Ohio State at USC: The Buckeyes slummed to the level of my beloved alma mater, Ohio U., in an embarrassing affair at the Horseshoe last week. The Bobcat defense dominated the field for three quarters, and they have just one player who might ever sniff an NFL practice squad (DL Jameson Hartke). USC gets this game at home coming off a bye week, and they have 4 defensive starters who might get drafted in the first fifteen picks next April. The Buckeyes haven?t beaten the Trojans in California since 1974, including the heartbreaking 1980 Rose Bowl loss by Art Schlichter & Co. to Charles White and Paul McDonald, two of the biggest Cleveland pro flops of all time. I expect a better effort from Ohio State, but Team Sweater Vest will need the SoCals to play a sloppy, error-filled game to have any shot. Sorry Dad, not gonna happen. USC 27, Ohio State 13. Kansas at South Florida: This game was scheduled back when USF was trying to get anyone to come to St. Pete and Kansas was desperately looking for a potential road win. My how times have changed, as both are ranked and the winner will likely crack the top 10 in the rankings. The Bulls should bounce back from a near-collapse against emerging rival UCF and take out the visiting Jayhawks, who are still living off 2007 glory and look overrated thus far. USF 30, Kansas 24. UCLA at BYU: The Cougars survived on a letter-of-the-law penalty against Washington, while UCLA is chomping at the bit to get back on the field after an impressive opening win against Tennessee. It often takes flukish breaks and favorable calls to achieve greatness, and BYU is in great position to run the table if they can win this one. Because it?s in Provo and because they won the Las Vegas Bowl last year against this UCLA team thanks to yet another blocked FG, I?ll take the confident Cougars to beat the Bruins 29-27. Wisconsin at Fresno State: The Big Ten gets a lot of crap from a lot of critics about soft non-conference schedules. This week sees the top Big 10 team playing at #1 USC and the second-best (thus far) Big Ten team playing at a ranked Fresno State team with very legit BCS Bowl aspirations if they can win. LSU, Florida, and Texas play who? Keep that in mind when Wisconsin goes to a minor bowl with two close losses (Ohio State and this game) while a 3-loss LSU team feels violated by not getting a BCS bowl berth. Fresno State 20-17.