College Footbal Week 2 - Important Matchups

It is hard to call any game important this early in a season, but this week there are two games with some signifigance to them:

3 USC at 8 Ohio State
Favorite: USC, -7
Things in sports tend to be cyclical. Teams are usually great for a couple of years, then decent for a year, then bad for a couple years, then decent, and back to at least good. There are a couple of exceptions to this in recent years: the NY Yankees, the Indianapolis Colts, and, of course, USC football. The Trojans seems to always be in the top-5, and always in title talk, both before and after the season. This is in no small part thanks to Pete Carroll's scouting ability and pro-style schemes. One team that is not an exception is Ohio State. After having major success over the past decade(one undefeated season, a National Championship, and five Big 10 conference championships), the Buckeyes finally look like a team on the decline. Their weaknesses showed last week, barely beating Navy, 31-27. You can be sure Coach Carroll was paying attention.
Pick: USC 31 - Ohio State 13

18 Notre Dame at Michigan
Favorite: Notre Dame, -3
The annual Week 2 meeting of these teams this year takes on added importance, as both teams now look like teams on the rise. Opening week blowouts for both teams have fans hopeful for the rest of the season. For Michigan, head coach Rich Rodriguez has been surrounded by controversy in the off-season, and has been feeling the pressure after going 3-9 in his first season with the Wolverines. The announcement he would rotate QBs throughout the game didn't win him any more fans, especially when coupled with the fact true freshman Tate Forcier would be the starter. The decision payed off, however, as all three QBs looked good as the team won 31-7 over Western Michigan. Notre Dame, however, seems to be a step ahead of Michigan. Last years 6-6 regular season record led to a 41-29 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl win over Hawaii. In that game, then-sophmore Jimmy Clausen and the Irish offense broke 9 Notre Dame bowl game records, including Clausen's 401 passing yards and the teams 478 yards of total offense. Those are stats ND, who started the season ranked 23, is looking to build on.
Pick: ND 31 - Michigan 21