. Navy has opened 5-0 and may not have another loss on its schedule if it can get by the Irish. Of course the Midshipmen haven't beaten Notre Dame since Roger Staubach led them to a win in 1963! Notre Dame's 40-game winning streak over Navy is the longest streak of any one school over another in college football history.... Speaking of streaks and service academies, Army ended its 19-game losing streak (also its 15-game home losing streak) last week with a 48-29 win over Cincinnati. Army wasn't alone as four of the nation's five winless teams entering last weekend got their first wins this past Saturday.... East Carolina beat Tulane 27-25, La-Monroe edged Idaho 16-14 and Washington beat San Jose State 21-6. Only Central Florida lost (30-28 to Northern Illinois), on a FG of 39 yards with no time remaining! The Golden Knights now own the nation's longest current losing streak at nine. Eastern Michigan snapped the nation's longest current road losing streak at 26 games, when they won at Ball State 31-24. Baylor now 'leads' the way with 21 straight losses to its 'credit'.... Boise State (16 straight wins) looks to extend the nation's longest current winning streak when it visits Tulsa. The Broncos have also won 20 consecutive conference games (WAC) and while they may just 'run the table', it's unlikely they will be able to climb high enough in the rankings to warrant a spot in a BCS-bowl.... That won't be a problem faced by USC! The Trojans own the nation's second-longest winning streak at 14 and if they win-out, they'll undoubtedly be playing in the BCS title game (Orange Bowl). USC is tied with Oklahoma at 17 straight home wins, trailing only Boise State's mark of 22 straight home wins.... There are 15 unbeaten teams entering this weekend's action but only three are perfect ATS. Arizona State is 5-0 ATS but of course faces No. 1 USC while Louisville stands at 4-0 ATS and must play at Miami on Thursday night. The other unbeaten ATS team? How about Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic team at 3-0 ATS!... The Owls didn't have a football program until 2001 and were Division 1-AA until last year. This is the school's transition year and they will become a member of the Sun Belt Conference next season.... Central Florida remains the only winless team in 2004 at 0-5 (1-4 ATS) but the Golden Knights are actually a small favorite this week at home to Akron. Three schools have yet to win ATS. They are Clemson, Kansas State and Washington.... Clemson is a three-TD home favorite vs Utah State, Kansas State hosts Oklahoma and is almost a three-TD home underdog to the school it beat in last year's Big-12 title game, 35-7! Washington can gets its first ATS win by winning at home this week against Oregon State as the Huskies are a six-point home underdog.... Back to articles
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