The Connecticut Huskies will try for their third consecutive victory of the season when they host the winless Temple Owls this Saturday afternoon from Rentschler Field. The Owls are coming off their first official Mid-American contest, and it was not a successful debut, in fact the team was hammered, 42-7, by the Buffalo Bulls. It was the second setback of the season for Temple, which opened the year with a 30-19 loss to Navy.

As for the Huskies, they have had nothing but success thus far, as the team is 2-0 on this young season. UConn opened the campaign with a solid 45-14 win over Duke, then followed up with a dominating, 38-0 win over Maine. After this matchup the Huskies will have their first real test of the year when they hit the road to face Big East foe Pittsburgh. In regards to the all-time series between the two teams the Owls own a solid 7-2 edge, however the Huskies were victorious in the last meeting, defeating Temple, 45-31 back in 2004.

TAKE THE OVER 51.5 POINTS

The Auburn Tigers are set to play host to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in an SEC affair. Mississippi State got off to a terrible start this season, as the squad was embarrassed by LSU, 45-0, in front of the home crowd. To the credit of the Bulldogs, they rallied to even their record at 1-1 with a 38-17 victory over Tulane last weekend. This game marks the SEC opener for Auburn, which has won 14 straight league lidlifters. After beating Kansas State to open this new campaign, the Tigers remained home to face a dangerous South Florida team from the Big East Conference.

The contest went to overtime and the Tigers were on the wrong end of a 26-23 final, so it will be interesting to see how they respond this weekend. Auburn owns a commanding 56-22-2 advantage in the all-time series with Mississippi State, and the Tigers rolled to a 34-0 victory in last season's meeting. Not only has Auburn pitched shutouts over MSU in back-to-back seasons, the Tigers blanked the Bulldogs for over 58 minutes of the 2004 meeting.

TAKE AUBURN TIGERS MINUS -13 POINTS

Head coach Frank Beamer shoots for the 200th victory of his career on Saturday as he and the 18th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies take the field in Blacksburg versus the Ohio University Bobcats. Beamer, who is third on the active wins list among NCAA Division I coaches behind only Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, has had a rough start to the 2007 campaign thus far. The season opener was supposed to be an afterthought for the squad, considering its ranking in the preseason poll, but East Carolina made sure that nothing came easy in a 17-7 decision that fell in favor of Tech. Last weekend the Hokies bit off more than they could chew as they went down hard against second-ranked LSU in a 48-7 contest in the Bayou.

As for the Bobcats, directed by third-year head coach Frank Solich, they are once again off to a 2-0 start this season. However, beating up on Gardner-Webb and Louisiana-Lafayette isn't exactly the best way to impress people. Last season, after winning the first two games by a combined score of 64-26, Ohio was held to a total of only 22 points in the next three games altogether. As far as the all-time series between the two teams is concerned, Virginia Tech has won all three of the previous encounters, including a 45-0 shutout in Lane Stadium in 2005. The Hokies have had considerable success in this venue against non-conference opponents, winning 26 straight outings versus those institutions.

TAKE THE OVER 42 POINTS

The Northwestern Wildcats try to remain undefeated when they host the Duke Blue Devils in a non-conference clash from Ryan Field. Duke has gotten off to a rocky 0-2 start to the season. Last weekend, the Blue Devils dropped a 24-13 contest at Virginia. This tilt is the second of a critical four-game road trek for the Blue Devils. Dating back to last season, the Wildcats have won three straight and will be seeking their first four-game win streak since 1996.

Last weekend, Northwestern pulled out a last-minute 36-31 victory over Nevada. The Wildcats are playing their third straight home game to start the season, before traveling to Ohio State for the Big Ten opener next weekend. The head- to-head series between these two schools is tied at 7-7, though it was NU claiming a 28-10 victory in Durham when the teams last met during the 2003 season.  

TAKE NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS MINUS -16.5 POINTS

With their 11-game win streak now a memory, the BYU Cougars try to rebound this weekend as they challenge the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in non- conference play at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Oklahoma. Pitted against nationally-ranked UCLA in the Rose Bowl this past weekend, the Cougars put up a strong fight just a little too late as the home team recorded the 27-17 victory. The decision dropped BYU to 1-1 on the early season, with the team looking around the corner at the start of the Mountain West Conference schedule with a date against Air Force at home in Provo on September 22.

As for the Golden Hurricane, they picked up an early bye week in the campaign and sat idle on Saturday. More than just an additional seven days to prepare for the arrival of the Cougars, Tulsa actually kicked off the 2007 campaign on Thursday, August 30 on the road in Louisiana with a 35-17 triumph versus Louisiana-Monroe. As far as the all-time series between these two programs is concerned, the Cougars are a perfect 6-0 versus Tulsa, thanks to a commanding 49-24 triumph at LaVell Edwards Stadium a year ago that prevented the Golden Hurricane from stringing together eight straight wins to begin the 2006 campaign.

TAKE B.Y.U. COUGARS MINUS -6.5 POINTS

The Arizona Wildcats play their second Mountain West Conference opponent of the year this Saturday as they welcome the New Mexico Lobos to Tucson. The Wildcats opened the 2007 campaign with a disappointing loss to BYU on the road in Provo, 20-7, but managed to get into the win column last weekend. Pitted against an in-state rival that is not in the Pac-10, Arizona took apart Northern Arizona by a final of 45-24. Last year the team looked rather ordinary in its only battle against a program outside of Division I-A (Stephen F. Austin, 28-10), so at least the squad made some strides in that area.

As for the Lobos, they began the latest campaign with a lackluster offensive effort versus UTEP, dropping a 10-6 meeting in El Paso, but the squad battled back last weekend against New Mexico State. In the annual fight for state bragging rights, the Lobos turned up the effort on offense and brought home the 44-34 decision to even their record at 1-1 on the season. New Mexico will play the next two games at home in Albuquerque, first facing Sacramento State before kicking off the Mountain West Conference slate with a meeting versus BYU. The Wildcats have a commanding 43-18-3 lead in the all-time series with New Mexico, despite not having played each other since 1997. The Lobos have fallen in four straight to Arizona.

TAKE NEW MEXICO LOBOS PLUS +10 POINTS

The New York Giants' offense erupted in their season opener behind Eli Manning, but a right shoulder injury may cause their starting quarterback to miss their Week 2 game. The Green Bay Packers offense, meanwhile, sputtered in their season opener, but quarterback Brett Favre expects a better effort their next time out. The Giants host the Packers on Sunday, and they may not know until kickoff if Manning will be able to take the field.

New York racked up 438 yards in last Sunday night's 45-35 loss to Dallas, but Manning was unable to go out for the Giants' final series after bruising his shoulder earlier in the quarter. Manning had an MRI on Monday that revealed a contusion to the acromioclavicular joint, near the collarbone. On Wednesday, Manning took some snaps, made a few handoffs and tossed lightly to test his shoulder, but did not practice. Coach Tom Coughlin gave no indication whether he would play this game. Coughlin refused to set a deadline for Manning, who completed 28-of-41 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns with an interception in the loss to the Cowboys.

Manning connected with Plaxico Burress, who missed the entire preseason with back and ankle injuries, eight times for 144 yards and three TDs Sunday. Backup quarterback Jared Lorenzen took snaps with the first team Wednesday, and would make his first career start Sunday if Manning can't play. Manning wasn't the only New York player injured in the season opener, as sack leader Osi Umenyiora and new starting running back Brandon Jacobs both left due to knee injuries. Umenyiora, a former Pro Bowl defensive end, irritated the cartilage in his left knee in the first quarter, and is day-to-day. Jacobs, who took over for the retired Tiki Barber, sprained his right knee, and will be sidelined up to a month. Manning has started the last 42 regular season and playoff games for New York since being named the team's starter on Nov. 21, 2004.

Favre has started 238 consecutive games - a NFL record by a quarterback - but was just 23-of-42 for 206 yards with an interception and four sacks in Sunday's 16-13 season-opening win over Philadelphia. The Packers got a touchdown off a muffed punt and three field goals by rookie Mason Crosby, including the 42-yard winner with 2 seconds remaining. They had just 10 first downs, and only one of Crosby's field goals - a 37-yarder to tie the score at 13 in the third quarter - came after a sustained drive.

Green Bay had just 46 rushing yards, tying Cleveland for the league low in Week 1. The Packers, who opened last season 1-4 before rallying to finish 8-8, have not started a season with back-to-back wins since opening 3-0 in 2001. The Giants have not opened a season with consecutive losses since starting 0-3 in 1996. Green Bay was 5-3 on the road last season, and has won its last two games against the Giants at the Meadowlands. In the last meeting between these teams on Oct. 3, 2004, the Giants won 14-7 at Lambeau Field. Favre threw for 110 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but was taken out of the game in the third quarter after suffering a concussion on the first drive of the second half. All-time against New York, Favre is 3-2, throwing for 1,112 yards, seven TDs and four interceptions.

TAKE THE OVER 37.5 POINTS