College Football Week Two Preview: Cheerleader Edition

With two new teams cracking the top 10 in Week Two, we have an epic non-conference battled surrounded by a bunch of pushover games for the nation’s elite.  Obviously headlined by the classic Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup, Week Two will give the teams in the top 10 a chance to try out trick plays, give time to some freshman, and iron out any kinks in their armor prior to conference play.  COED is setting the stakes with an over/under of a 37.5-point average margin of victory for all teams in the top 10…and yes, that includes USC vs. Ohio State. (note: all TV times Eastern Time Zone)

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No. 1 Florida (1-0) vs. Troy (0-1)

12:21 p.m.  ESPN-GP  / SEC Network

The nation’s most ferocious team stomped out Charleston Southern last week and now looks to do the same to the Trojans…no, not Pete Carroll’s Trojans, the Trojans of Troy.  Quite the clever team nickname, indeed.  These teams last met back in 2007 when Florida put a 59-31 whooping on them.

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No. 2 Texas (1-0) at Wyoming (1-0)

3:30 p.m. Versus (HD)

Colt McCoy will continue his trek towards the Heisman this week as his Longhorns hit the road for the first time this season with a trip up north to Wyoming.  This game should be interesting for the Texas D as they will face the new no-huddle spread that the Cowboys are sporting.

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No. 3 USC (1-0) at No. 8 Ohio State (1-0)

8:00 p.m. ESPN (HD)

In perhaps the biggest non-conference game of the season, the Real Trojans make the trip out east to Columbus to take on Jim Tressell’s Buckeyes.  Tressell is 2-8 vs. teams who went on to play in a BCS bowl game in the past four years, and 42-0 vs. all teams who didn’t.  I think it’s safe to assume Matt Barkley and Southern Cal fall into that first category. Meanwhile, Ohio State looks to avenge last season’s 35-3 pummeling at the hands of USC, and also hopes to do better than last week’s nail-biting 31-27 win over the putrid Navy Midshipman.

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No. 4 Alabama (1-0) vs. Florida International (0-0)

7:00 p.m. ESPN-GP  / PPV

Bama is feeling good after a big prime time win over former No. 7 Virginia Tech last week and hopes to avoid a trap game with the school that hired Isiah Thomas to lead its basketball team.  Saban’s crew should dismantle the Golden Panthers and start off its season in its home stadium with a bang.

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No. 5 Oklahoma State (1-0) vs. Houston (1-0)

3:30 p.m. FSN (HD)

With their highest ranking in 24 years, the Oklahoma State Cowboys took apart the then-ranked No. 13 Georgia Bulldogs with ease.  Now, they look to cruise through the easy part of their schedule as they look to trounce Houston, Rice, and Grambling State over the next three weeks.

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No. 6 Mississippi (1-0) Bye Week

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No. 7 Penn State (1-0) vs. Syracuse (0-1)

12:00 p.m. BTN (HD)

Penn State leapfrogged over fellow Big Ten inhabitant Ohio State last week after holding true to form with a 31-7 thrashing of Akron.  This week, they welcome Greg Paulus and the Orange(men) of Syracuse – who didn’t look to shabby last week in an overtime defeat to Minnesota. However, Joe Paterno’s crew is too strong for the former Dukie to lead his men to victory at Beaver Stadium.

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No. 9 BYU (1-0) at Tulane (0-1)

3:30 p.m. ESPN2 (HD)

After putting a murmur in the heart of Oklahoma by knocking star Heisman quarterback Sam Bradford out of the game, then stealing the victory from the national title runner-up with three minutes to go, BYU has become the talk of the nation in college football.  The Cougars moved up 11 spots to No. 9 and with a schedule that features two more ranked opponents (No. 16 TCU and No. 17 Utah, both home games), there is speculation that a perfect season could put BYU in the BCS title game.

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No. 10 California (1-0) vs. Eastern Washington (1-0)

5:30 p.m. CSCA

The other newbie in the top 10, Cal, absolutely annihilated Maryland last week in a game that many thought the Terps would be able to hold their own.  However, Eastern Wash looks to be another pushover as Cal looks to pile on the points before opening their Pac-10 schedule.