Well, go figure. I change the name of this column to “Fade Material” and then I start handing out winning picks. If I knew that was all I had to do, I would have changed the title years ago and avoided all the years of .500 or below predictions.

After a 3-1 performance in Week 1, I finished 3-0-1 with my Week 2 picks. Georgia was a push against South Carolina but TCU, Alabama and BYU had no problems covering. I’m still looking for my first sweep of the season, so let’s see if we can’t nail it this week. (Although I admit to having reservations about “Road Test Weekend.” There are some tough games on the board…)

Auburn @ Clemson, 12:00PM ET
Everyone keeps waiting for Auburn to lose and all they’ve done the past two weeks is pull wins out of their backsides. The No. 19 Tigers find themselves once again as underdogs, this time against an unranked Clemson team. Nobody can ever quite figure out Clemson, which either plays the game of its life or sinks to the level of its competition. They’re 1-4 against the spread in their last five home games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 versus the SEC, while Auburn is 4-1 ATS in their last five road games. Auburn is also 6-0 ATS versus a team with a winning record and 4-0 ATS in their last four games an underdog. I think the Tigers of Auburn keeps this within a field goal, making that 3.5-point spread highly attractive.
THE PICK: AUBURN TIGERS +3.5

Ohio State @ Miami, 7:30PM ET
The Buckeyes face their first road test under new head coach Luke Fickell and while they didn’t look particularly sharp against Toledo last week at home, I like OSU to win outright tonight. They’ll face a quarterback in Jacory Harris, who is coming off a one-game suspension and who was unimpressive against Oho State last year. He threw four interceptions, including three in the first half alone. Granted, that was a different Buckeyes team last season but the defense is still solid and I expect them to give Harris trouble again this time around. The Buckeyes are 11-3 against the number in all games over the last two seasons and 14-4 ATS in road games in September since 1992.
THE PICK: OHIO STATE BUCKEYES +2.5

Northwestern @ Army, 3:30PM ET
The Wildcats are just 2-10 against the spread as a favorite over the last three seasons and 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games overall. Army, meanwhile, is 4-2 against the number coming off a home loss and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games following a straight up loss. Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa may be out for this game, which means it’ll be dual threat versus dual threat when Kain Colter battles Army’s Trent Steelman. I like the Black Knights to keep things close and get a big cover at home.
THE PICK: ARMY +6

Stanford @ Arizona, 10:45PM ET
Despite starting slow against Duke last week on the road, Stanford eventually got its offense going and cruised to a 44-14 victory (and an easy cover). The line keeps dropping in Arizona’s favor in this one and I’m not sure why (outside of the fact that they’re home). The Wildcats are 1-4 against the spread in their last five home games against Stanford and 2-6 ATS in their last eight overall meetings with the Cardinal. Meanwhile, Stanford is 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight games overall and 5-0-1 ATS in their last six games as a road favorite.
THE PICK: STANFORD –9

Last Week: 3-0-1
Season: 6-1-1

For a complete list of odds for Week 3 in College Football, check out Bullz-Eye.com.

The drumbeat of college football scandals just got louder with some serious allegations being leveled against the Miami Hurricanes football program. Yahoo! Sports broke the story and followed up with more analysis, and this thing could be pretty big.

In one sense, none of this is surprising. As we’ve said many times, college football players are squeezed by the current system and there are too many temptations for them to cash in on benefits when they don’t have their own spending money. We’ve seen it in the tattoo scandal at Ohio Sate and the potential suit scandal at Alabama. The NCAA needs to reform the rules.

This crap happens everywhere. The deciding factor is simply proof available to the NCAA. With Ohio State, they had an FBI sting that produced the memorabilia that was central to the scandal. So far in Alabama there are tons of photos produced by sites like SPORTSbyBROOKS. We’ll see where that goes.

Here in Miami things might be even worse, as a rogue booster named Nevin Shapiro is in prison. He’s pissed off and he seems determined to take down the Miami football program. Thus the problem – if he can provide proof, Miami is in huge trouble. Some of the allegations are pretty tough as he’s saying he also provided prostitutes to the players.

The NCAA needs to be careful here. If they go off on these programs with massive sanctions, you might end up with a revolt as other schools will realize that this is happening everywhere on some level. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Meanwhile, the officials in Miami need to get on top of this asap.

The Bo Pelini-to-Miami talks are starting to heat up (and getting a little controversial to boot). The Miami Herald first reported that Pelini had been given permission to talk to Miami about its open coaching vacancy, but Nebraska AD Tom Osborne says that he gave no such permission. Then the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Pelini had spoken to Miami AD Kirby Hocutt about the Canes’ job, although the position has not been offered to him yet.

But why would Pelini want to coach at Miami? Nebraska has more fan support, gave him his first head coaching job and his roots are firmly planted in the Big Ten – where the Huskers will be playing next season and beyond. It just doesn’t add up.

Until you look at his coaching background, that is.

Pelini’s resume is littered with three-year stints. He was with the 49ers as a DB coach for three years (1994-1996). He was the Patriots’ linebacker coach for three years (97-99). He was the Packers’ linebacker coach for three years (2000-2002). He spent one year at Nebraska (as its defensive coordinator) and one year at Oklahoma as a co-defensive coordinator, but then got back onto his three-year plan when he was LSU’s DC from 2005 to 2007.

Now, after three years spent in Lincoln, his name is being brought up for another head coaching position. What does any of this mean? Maybe something, maybe nothing. Just because he has a habit of leaving a team after three years doesn’t mean he’s going to leave Nebraska. But given the reports that are coming out of the Miami area, it makes you wonder if Pelini is starting to pack his bags again.

In August, Pelini said that Nebraska isn’t a “steppingstone job” and that he’s happy. But he went on to say, “Am I going to say you would never ever look or talk to somebody? That’s crazy to make an ultimatum like that. But we’re not looking.”

But again though, that was back in August. Maybe he’s looking now.

Two days ago, Jon Gruden issued a statement that said he was committed to Monday Night Football and to ESPN. But that was before he had to endure the 49ers-Cardinals matchup, so maybe a couple of hours of watching Derek Anderson play has changed his mind.

Several sources, including ESPN.com, are reporting that Gruden is the University of Miami’s top choice to replace Randy Shannon, who was fired on Saturday following the Canes’ loss to South Florida. Oregon wanted Gruden to become their offensive coordinator in 2009, but he declined their offer and stayed in the booth. But will he be lured back to the sidelines now that a major university wants him to be their head coach?

It’s easy to see why Miami would want Gruden. First and foremost he’s a Super Bowl-winning head coach, which are hard to come by. He’s also a big name (someone college players would respect, or so you would think), a tireless worker and a great offensive mind. He also knows how to work with quarterbacks, which is obviously important at all levels.

But would it work? Would Gruden be a good fit for the college ranks?

While he cut his teeth in college football before moving up to the NFL, he has never been a college head coach. The X’s and O’s may be similar, but college coaches have to know how to recruit. For as much success as Gruden had at the pro level, he often preferred to work with veteran players like Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson and Jeff Garcia. That’s not to say he couldn’t mold young minds, but he seemingly likes to work with players that already know the game – not ones that have to be taught it.

Either way, it’s an interesting concept. Miami is tired of losing and wants someone that can come in right away and win. Is that person Gruden? Maybe, but there are a lot of things to consider. Just because he’s a big name doesn’t mean he’s the right person for the job. Besides, he may have several options in the NFL once the season is over. Who knows if he even wants to coach at the college level?

Remember the first time you saw this picture — if you’ve seen it — and thought to yourself, “someone’s going to get killed catching a post pattern.”? Well, apparently the Big Ten — and the NCAA — thought the same thing, and Illinois and Northwestern will play their game today at Wrigley Field like you used to play in your backyard — always going toward the “good” end.

No, your eyes aren’t fooling you there. That is the goalpost attached to the wall at Wrigley. The wall that literally cuts into the paint of the end line.

The good news for Northwestern, Illinois and the Big Ten is that this mess of a field has drawn a lot of attention to a game that really doesn’t mean anything. People will tune in to see the wall in the endzone, and how the teams react to always going the same way.

It’s not the only game that is using a baseball field to create attention and ratings, as Notre Dame will play Army at Yankee Stadium tonight. The thought of these two playing at Yankee Stadium — even though it’s the new Yankee Stadium — has evoked a lot of memories of this historical rivalry. And these are two programs that love it when you’re focusing on history, because their history is a lot better than their present.

Both games are pulling in huge money for tickets, probably just for the spectacle. But even on a weak day in college football, neither game is big enough to crack the top five games of the week.

I had a pretty good day last week, going 4-1. I swung and missed on Florida vs. South Carolina, because for some reason I believed a Steve Addazio-led offense could score 21 points. How silly of me.

No. 7 Wisconsin at Michigan, noon: This game is really intriguing to me for a few reasons. Wisconsin, of course, is coming off dropping 83 points on Indiana a week ago (for the record, I have no problem with college teams scoring a million points on opponents. In a system where you have to overly impress to move ahead instead of beat the team ahead of you, that’s what happens). Michigan, of course, gave up 65 points two weeks ago to an Illinois team that doesn’t have an offense as good as Wisconsin’s. Really, other than Purdue, Michigan’s given up a ton of points to every Big Ten opponent it’s faced. So what can the Badgers do today? How many points can they score with John Clay actually in the lineup? And while they’re scoring points, can they stop Michigan and Denard Robinson/Tate Forcier? It may take until 5 p.m. to finish this one, but I imagine it will be fun to watch. Pick: Wisconsin 52-41.

No. 9 Ohio State at No. 20 Iowa, 3:30 p.m.: The interesting thing about this game is that Ohio State has had slow starts in all of its big games this year. Iowa, meanwhile, is a team that seems to feed almost exclusively off of momentum (see: Michigan State game). The Hawkeyes are coming home after losing to Northwestern, and are likely out of the Big Ten title hunt. They’re a wounded animal, which is dangerous, especially early on against a slow-starting team. But if I’ve figured this out, I’m sure Jim Tressel has, too. I think he’ll have his team ready to weather the early storm in Kinnick, and then it will simply come down to Terrelle Pryor having to make plays down the stretch. Pick: Ohio State 21-20.

No. 16 Virginia Tech at No. 24 Miami, 3:30 p.m.: The Hurricanes haven’t really skipped a beat with Stephen Morris taking over for the injured Jacory Harris at quarterback. But that was against Maryland and Georgia Tech. Now he’s going to have to deal with a red-hot Virginia Tech team, led by Bud Black’s Foster’s (wrong Bud. Wrong sport) defense. If Morris can get things going early, and Miami’s athletic defense can corral Tyrod Taylor, the Hurricanes have a shot. If the Hokies get going early, however, and rattle the freshman, it could be a long day. Pick: Va Tech 24-17.

No. 13 Arkansas at No. 21 Mississippi State, 7 p.m.: Who would have thought we’d be paying this much attention to Mississippi State this season? Off the field, the Bulldogs brought all of this upon themselves by going public with the Cam Newton allegations. Not saying they’re wrong, just pointing out that there’s nobody else to blame if the players feel there are off-field distractions. On the field, all of the attention seems to be stemming from beating Florida a month ago. Sorry, but that’s not something that deserves attention this year. Pick: Arkansas 31-21.

No. 8 Nebraska at No. 19 Texas A&M, 8 p.m.: A&M is riding high into this one, on a four-game win streak with wins over Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas Tech (it also beat Kansas, but that doesn’t really need to be mentioned). The Aggies had lost three straight prior to that, and would keep themselves in the Big 12 South race with a win today. Nebraska’s an interesting team, as it either looks lights out, or meh. The Huskers squeaked out an overtime win against a better-than-expected Iowa State team two weeks ago, and only scored 20 points against Kansas last week. The normally impenetrable Husker defense has hit some rough spots this season, and faces a tough task against Jerrod Johnson. If Taylor Martinez and Roy Helu can get the ground game going, Nebraska will be fine, because that defense will get a few stops against the Aggies, and Johnson will stop the offense himself a couple of times. Pick: Nebraska 28-20.

Jacory Harris threw into double coverage again. Weird. His punishment: getting absolutely lit up by a pass rusher.

That hit had all sorts of pain incorporated in it. First, there was the helmet to the chest with about 250 pounds of force behind it. Then there’s the getting lifted off the ground with his feet above his head and landing on his spine … with about 250 pounds of force coming down on top of it.

Harris left the game, which Miami is losing, and isn’t expected to come back. The injury was undisclosed, but I’m going to go ahead and diagnose him with a severe case of jacked-up-edness.

If you’re on Twitter, do yourself a favor and do a search for Jacory Harris. You’re going to see a lot of “Wow!” in that search, but it’s what comes after that “Wow!” that’s the fun part.

From tweet to tweet, it likely varies from “what a throw” to “what the hell was he thinking?”

The Miami junior can be one of the most dynamic players in the country when he’s on, but one of the more frustrating ones when he’s not. And that’s just in the course of one quarter.

Take today’s game against Clemson for instance. Harris hit Leonard Hankerson on a seam route with a pass that couldn’t have been thrown any better. Hankerson didn’t have to break stride after getting behind two Clemson defenders, and went untouched for the touchdown. Even my wife was impressed as she looked up from the Food Network videos she was watching on her laptop.

A couple possessions later, with Miami in the red zone, Harris threw an incredibly horrible interception in the endzone. There was no pressure on him, he just blew the throw.

At this point, we should stop acting surprised at Harris’ up-and-down play. Some people have done that. I heard someone on ESPN Radio this morning state very matter-of-factly that Harris routinely throws into coverage. It’s not something he’s trying to fix, it’s just something he does, which is probably a confidence thing. Harris is supremely confident in his abilities, so he thinks he can make any throw. That’s going to lead to some great things, but some awful things as well. He’s like a skinnier, younger, much less annoying Brett Favre.