Buffalo Bulls (+500) at Pittsburgh Panthers (-700)

Now that the proverbial Christmas is over for football bettors learned a harsh lesson last week about laying money on a game without thinking it through.

The No. 25 ranked GMAC Bowl was surely the last thing on our bettors minds. It just so happened that it was Bowling Green who controlled the ball on the road, and the whole world saw that the Pitt running game had diminished greatly from last season, which resulted in a 27-17 upset for the Falcons.

Meanwhile, the sports bettor by trouncing a much more renowned UTEP squad--albeit in front of a very sparse crowd. This week, the Bulls look to do exactly what their MAC rivals did last Saturday, and fend off the reeling Panthers.

Outlook

This game will be a tale of a deflated squad against an uber-confident team on the rise. These two teams turned in near polar opposite performances in Week 1. Pittsburgh turned the ball over four times, and accumulated a measly 142 yards on the ground--their usual strong suit. Contrarily, the Bulls' QB Drew Willy was his usual efficient self, airing out 221 yards for four touchdowns, and no interceptions. More impressive was the debut of the new two-headed ground attack from All-MAC tailback James Starks and Brandon Thermilus--who broke out for two TDs.

While the Pitt defense--weary or not--is much better than UTEP's porous squad, in theory, Buffalo's offensive strategy can keep any team at bay. Willy, now a senior, was one of the most accurate and efficient quarterbacks in the country. Starks and Thermilus are workhorse backs who will take on some of the Big East's best tacklers in Austin Random and Scott McKillop. On the other side, Buffalo's secondary is made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores--more or less the only part of their team that isn't predominantly last year's starters. Bill Stull should be settled in for Week 2, after struggling through his first game back from injury last week.

The Edge

Still give the edge to Pittsburgh based on overall talent, but not enough of an advantage to lay heavy juice on them in this one. The only valuable play on this game is to sprinkle on the Bulls. An rattled football team is not a good place to be resting your money, however an up-and-coming one is (see: Utah). The young Bulls have absolutely nothing to lose.

A non-conference game against a big school, they'll be on cloud nine, shooting for an upset. While the Panthers might press a little trying to avenge last week's loss, Buffalo will stick to their safe game plan and wait for Pitt to make mistakes.

Another big game from Starks, who appears to have a future in pro football, could be the X-factor in this one.