Week 3 of Florida's gruelling march through the Southeastern Conference takes the Gators to Auburn on Saturday. Florida replaced the Tigers as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 this week and is the only undefeated team left in the SEC.
Auburn is coming off its first loss of the season, and it was a doozy _ 27-10 at home to unranked-at-the-time Arkansas. The Gators have won consecutive conference games at home against Alabama and LSU. They get a week off after this to prepare for Georgia on Oct. 28.
The picks:
Thursday
No. 12 Clemson (minus 44) vs. Temple (at Charlotte, N.C.)
This counts as home game for Owls ... CLEMSON 56-10.
No. 22 Virginia Tech (minus 3) at Boston College
Frank Beamer's 300th career game as head coach ... VIRGINIA TECH 21-19.
Saturday
No. 1 Ohio State (minus 15) at Michigan State
Buckeyes have won four straight against Spartans ... OHIO STATE 37-17.
No. 2 Florida (plus 1) at No. 11 Auburn
Tigers have won five straight home games against top-10 teams ... AUBURN 23-20.
Arizona State (plus 19) at No. 3 Southern California
Trojans have won six straight in the series ... USC 30-17.
No. 4 Michigan (minus 6{) at Penn State
WR Mario Manningham out for Wolverines ... MICHIGAN 17-13.
Syracuse (plus 25) at No. 5 West Virginia
Mountaineers have won four straight against Orange ... WEST VIRGINIA 38-17.
Baylor (plus 28{) at No. 6 Texas
Unlikely battle for first in Big 12 South ... TEXAS 48-17.
Cincinnati (plus 27) at No. 7 Louisville
Louisville QB Brian Brohm might return from hand surgery ... LOUISVILLE 49-17.
No. 10 California (minus 7{) at Washington State
Golden Bears have lost nine straight in Pullman dating back to 1979 ... WASHINGTON ST. 34-28.
Kentucky (plus 26) at No. 14 LSU
First meeting since LSU's Blue Grass Miracle, when Tigers won a 75-yard TD on final play ... LSU 41-14.
No. 15 Iowa (minus 17{) at Indiana
Hawkeyes have won three straight and six of nine against Hoosiers ... IOWA 40-17.
Vanderbilt (plus 13{) at No. 16 Georgia
Bulldogs have won 11 straight against Commodores, matching longest streak in series ... GEORGIA 29-13.
SE Missouri (no line) at No. 17 Arkansas
Razorbacks lead SEC in rushing ... ARKANSAS 45-14.
UCLA (plus 10{) at No. 18 Oregon
Bruins have won four of five in Eugene ... OREGON 28-14.
No. 19 Missouri (minus 2{) at Texas A&M
Tigers are last unbeaten team in Big 12 ... TEXAS A&M 24-20.
No. 21 Nebraska (minus 10{) at Kansas State
Huskers lead Big 12 in rushing ... NEBRASKA 30-14.
Iowa State (plus 20) at No. 23 Oklahoma
Sooners TB Adrian Peterson vs. worst run defence in Big 12 ... OKLAHOMA 44-21.
No. 24 Rutgers (plus 1{) at Navy
Middies lead nation in rushing and Scarlet Knights are 10th ... RUTGERS 27-24.
Minnesota (plus 8{) at No. 25 Wisconsin
Battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe ... WISCONSIN 25-21.
Sunday
No. 20 Boise State (minus 26) at New Mexico State
Aggies lead nation in pass offense with coach Hal Mumme ... BOISE STATE 50-28.
___
Last week: 12-6 (straight); 8-10 (vs. points).
Season: 100-21 (straight); 62-45-3 (vs. points).
