College Football Picks Week 2: Odds and Spread Predictions for Top 25 Teams

The treacherous, unforgiving college football season does not often dole out second chances. None of the nation's top-ranked schools can afford an early slip-up with four precious College Football Playoff spots hanging in the balance.

Last week, three teams included in the AP Top 25 kicked off the season in the losing column, all against fellow ranked adversaries. Including these marquee matchups early in the season produces madness in the polls, and that chaos won't subside this Saturday.

Two premier bouts bless the schedule, both of which will shape the Pac-12 outlook. Oregon and Michigan State will up the ante with a showdown carrying championship implications.

Before I break down those games, here's a full look at every ranked team's upcoming opponent.

Rank	Team	Week 2 Opponent	Spread	Prediction
1	Florida State	Citadal	*	Florida State 48-7
2	Alabama	Florida Atlantic	ALA -40	Alabama 34-3
3	Oregon	Michigan State	ORE -12	Oregon 31-27
4	Oklahoma	Tulsa	OKL -23	Oklahoma 44-14
5	Auburn	San Jose State	AUB -32.5	Auburn 38-6
6	Georgia	N/A
7	Michigan State	Oregon	ORE -12	Oregon 31-27
8	Ohio State	Virginia Tech	OSU -11	Ohio State 27-20
9	Texas A&M	Lamar	*	Texas A&M 55-10
10	Baylor	Northwestern State	*	Baylor 42-17
11	UCLA	Memphid	UCLA -23	UCLA 30-3
12	LSU	Sam Houston State	*	LSU 27-6
13	Stanford	USC	STA -3	Stanford 23-20
14	USC	Stanford	STA -3	Stanford 23-20
15	Mississippi	UAB	MISS -25.5	Mississippi 35-14
16	Notre Dame	Michigan	NTD -3.5	Michigan 17-16
17	Arizona State	New Mexico	ASU -25	Arizona State 41-13
18	Wisconsin	Western Illinois	*	Wisconsin 24-9
19	Nebraska	McNeese State	*	Nebraska 37-6
20	Kansas State	Iowa State	KSU -12	Kansas State 30-20
21	South Carolina	East Carolina	SC -17	South Carolina 45-19
21	North Carolina	San Diego State	NC -19.5	North Carolina 35-13
23	Clemson	South Carolina State	*	Clemson 27-13
24	Missouri	Toldeo	MO -3.5	Toldeo 24-20

*Spreads unavailable at time of publishing. 

Note: All odds, updated as of early Friday morning, are courtesy of Odds Shark.

No. 14 USC at No. 13 Stanford (-3)

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Putting all childish coaching controversies aside, Stanford's David Shaw said something about the Cardinal and Trojans' rivalry that should net everyone's approval.

"When both teams have been ranked, when one team has been ranked, it hasn't mattered," Shaw said during a conference call, per the Los Angeles Times' Gary Klein. "The games are tight and the games are exciting. They're fun to watch."

Last year's meeting was as close as could be. USC escaped with a win on a last-minute field goal, but Stanford finished the four quarters with 26 more total yards. A year after proving evenly matched, the Pac-12 enemies stand back to back in the AP poll, foreshadowing another nail-biter this weekend.

Steve Sarkisian sure started his USC coaching tenure in style. The Trojans celebrated his debut by accumulating 701 total yards in a 52-13 blowout over Fresno State. Warmly welcomed to Sarkisian's spread offense, Cody Kessler quickly generated career highs with 394 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Stanford dazzled on the other side, limiting UC Davis to a measly 115 total yards during last week's 45-0 shutout. One of college football's toughest defenses has stifled stronger offenses, ruining Oregon's title hopes twice in the past two years.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Cardinal haven't lost lately at Stanford Stadium, the site of Saturday's showdown:

Playing at home gives Stanford the slight edge over USC, but it wouldn't be surprising to see this contest once again decided on a late field goal.

Prediction: Stanford 23, USC 20 

No. 7 Michigan State at No. 3 Oregon (-11)

Games like this usually don't come around this early in the season. A loss could prove fatal to either school's playoff chances, and a victory bolts the winner way up the rankings.

Here we have yet another battle between an offensive machine and a defensive powerhouse. Last year, Oregon ranked second in yards amassed, while Michigan State placed second in yards allowed. 

Once again, home-field advantage factors prominently into this game's outlook. Oregon has not suffered a loss at home since falling to Stanford in overtime during the 2012 season. Memories of the Ducks' last two losses to the Cardinal naturally come up, as they maintain the offense vs. defense narrative.

Fielding questions about the comparison during Tuesday's press conference, head coach Mark Helfrich resented those past shortcomings shaping a negative perception of his team's ability to survive against a defensive-minded club.

"That’s the media’s job," he said. "If one loss happens, we have to totally rebuild our program. It’s kind of that unfair situation to our guys, to a certain extent, that Stanford loses to Utah and it’s just an aberration, but we lose to Stanford and we have to totally blow everything up and start over."

A win this weekend would earn some temporary silence, at least until Oregon faces Stanford later in the season. Before that, however, Oregon would vault up to No. 2, possibly even No. 1 if Florida State doesn't play any better.

Betting against the spread, Michigan State's stringent defense should keep the score within single digits, which would enable the Spartans to cover with ease. Unfortunately, beating the spread doesn't count in the win column.

Look for Marcus Mariota to pass this huge test, proving his legitimacy as a top college quarterback and an NFL prospect with a strong effort against Michigan State's physical secondary.

Prediction: Oregon 31, Michigan State 27