College football Week 2 betting guide: Expert breaks down four top games, including Michigan vs. Oklahoma

Longtime college football betting expert Bruce Marshall shares key information for four of Week 2's games, including Iowa vs. Iowa State and Michigan vs. Oklahoma.

After a massive Week 1 slate, Week 2 of the college football also offers intriguing matchups, including Iowa at No. 16 Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk rivalry and a ranked showdown between No. 15 Michigan and No. 18 Oklahoma. SportsLine college football expert Bruce Marshall, the longtime executive editor of The Gold Sheet, takes you through what you need to know for Week 2's biggest college football contests on Saturday. For those who are into college football betting, you need to see Marshall's plays, as he's 106-73-1 (+2484) over his last 180 college football picks. 

Iowa at No. 16 Iowa State (Noon ET)

The most interesting Cy-Hawk games have come in recent years when both teams have been jockeying for places in the national rankings -- good enough to draw curiosity from outside the region. The last three years, the visiting team has won, with ISU's 10-7 upset at Iowa City two years ago breaking a four-game Iowa series win streak. Most of the games, at least since a wild 44-41 OT affair (won by ISU) in 2017, have also been gnarly defensive wars featuring five straight Unders until last year's 20-19 thriller won by the Cyclones, clearing a very modest 36.5 total. 

Another defensive battle would be no surprise, because that's what the Hawkeyes do, at least as long as sage DC Phil Parker is assisting Kirk Fernetz. What we're not sure about is the Iowa offense, an annual concern from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. The unit was thought to have gotten a boost with the arrival of former South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski, who passed for over 10,000 yards and 94 TDs in his decorated career as a Jackrabbit. Perhaps under wraps last week, Gronowski passed only 15 times in the opener vs. FCS Albany, in which Ferentz appeared hellbent to avoid exposing any Hawkeye offensive secrets. 

Most expect the floodgates to finally open up on Saturday, as ISU is ranked No. 16 this week and has a junior QB in Rocco Becht full of confidence after pitching a near-perfect game (19 of 20 passing) in a 55-7 romp past a good FCS team, South Dakota, last week. It's been 20 years, however, since the Cyclones have beaten the Hawkeyes by more than 3 points, so, looking at this spread, the hook added to the 3 is awfully enticing on the Iowa side. As these two can't seem to stop playing low-scoring games, clearing the 41.5 total looks a bit daunting as well.

No. 20 Ole Miss at Kentucky (3:30 p.m. ET)

Lane Kiffin has had to rinse some bad tastes from his mouth throughout his career, though none needed a bottle of Listerine quite like last September's 20-17 shocker executed by 15.5-point underdog Kentucky, at Vaught-Hemingway no less. That September result was the beginning of the end for the Rebs' chances at a Playoff berth. So, while a November loss at Florida might have effectively killed the team's hopes of make the tourney in 2024, don't tell that to anyone who tailgated in The Grove for last week's opener vs. Georgia State; to most of them, it was Kentucky that caused the Rebs to miss the CFP last year.

Looking ready to exact revenge on UK, Ole Miss came out snarling last week in the opener against what looked like a poorly-prepared Georgia State team. Whether it was a case of the Rebs looking that good or the Panthers being that bad, we suppose, is in the eye of the beholder, but let the records state that Ole Miss ran up a 63-7 score that probably could have been more lopsided if Kiffin had wished. With Jaxson Dart off to the NFL, it's now time for new QB Austin Simmons to shine, and he proved Kiffin's praise was not just idle chatter, passing for 341 yards and three TDs as the Rebs dropped nearly 700 yards of offense. The only blemishes were a pair of interceptions, but Kiffin opened the whole playbook and Simmons looked like he had been running the offense for years, confirming the talk from some of our SEC sources that Ole Miss might not skip a beat this season despite all of the departing talent. Kiffin was just as pleased with Mizzou transfer Kewan Lacy, who motored for 108 rushing yards and three TDs of his own.

For Mark Stoops and his Wildcats to have a chance at another upset, they'll have to try to turn Saturday's battle at Lexington into the same sort of trench warfare that happened last September in Oxford. While that sounds good in theory, in practice that approach wouldn't work again, as UK didn't win another SEC game after the Ole Miss upset. The culprit was a sluggish offense, which the Cats were hoping wouldn't be as much of an issue this fall with new QB Zach Calzada, who had been whipping the ball around pretty good for FCS Incarnate Word the past two years after his spell at Texas A&M. While there was no shame in the Cats not covering the 9.5-point spread in their opener last week vs. Toledo, and the 24-16 win over a top MAC contender hardly qualifies as a disappointment, Calzada spent most of the afternoon throwing dinks and dunks when he wasn't tossing the ball sideways. It was low-variance stuff all the way that resulted in only 85 passing yards on 23 attempts, as Stoops and OC Bush Hamdan seemed more intent on establishing the run, which UK did fairly well (220 yards). 

Perhaps the plan this week is to slow this game as last year, but if Calzada remains reluctant to go downfield with his throws, this does not have the look of an offense built to play from behind (remember, the Cats never exceeded 20 points in SEC action last year). Falling more than a TD behind looks like it might prove very problematic for Stoops -- something Kiffin surely realizes, too. Only one UK game in the SEC exceeded 46 points last season, suggesting this week's number in the 50-ish range might prove a tall hurdle to clear.

Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m. ET)

Diego Pavia for the Heisman? Why not? We can't think of a player who more deserves at least to enter the conversation. After all, Pavia has made his college mark at two of the most downtrodden programs in the country, New Mexico State and Vanderbilt, turning each into bowl qualifiers, which for most of their respective histories has been about as rare as a blue moon.

He's already led an upset of Virginia Tech, knocking them off last August with a swashbuckling 34-27 effort in which he scored the winning TD in overtime. Before the season was complete, Pavia helped Vandy slay Alabama for the first time in 40 years, scare fifth-ranked Texas and outscore a good Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Up to his old tricks in last week's opener vs. Charleston Southern, Pavia completed 20 of 25 passes and tossed three TDs in a 45-3 romp. When the dust settled, he'd accounted for 319 yards of offense and continued to infuse belief in the Commodores, whose defense is now flying around the field for Clark Lea, no longer afraid that one mistake will kill chances because the offense can't rally. That's the old Vandy, not the new Pavia model.

As much as Pavia seems to have the knack to do the right thing at the right time, Hokies counterpart Kyron Drones is battling the opposite problem, as his decision-making remains suspect and proved costly again in the latest exasperating Tech loss last Sunday in Atlanta vs. South Carolina. Though a capable dual-threat, Drones has been guilty of crucial errors, including in the many close games the Hokies lost last season (five losses by one score, another by only 10 points vs. Clemson). 

With Vandy playing more respectable defense these days, there doesn't seem an edge on that side of the ball that there would often have been for the Hokies in the matchup from years past. If the result comes down to which QB makes more big plays, as was the case last season, we'd rather have our money on Pavia.

No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET)

Hopes are high on both sidelines after respective disappointments last season. The Wolverines, who endured a bumpy ride under new head coach Sherrone Moore, ended on a nice uptick by recording a pair of shockers to close the season, first at the Big Horseshoe as a near three-TD dog over a stunned Ohio State, then over what looked like a disinterested Alabama in the Reliaquest Bowl at Tampa. The offense, however, was one of the nation's worst (ranking 129th), and the main focus of Moore and his staff in the offseason. 

The much-hyped QB Bryce Underwood, considered the nation's top recruit, flipped from LSU to Ann Arbor thanks to multi-millions in NIL money, and to no one's surprise was named the starter by Moore early in fall camp. Underwood showed well enough in the opener vs. New Mexico, hardly looking like a green freshman QB making his first college start, completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards. Yet the Michigan effort was not particularly convincing vs. the five-TD underdog Lobos, who put up a good fight into the fourth quarter before ending up as honorable 34-17 losers. Michigan's opportunistic defense helped with three interceptions, but the general thought among most Big Ten observers is that the Wolverines had better be able to show more if they want to challenge for a CFP berth this fall.

There is a bit more urgency attached to the situation, coaching-wise, at least, in Norman, where Brett Venables is feeling the heat after a three-year record of only 22-17, and last year's 6-7 performance capped by a loss to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl. Needless to say, that's not what they've been used to for the past 55 or so years at OU -- though nowadays in the SEC, it might be time for Sooner backers to not expect 10-or-11-win seasons every year.

Venables shook up the offense in the offseason, enlisting young guru Ben Arbuckle from Washington State as the new OC while almost simultaneously luring one of the big catches of the portal, Wazzu's QB John Mateer, a dual-threat whirling dervish who accounted for nearly 4,000 yards of offense and 44 TDs last year with the Cougars. He'll be facing tougher opponents this year in the SEC, to be sure, and the stats looked good enough in the opener, completing 30 of 37 for 392 yards and three TD passes, albeit vs. FCS opposition (Illinois State). Arbuckle, however, couldn't get the ground game going last week with only 103 rushing yards, while well-regarded Cal transfer RB Jaydn Ott barely registered a blip with one carry as OU was still stumbling along with only a 21-3 lead in the fourth before a pair of late TDs made the score seem a bit more decisive. Venables suggested a shoulder injury caused Ott's light workload, and that the Berkeley transfer will be featured more in future game plans. We will see. 

The Venables Sooners have lacked demon speed and true game-breakers, which many thought Ott would provide; until we see it, however, we're reluctant to hop on any OU bandwagon. Our instincts indicate we need a bit more time to figure out what's going on with each of these teams, but Michigan's ability to rise up on the big stage last season, and a new, sharper offensive edge with Underwood, suggests the Wolverines are unlikely to lose contact. Recent history suggests Michigan stays with the Sooners... let's make OU prove it really has upgraded before trusting this new-look team. Though if these offenses really have upgraded, shouldn't they combine to clear this modest mid-40s total?