Picks to Click: Week 2

Opening weekend of college football proved entertaining, but ultimately it did not provide much shakeup in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. Consider:

• Top 25 teams went 23-0 against unranked teams to start this season.
• It’s the first time no ranked team lost to an unranked team in a full slate of regular-season games since Oct. 2017.
• It’s the first time only one ranked team lost since Sept. 2013

This certainly was not surprising to me as the Week 1 Picks to Click went 27-1 straight up, with the lone loss coming thanks to Auburn’s rally to knock off Oregon (records vs. spread/points at bottom of page).

The second week of games features a pair of top-12 showdowns, including 12^th-ranked Texas A&M visiting top-ranked Clemson and No. 6 LSU traveling to Austin to face No. 9 Texas. Otherwise, the rest of the nation’s top 10 has a fairly easy slate, save for No. 5 Ohio State, which hosts Cincinnati.  

Down the rankings a little further, there will be some intrigue involving Pac-12 teams. Most notable will be a conference clash with California visiting No. 14 Washington with the Huskies looking to avenge a shocking 12-10 loss against the Golden Bears a year ago.  Staying in the Northwest, No. 16 Oregon seeks to bounce back from a last-minute loss to Auburn, but faces a Nevada team riding high from an upset of Purdue last week.

One of the more interesting games will feature No. 25 Nebraska going to Boulder to take on Colorado. The Cornhuskers are slight favorites and it is a big game for Big Red looking surge in Scott Frost’s second season. However, Mel Tucker’s side could score an upset that would provide instant relevancy not only for the Buffaloes, but for the Pac-12 as a whole.

Not to be overlooked, a key early-season Pac-12 North vs. South showdown pits No. 23 Stanford at USC. The Trojans will debut true freshman Kedon Clovis at starting quarterback following the loss of J.T. Daniels, while the status of Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello is up in the air as well (update 9/6: Costello is out and Davis Mills is expecting to start).

It is odd to see impactful conference games so early in the season, which is something I discussed in last week’s Mailbag. However, it is not a phenomenon unique to the Pac-12 as the SEC had a Week 1 meeting between Georgia and Vanderbilt, and also has Arkansas and Ole Miss squaring off this week.

Conference game or not, here’s to another exciting weekend of football. Let’s get to the Picks to Click:

Associated Press Top 25 Games

#12 Texas A&M at #1 Clemson
Saturday | 12:30 p.m. | ABC
Spread: Clemson, -17.5 | O/U: 64
Pick: Clemson, 31-14

New Mexico State at #2 Alabama
Saturday | 1 p.m. | SECN
Spread: Alabama, -54.5 | O/U: 64
Pick: Alabama, 59-6

Murray State at Georgia
Saturday | 1 p.m. | ESPN2
Spread: No Line | O/U: No Line
Pick: Georgia, 63-7

South Dakota at #4 Oklahoma
Saturday | 4 p.m. | PPV
Spread: No Line | O/U: No Line
Pick: Oklahoma, 60-10

Cincinnati at #5 Ohio State
Saturday | 9 a.m. | ABC
Spread: Ohio State, -15.5 | O/U: 54
Pick: Ohio State 31-15

#6 LSU at #9 Texas
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | ABC
Spread: LSU, -6.5 | O/U: 55.5
Pick: LSU, 30-23

Army at #7 Michigan
Saturday | 9 a.m. | FOX
Spread: Michigan, -23 | O/U: 47
Pick: Michigan, 27-10

#8 Notre Dame – Idle
Last Game: W, 35-17 vs. Louisville (Sept. 2)
Next Game: vs. New Mexico (Sept. 14)

Tulane at #10 Auburn
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN2
Spread: Auburn, -18 | O/U: 51.5
Pick: Auburn 34-14

UT Martin at #11 Florida
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | ESPNU
Spread: No Line | O/U: No Line
Pick: Florida, 42-7

Northern Illinois at #13 Utah
Saturday | 10 a.m. | P12N
Spread: Utah, -21.5 | O/U: 43.5
Pick: Utah, 31-13

California at #14 Washington
Saturday | 7:30 p.m. | FS1
Spread: Washington, -13.5 | O/U: 45
Pick: Washington, 28-13

Buffalo at #15 Penn State
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | FOX
Spread: Penn State, -29 | O/U: 55
Pick: Penn State, 41-10

Nevada at #16 Oregon
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | P12N
Spread: Oregon, -24.5 | O/U: 61.5
Pick: Oregon, 38-17

Central Michigan at #17 Wisconsin
Saturday | 12:30 p.m. | BTN
Spread: Wisconsin, -35 | O/U: 51.5
Pick: Wisconsin, 40-14

#18 UCF at Florida Atlantic
Saturday | 4 p.m. | CBSSN
Spread: UCF, -10.5 | O/U: 67
Pick: UCF, 42-27

Western Michigan at #19 Michigan State
Saturday | 4:30 p.m. | BTN
Spread: Michigan State, -16 | O/U: 46.5
Pick: Michigan State, 31-10

Rutgers at #20 Iowa
Saturday | 9 a.m. | FS1
Spread: Iowa, -20 | O/U: 49
Pick: Iowa, 28-13

#21 Syracuse at Maryland
Saturday | 9 a.m. | ESPN
Spread: Maryland, -2 | O/U: 58
Pick: Syracuse, 34-30

Northern Colorado at #22 Washington State
Saturday | 2 p.m. | P12N
Spread: No Line | O/U: No Line
Pick: Washington State, 54-12

#23 Stanford at USC
Saturday | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
Spread: USC -1| O/U: 45
Pick: USC, 24-20

Marshall at #24 Boise State
Friday | 6 p.m. | ESPN2
Spread: Boise State, -12 | O/U: 57
Pick: Boise State, 35-21

#25 Nebraska at Colorado
Saturday | 12:30 p.m. | FOX
Spread: Nebraska, -4 | O/U: 64.5
Pick: Nebraska, 31-21

Other Pac-12 Games

Sacramento State at Arizona State
Friday | 7 p.m. | P12N
Spread: No Line | O/U: No Line
Pick: Arizona State, 37-13

San Diego State at UCLA
Saturday | 1:15 p.m. | P12N
Spread: UCLA, -8 | O/U: 45.5
Pick: UCLA, 23-13

Oregon State at Hawai’i
Saturday | 9 p.m. | Spectrum (Hawai’i only)
Spread: Hawai’i, -6.5 | O/U: 78.5
Pick: Hawai’i, 45-34

Notes:

• All times listed are PT
• Rankings from the Associated Press Top 25
• Point spread and game totals from Sports Betting (www.sportsbetting.ag) as of Thursday at 7 a.m.
• Pac-12 games shaded above in gray

2019 Record

All Games Straight Up: 28-1
All Games ATS: 11-13-1
All Games O/U: 12-12
Pac-12 Straight Up: 10-1
Pac-12 ATS: 5-3-1
Pac-12 O/U: 6-3

* Arizona games not included

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