College football picks, odds for Week 2 (2024)

After an exciting opening week that spanned five days, Week 2 of the college football season has a tough act to follow. There are three games featuring two top 25 teams, but the game that might get the most attention is Alabama at Texas.

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young takes the No. 1 Crimson Tide to Austin for a meeting with Bijan Robinson and Quinn Ewers. Bama is a three-score favorite, but it represents the first big game for Ewers, the No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2021 who is starting at Texas after transferring from Ohio State.

Tennessee at Pitt, Kentucky at Florida and Baylor at BYU also highlight this week’s action.

Here are some of the biggest matchups of Week 2 with picks against the spread from our staff. All games kickoff on Saturday and the times are Eastern. Rankings are from the AP poll.

All odds are from BetMGM. Click here for live odds.

No. 1 Alabama at Texas — Noon on FOX

After more than a decade of mediocrity the Texas Longhorns are trying to re-establish themselves as a national power. They could take a big step toward that on Saturday when they host No. 1 ranked Alabama. Despite that home field advantage the Longhorns still enter the game as a nearly three-touchdown underdog.

Alabama is the odds on national title favorite this season and is expected to be a double-digit favorite in pretty much every game it plays. Aside from the superior talent across the board, the other subplot to this game is another of Nick Saban’s former assistants (in this case Steve Sarkisian) attempting to best him in a head-to-head matchup. History says that is not going to go well.

Saban enters the game with a 25-2 all-time record against his former assistants in head-to-head matchups, with both losses coming a year ago against Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M and then Kirby Smart and Georgia in the national title game. Saban not only typically wins these matchups, his teams have a tendency to absolutely steamroll their opponents.

Alabama is coming off of a 55-0 thrashing of Utah State in its season opener. It was a game that saw reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young throw five touchdowns and rush for 100 yards on only five attempts. Now he gets to go up against a Texas team that had one of the worst defenses in the country a year ago.

The Longhorns crushed Louisiana-Monroe in Week 1, but the competition is about to get infinitely tougher on Saturday.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Alabama -20

South Carolina at No. 16 Arkansas — Noon on ESPN

Arkansas and South Carolina each finished without winning records in conference play in 2021, so both will be looking to turn the tables beginning on Saturday in their SEC openers. The Razorbacks are figured to have a better shot at doing so since they are more than a touchdown favorite in the battle between 1-0 teams.

A well-balanced offensive attack is what led Arkansas past Cincinnati in Week 1. Quarterback K.J. Jefferson got the job done through the air and with his feet, while Raheim Sanders’ 117 yards on the ground weren’t too shabby. South Carolina bled rushing yards a season ago, which means the Razorbacks might want to test the Gameco*cks’ run defense on Saturday afternoon.

South Carolina’s 35-14 win over Georgia State a week ago could have been more dominant, but a win is a win, and those weren’t easy to come by in 2021. While the Gameco*cks’ special teams unit was phenomenal, it shouldn’t be expected that they’ll block two punts and return both of them for scores again. Saturday would be a good game for the offense to get on track.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Arkansas -8.5

No. 24 Tennessee at No. 17 Pitt — 3:30 p.m. on ABC

Pitt and Tennessee both entered the 2022 season with fairly high expectations, and both teams did what they were supposed to do in Week 1. Now they get to test their progress against each other in a Week 2 contest that sees the Volunteers enter the game as a touchdown-favorite on the road.

Tennessee being such a road favorite is a fascinating development given that Pitt is nationally ranked, coming off an 11-win season, and actually beat Tennessee on the road in their matchup a year ago. The big difference for Pitt this season, though, is the fact the Panthers no longer have the Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison connection to attack opposing defenses with.

New quarterback Kedon Slovis struggled through some inconsistencies in Pitt’s opening win against West Virginia, but he still managed to throw for more than 300 yards and lead a late fourth-quarter scoring drive to tie the game. Along with him Pitt brings a pretty deep stable of running backs and one of the nation’s best defensive lines into the game.

The other big difference in this year’s game is that the Volunteers should get a full-game from quarterback Hendon Hooker after he played only half of the game a year ago. Hooker really solidified Tennessee’s quarterback situation during the 2021 season, throwing 31 touchdowns to only three interceptions. He started off the 2022 season with an impressive showing against Ball State.

This is only the fourth-ever meeting between the two schools, with Pitt winning each of the first three games. That includes its 41-34 win a year ago.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Tennessee -6.5

Iowa State at Iowa — 4 p.m. on Big Ten Network

It is technically accurate to say that the Cyclones and Hawkeyes both enter their Week 2 matchup undefeated at 1-0. However, the outcomes of their first games couldn’t have been more different. Despite a 7-3 victory over South Dakota State in Week 1, Iowa opens as just over a field goal favorite against Iowa State as it looks to take home the Cy-Hawk Trophy for the 47th time overall and seventh time in a row.

While Iowa narrowly escaped with a victory — that came from a field goal and two safeties, mind you — Iowa State laid the smackdown on South Missouri State, 42-10.

To cover — and win, really — Iowa needs to see a drastic improvement on the offensive side of the ball. This wasn’t just an outlier performance from Iowa, but it’s an issue that carried over from 2021 when it had the No. 121-ranked offense in the country.

Not great, Bob.

The defense, though, showed up, and it will have to again against first-year started Hunter Dekkers for the Cyclones. Dekkers picked up where Brock Purdy left off, including hitting receiver Xavier Hutchinson for three scores against South Missouri State.

With Breece Hall gone, too, it was Jirehl Brock who saw the bulk of the work for the Cyclones, rushing for 104 yards on 16 touches for one score.

Iowa carrying over its defensive strengths from 2021 should give fans optimism for Saturday’s game against a new quarterback and running back facing its first real challenge. However, the inept offense for Iowa will give anyone pause.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Iowa -3.5

No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida — 7 p.m. on ESPN

SEC competition begins for Florida and Kentucky on Saturday evening when the two schools meet at The Swamp. The Wildcats took care of Florida a season ago but will head to Gainesville as underdogs.

Florida is looking to return to the winning ways of the late 2000s, and under first-year head coach Billy Napier, the Gators are off to a good start. In dramatic fashion, they took down the No. 7 Utah Utes at The Swamp on the backs of a stingy defense and the dual-threat capabilities of quarterback Anthony Richardson. A repeat performance would be welcomed as the Gators begin SEC play.

Don’t tell John Calipari, but Kentucky isn’t just a basketball school — the football program has quietly had a good amount of success over recent years. The Wildcats took care of business against Miami (Ohio) a week ago, and a win at the Swamp on Saturday could pave the way for potentially the best football season in decades. Their success on Saturday will fall on the shoulders of quarterback Will Levis.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Florida -4.5

Arizona State at No. 11 Oklahoma State — 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2

Two 1-0 teams. Two exciting quarterbacks. Two teams that like to dictate the pace. Despite defeating a totally real team that isn’t made up called the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, 40-3, Arizona State is a double-digit road underdog against Oklahoma State, which fought off a 22-point fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Central Michigan to win, 58-44.

Spencer Sanders balled out for the Cowboys, going 28-for-41 for 406 yards and four scores — adding two touchdowns on the ground on 57 yards rushing. Oklahoma State ran 73 plays Saturday, which is exactly the tempo it likes to play at, but wants to play even faster, per Sanders.

And they may have to, at least if the defense isn’t able to catch up to the offense and stop Arizona State quarterback Emory Jones. The Florida transfer managed the game well against Northern Arizona, and will rely on Wyoming transfer Xazavian Valladay to slow down the game on the ground in the Sun Devils’ favor.

Valladay rushed for 116 yards and two scores in his Arizona State debut, but for the Sun Devils to have a shot at an upset, let alone a cover, it’ll need to be Jones who takes over the game.How quickly will Jones be able to get rid of the ball against an Oklahoma State team that led the country in sacks last season with 53?

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at Oklahoma State -11.5

No. 10 USC at Stanford — 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Conference play will get started this weekend as USC travels to Stanford as nearly 10-point favorites in what is expected to be a high-scoring game. The Trojans are coming off a 66-14 shellacking of Rice in their opener, while the Cardinal were 41-10 victors over Colgate.

Cup half-full or half-empty. It all depends on how you look at it, and the same can be said for fans of the Pac-12 after the first week of the season. On one hand, the teams in the conference went a collective 9-3, but on the other hand, Oregon and Utah — the two highest nationally-ranked teams in the conference — both took an L.

USC leads this all-time series, 62-34-3, but Stanford took home the the dub last year, 42-28.

Oklahoma transfer Caleb Williams balled out in his debut, throwing for 249 yards on 19 of 22 passes for two touchdowns — both to Jordan Addison — getting 12 different receivers throughout the game along with backup Miller Moss.

But it was the defense that gave Rice fits and should do the same against Stanford and Tanner McKee. Now, we can’t expect three touchdowns off interceptions for the Trojans, and there is a talent disparity between Rice and Stanford’s offense, but the defense will once again be the key for USC.

Last year, Stanford gave up a conference-worst 451.2 yards per game, including 235.6 on the ground. While they did shift from a 3-4 to a 4-3, it won’t be enough to stop Williams — who rushed for 68 yards on his own in Week 1 — and the USC offense that is looking to get back to its former glory.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at USC -9.5

No. 9 Baylor at No. 21 BYU — 10:15 p.m. on ESPN

Both Baylor and BYU lit up the scoreboards in their blowout victories in Week 1. Consecutive lopsided wins for either school would be unexpected, given that BYU enters the matchup as only a slight favorite.

It’s not hard to see why the Cougars come into this one with the books backing them. They had their way with South Florida in Week 1 behind a solid showing from quarterback Jaren Hall and a dominant 312-yard ground attack. BYU also has just one loss in Provo over the prior two seasons and you can count on the fans giving Kalani Sitake’s squad all the advantage it needs. But will it be enough to overcome the Baylor Bears, which beat the the Cougars by 14 points a season ago in Waco?

Baylor will be fielding a different offense than it did a season ago when it played the Cougars. Still, if the offense performs anything like it did in Week 1 vs. Albany, this game could be one that far surpasses the projected points total.

Expert picks against the spread

Picks made at BYU -3.5

Picks records

(Photo of Jahmyr Gibbs: Gary Cosby Jr. / USA Today)