College Football Week 2 Betting Picks: Wisconsin, Michigan State, BYU

Week 2 of the college football season should be even more exciting than Week 1 for bettors, as it features a few outstanding matchups with solid value on home teams.

When handicapping the second games for schools, it is important not to overreact to how they looked in their season openers.

A perfect example is Wisconsin. The Badgers were steamrolled by the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide last Saturday on national television in a 35-17 loss.

They were held to their lowest rushing total in almost three years with 40 yards on 21 carries, but on Saturday, they will face a Miami-Ohio RedHawks team that gave up roughly 200 yards per game a year ago.

Even though the point spread is high on Wisconsin at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, the team has a successful history playing teams from the Mid-American Conference, going 10-0 straight up and 7-3 against the spread in its last 10 games.

The biggest game of Week 2 pits the fifth-ranked Michigan State Spartans against the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks in a rematch from last season. Both teams are coming off wins last week, and neither team's defense looked particularly good.

The Spartans have the more experienced quarterback of the two schools in Connor Cook, and they will not have to deal with 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota in this one, as he is in the NFL playing for the Tennessee Titans.

Michigan State is a small home favorite and will be seeking revenge from a last year’s 46-27 loss at Autzen Stadium.

Another game in which the polls seem to be impacting the spread will take place in Provo, where the 20th-ranked Boise State Broncos will visit the BYU Cougars.

The Broncos are small road favorites, but they will be taking on a BYU team that should be extra motivated in its home opener after losing starting quarterback Taysom Hill for the season with a foot injury.

The Cougars are coming off an incredible comeback road win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and have a talented backup replacing Hill in Tanner Mangum, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass on a Hail Mary play as time expired.