| SATURDAY'S NOTABLE GAMES |
| Illinois (+8½) vs. Missouri | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | Pick: Missouri 43, Illinois 38 |
| Expect a shootout. Illini QB Juice Williams trained with Donovan McNabb this summer, and has Arrelious Benn back. Missouri's Chase Daniel will find Jeremy Maclin often. |
| Alabama (+5) at Clemson | 7 p.m. | Ch. 8 | Pick: Clemson 24, Ala. 13 |
| Welcome to the annual Clemson debate. Are the Tigers overhyped or underachieving or both? Seldom has a program done so little with so much so often. |
| USC at Virginia (+19½) | 2:30 p.m. | Ch. 8 | Pick: USC 38, Virginia 16 |
| Virginia prospered last season in tight games, winning five by one or two points. One problem: USC, with QB Mark Sanchez back, won't let it be close. |
| Fresno St. (+5½) at Rutgers | 3 p.m. | ESPN | Pick: FSU 27, Rutgers 25 |
| Fresno State's motto of anybody, anytime, anywhere apparently includes New Jersey. The Bulldogs' improbable BCS dream survives Week 1. Rutgers will miss Ray Rice. |
| Fla. Atlantic (+24) at Texas | 6 p.m. | PPV | Pick: Texas 48, FAU 21 |
| For a half or even three quarters, Bernie Kosar clone Rusty Smith might be able to keep Florida Atlantic in the game. Then the Texas depth and offensive line will assert itself. |
| Ark. St. (+20) at Texas A&M | 6 p.m. | No TV | Pick: A&M 42, Ark. St. 17 |
| Mike Sherman has done almost everything to involve the Aggies' fans short of authoring a VIP newsletter. He's too smart to do that. Arkansas State is 0-14 vs. the Big 12. |
| TCU at New Mexico (+6½) | 5 p.m. | Versus | Pick: TCU 20, New Mexico 17 |
| New Mexico coach Rocky Long got an extension one day before the NCAA hammer fell for academic fraud. TCU went 1-3 on the road in the Mountain West last season. |
| SMU (+3½) at Rice | 7 p.m. | ESPN | Pick: SMU 45, Rice 43 |
| Consider this one of the baby steps in June Jones' rebuilding process at SMU. While Rice isn't exactly Top 25 material, the Mustangs haven't won there since 1986. |
| Chattanooga (+49) at Okla. | 6 p.m. | PPV | Pick: OU 56, Chattanooga 3 |
| Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops usually plays a good schedule, but was forced to add Chattanooga as a last-minute replacement. It could get ugly early. |
| E. Wash. (+35) at Texas Tech | 6 p.m. | No TV | Pick: Tech 63, E. Wash. 14 |
| Blame Tulsa for what seems like a huge mismatch. It took a better offer from Arkansas and canceled its contract with Tech. The Red Raiders could have 35 by halftime. |
| N. Texas (+24½) at Kan. St. | 6 p.m. | No TV | Pick: Kansas St. 38, UNT 10 |
| The Mean Green made the biggest offensive improvement of any Bowl Subdivision team last season. Now if only Todd Dodge can turn all those yards into points and victories. |
