2011 College Football Week 2: 15 Things You Need To Know To Beat the Spread

The second week of the 2011 college football season starts Thursday night, and casual bettors already think that the LSU Tigers are going to win the national title after beating the Oregon Ducks last Saturday night.

That's simply not how the game of sports betting works, and it's my job to give you the best information to win each and every week.

After all, I'm the Bleacher Report sports betting guru.

I've spent the last couple days scouring the Earth to find the top 15 things you need to know to beat the bookmaker.

Arizona Wildcats at Oklahoma State Cowboys (-13.5)

The Arizona Wildcats are already revenge-minded this 2011 season, as they will look to turn the tables on the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops watched his team drop a 36-10 defeat to the Cowboys in last year's Valero Alamo Bowl.

Play Oklahoma State, right?

Wrong.  Arizona's top man is 18-2 ATS as an underdog when playing with revenge on the brain.

Missouri Tigers at Arizona State Sun Devils (-7.5)

Every casual fan is going to be talking about Arizona State's "Black Out" Friday night, as the school will be debuting its new all black uniforms and jerseys.

Professional bettors are going to be locked in on Sun Devils head coach Dennis Erickson's 32-16 ATS record as a home favorite.

Now that's a devilish trend.

San Diego St. Aztecs (-9.5) at Army Black Knights

San Diego State is 1-8 straight-up in its Division I era in the Eastern time zone, dropping its last eight trips.  It's going to be tough sledding with the start time of this game being 9 a.m. local time for the West Coasters.

Army isn't exactly offering the best numbers to back in this game, including an 0-7 ATS mark in home openers and failing to cover in 13 of its last 15 opportunities as underdogs in West Point.

The Aztecs 3-9 ATS mark as road favorites leaves a lot to be desired.

Next.

Miss. St. Bulldogs (-6.5) at Auburn Tigers

Casual bettors are going to immediately start playing against a team that has the nation's longest winning streak of 16 games.

Lines-makers know this and have made the Auburn Tigers considerable home underdogs in an SEC contest during Week 2 of the season.

Tigers head coach Gene Chizik is an impressive 8-0 SU in games decided by four points or less during his time on campus.

That statistic fits nice with Auburn's 7-2 ATS record in the last nine meetings in this series.

Alabama Crimson Tide (-10) at Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State gets its chance to exact revenge against Alabama Saturday inside Beaver Stadium after suffering a 24-3 loss in last year's meeting in Tuscaloosa.

Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno has a losing 17-18 SU record against current members of the Southeastern Conference.

That doesn't make it impossible for the Joe Pa's to make you money—coming in with a 6-1 ATS mark as home underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points.

Stanford Cardinal (-21) at Duke Blue Devils

Stanford may have picked up a 57-3 win over the San Jose State Spartans last week as 30-point home favorites, but the offense managed to gain just 373 total yards.

If this line moves above the three-touchdown barrier in favor of the Cardinal, the play may be on the Blue Devils.  Stanford is 2-5-1 ATS as favorites of more than 21 points.

Don't get too carried away with the home team, as Duke is 8-20 ATS in front of its student body.

Virginia Tech Hokies (-18) at East Carolina Pirates

Virginia Tech is not a school you want to schedule in September due to its 61-10 record since the start of the 1993 campaign. 

The Hokies also lead this particular series, 11-5, including a 4-2 mark inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Problem is, East Carolina is going to show up and put its 5-0 ATS mark as home underdogs of a touchdown or more on the line.

Now that's something every bettor likes for a team to do.

Nevada Wolf Pack at Oregon Ducks (-26.5)

Oregon scored a pedestrian 27 points in its opening-week loss to LSU, and everyone thinks the offense is overrated. 

Let's remember that the Ducks do their best flying around Autzen Stadium and have gone "over" the total in their last 10 games as a home favorite.

Scoring points is always key when trying to cover a number of this kind, as Oregon is 22-10-1 ATS in their last 33 games when favored by 10.5 or more points.

NC State Wolfpack (-2) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Did someone forget to tell the lines-maker that Russell Wilson transferred from NC State to Wisconsin?  You may have seen him run up the score on the UNLV Rebels last Thursday.

The Wolfpack are a forgettable 0-10 ATS when favored away from home.

Wake Forest has won four of the last six meetings with NC State, including each of the last four games at BB&T Field.

Do you hear that ring?  It's the cash register.

Cincinnati Bearcats at Tennessee Volunteers (-6)

The Big East (8-0) and Big 12 (10-0) are the only conferences with perfect non-conference records through the first week of games.

Everyone has jumped off the Cincinnati Bearcats' bandwagon in the program's second year under Butch Jones, which could be a mistake.

True.  Rolling up 72 points in a season-opening win over Austin Peay isn't really difficult if that's what you're into, but it also shows the team is pissed off after last year's 4-8 season.

The Bearcats are a money-grabbing 21-7 ATS as road underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points.

South Carolina Gamecocks (-3) at Georgia Bulldogs

Before you cash in all your gold coins and wager on the Georgia Bulldogs as home underdogs, you may want to know that the program is 0-7 ATS when playing at home after a double-digit loss. 

That's definitely not a trend that states the 'Dawgs will bounce back in any way in their SEC opener.

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier's 13-5 record against Georgia looms large this weekend.

Fresno State Bulldogs at Nebraska Cornhuskers (-28)

Nebraska fans may be expecting another blowout in Week 2, as the program is 22-1 all time against WAC opponents, including 21 consecutive victories.

That's a stat worth betting coupled with Fresno State's 1-16 SU record when playing a non-conference foe as a double-digit underdog, but the school is 8-1 ATS when that number is sent out at 17 or more points.

The Huskers failed as 36.5-point home favorites a week ago, falling to 2-10-1 ATS when playing as a double-digit favorite.

BYU Cougars at Texas Longhorns (-7)

BYU's narrow 14-13 win over Ole Miss as a two-point road favorite really creates some line value here. 

The Cougars are touchdown underdogs despite holding a 2-0 edge over the Texas Longhorns, winning both games in a home-and-home series in 1987-88.

Texas is a wallet-emptying 4-12 ATS in its last 16 games.

Utah Utes at USC Trojans (-9.5)

The Utah Utes have gained plenty of experience against the former Pac-10 Conference over the years, so playing within the newly-formed Pac-12 will not be that big of a deal.

It shows with the program's 18-7-1 ATS mark as underdogs against such opponents.

USC has failed to cover the spread in its last four home games, as the Trojans program is still reeling from Pete Carroll leaving.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-3.5) at Michigan Wolverines

Did this line surprise you after watching each team play in Week 1?  You're not alone.

Bettors definitely need to be aware of Notre Dame's 5-0-1 ATS mark as a road favorite after dropping a contest.

Saturday's much-anticipated game is being billed as the "First Night Game in Michigan History", which it is, but someone might want to turn off the lights against the Irish.

Notre Dame has won all three previous meetings when the two teams have square off under the lights.