While it is a big game for Utah, it could be even a bigger game for Pittsburgh which is favored to win the Big East Conference and is considered a darkhorse in the National Championship race. It will all revolve around the quarterback position, which is a concern going into the season, but all indications are that it will be fine. Sophomore Tino Sunseri won their battle in the spring and while he got minimal experience in his freshman year, he played well completing 10-17 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. The offense revolves around the running game and that is a matchup advantage here. Dion Lewis ran for 1800 yards and 17 touchdowns as a true freshman last season and his number will be called quite often. Defensively, the Utes have a strong line and a secondary that is athletic, although not proven. Any success the Panthers have running ball will set up the passing attack and they have one of the nation’s top wide receivers in Jonathan Baldwin. After finishing second in the league in total and scoring defense, Pittsburgh has a good nucleus to work around and at least one budding playmaker at each level. The Panthers return Greg Romeous and Jabaal Sheard to their defensive line which led the nation in sacks in 2009 with 3.69 per game. They also return both safeties their secondary which ranked 49th in passing defense, giving up 213 ypg, and also return two linebackers. It is a very physical unit and one that matches up well with the Utes physical offense. One thing we need to look at and keep an eye on is this line. As of early in the week, the number was 2.5 in most shops and while we could have caught a 3.5 last week, we still could get some added value. Look for a +3 at a minimum and while I am not one to endorse buying points, buying a half-point could be recommended to get this key number. Utah is just 5-14 ATS under head coach Kyle Whittingham in September games and while he is a solid coach, he has shown to come out slow. Pittsburgh meanwhile is 8-1 ATS on road grass fields over the last three years. 10* Pittsburgh Panthers

I played on Washington in the opening week of preseason and a lot of it was due to the coaching of new head coach Mike Shanahan who is widely known for taking winning in the preseason pretty serious. You take a look at the Broncos past history in the final week of the preseason and you see a team that went out to win. This situation this week is quite a bit different however. Starting quarterback Donovan McNabb remains out and he is questionable for Week One of the regular season as well. That means Rex Grossman, the backup for McNabb, is going to be held out of this game for precautionary reasons in case McNabb has to in fact sit out that preseason opener. That put the quarterback rotation in the hands of John Beck and Richard Bartel, a rookie out of Tarleton State. While Beck and Bartel have been told that they will roughly split the playing time, the coaches have not yet told them who will be starting the game. According to Shanahan, they won’t tell them until just before the start of the game. That along with the rotation on the other side is playing into this lien but I feel it is still not big enough. As for Arizona, the quarterback rotation is much different. There is still a battle for the starting spot between Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson so both will be seeing a decent amount of action on Thursday despite this being the final preseason game. While they are going to be put in harms way, they are going to play hard and do whatever it takes to succeed. The Redskins are just 2-11 ATS in their last 13 preseason games as a road underdog of 3.5 to 7 points and they fall into a negative situation favoring the Cardinals. Play against teams that have been outrushed by their opponents by 1.5 or more ypc during the preseason. This situation is 29-8 ATS (78.4 percent) since 1993. 10* Arizona Cardinals

USC is a team in disarray and after the NCAA brought the hammer down on the Trojans, this season was going to likely be a tough one. However, despite playing for nothing I think USC comes out of the gates strong as simply as a matter of pride more than anything else. The team is going to likely struggle for the next couple years more so than this year because of the loss of future scholarships. This is a statement game for USC. Hawaii was on top of the world just a couple years ago as it boasted one of the best offenses in the country while putting together a combined 23-4 record in 2006 and 2007. Head coach June Jones decided to leave after the 2007 season and it has not been the same as the Warriors have gone 13-14 in the two years since under head coach Greg McMakin. Hawaii brings back just 12 starters from last season and a lot of the rebuilding spots are key positions. The Trojans offense should start right where it left off last season. They finished 55th and 64th respectively in total offense and scoring offense and those are not typical USC rankings. However they Trojans were hit hard with injuries and were also starting a freshman at quarterback Matt Barkley. Barkley was average but again, he was just a freshman and that year of experience will be a huge benefit this season. He has an experienced line in from and a great running game behind him. Head coach Lane Kiffin brought some baggage with him but he also brought in his father Monte Kiffin to run the defense. The stop unit was average as well but the front seven will be vastly improved after a year of inexperience set them back. The secondary is an area of concern as all four starters have to be replaced. However cornerback Shareece Wright, who was academically ineligible last season, is back for his senior season and is their best cover corner. Hawaii will be more than ready for this game, especially at home but top to bottom it cannot compete with the Trojans even though the team is thin with injuries and transfers. The Trojans also fall into a solid situation that has been profitable for years. Play against home teams that allowed a 58 percent or worse completion percentage and with five offensive starters returning, in the first month of the season. This situation is 33-4 ATS (89.2 percent) over the last 10 seasons. The Trojans are 22-7 ATS in their last 29 non-conference games. 3* USC Trojans

The NCAA season kicks off on Thursday and Fargo will have you covered from day one through the BCS Championship! He starts right where he left off last season as Matt started 2010 with a bang last season by going a SIZZLING 9-4-1 ATS (64.3%)! He continues his football prowess backed by TREMENDOUS 22-6 ATS (78.6%) Team Angles! Start the year with a TOP PLAY ticket!

After losing the opener of the series against the Dodgers behind the near no-hitter from Hiroki Kuroda, the Phillies bounced back the last two games as the bats came back to life early and often. Philadelphia continues to keep pace with the Braves in the National League East as it is four games back thanks to wins in five of six games on this roadtrip. This is a contrarian play as the Phillies have gone ‘Under’ in 10 of their last 11 games and that leads to our value with tonight’s total. The Rockies lost a tough one last night 2-1 to drop the series with the Giants and all three of those games were low scoring. That was not much of a surprise as they have now gone ‘Under’ in 10 straight on the road and with the three-game series all staying ‘Under’ that is also providing some value here. The Rockies are 33-30-1 to the ‘Over’ at home, which is certainly no edge either way but it has been more high scoring games of late so a return home will help here. The pitching matchup signals ‘Under’ as the two have combined to go 5-1 to the ‘Under’ over each last three starts. But again, we are going contrarian. Joe Blanton has tossed three straight quality outings including his last one which was on the road. The recent form is also part of the value given to this number and his overall road success, or lack thereof, is beneficial as well. Blanton has a 6.06 ERA on the road this season with only four of his 10 starts being quality outings. The Rockies counter with Jhoulys Chacin and he has pitched well since his return from the minors. He has allowed only one run in his last 14.2 innings and all three of his starts have stayed ‘Under’. He has been a predominately ‘Under’ pitcher this season with 10 of his 14 starts going low. However, it has been six of seven on the road and only four of seven at home. We catch some solid history for an ‘Over’. The ‘Over’ is 8-1 in the last nine meetings in Colorado while the Phillies have gone 9-1-1 to the ‘Over’ in Blanton’s last 11 starts with a total between 9.0 and 10.5. Also, they are 12-3-1 to the ‘Over’ in his last 16 starts against teams with a winning record. The ‘Over’ is 10-4 in Colorado’s last 14 home games. 9* Over Philadelphia Phillies/Colorado Rockies