As you may have noticed, and you probably wouldn't be reading this if you hadn't, the SEC looked very bad in the first week. The projection systems weren't that great at the games I previewed either.
| Overall Record | 7+ against the spread | |
| FPI | 12-4 | 0-1 |
| S&P | 10-6 | 1-1 |
FPI was overconfident in Oklahoma. In its defense, it is difficult to predict 109 yard punt returns. However, FPI also thought USC would stay within 4 points of Alabama, and the spread was 10. S&P was very confident in Southern Miss, which was apparently warranted, but was too overconfident in LSU.
The picks are below. As usual, FCS games are not listed.
Louisville at Syracuse
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | UL | 14.5 |
| FPI | UL | 20 |
| S&P | UL | 12 |
I added this one because it is on TV Friday night.
Penn State at Pittsburgh
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | PITT | 5 |
| FPI | PITT | 5 |
| S&P | PITT | 1 |
I added this one because it is the most entertaining game on at 11 in the morning.
Kentucky at Florida
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | UF | 16.5 |
| FPI | UF | 15 |
| S&P | UF | 15 |
Western Kentucky is supposed to be better than Kentucky. That being said, Florida only got 24 points off of Massachusetts, so this one isn't necessarily a blowout.
Western Kentucky at Alabama
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | Alabama | 29 |
| FPI | Alabama | 24 |
| S&P | Alabama | 24 |
Saban has a tendency to demolish teams in big opening games like Alabama did against USC in the opening week, then win but not cover the spread against a weaker opponent in week two.
Middle Tennessee State at Vanderbilt
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | VU | 5 |
| FPI | VU | 9 |
| S&P | VU | 5 |
Vanderbilt looked as advertised last week, which means their defense was very good and their offense was very bad. Middle Tennessee State should compete for a Conference USA championship this year. This is actually one of the most entertaining SEC games of the week.
Arkansas at TCU
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | TCU | 7.5 |
| FPI | TCU | 7 |
| S&P | TCU | 1 |
Arkansas, who is replacing most of last season's offense, is playing a defense that gave up 41 to South Dakota State last week. Another interesting note is that former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill is starting for TCU.
South Carolina at Mississippi State
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | MSU | 7 |
| FPI | MSU | 3 |
| S&P | MSU | 11 |
FPI barely ranks MSU over South Carolina, and is basically favoring MSU only because it is a home game. It also predicts MSU to finish the year at 5-7, while a supposedly slightly inferior South Carolina team will go 7-5. The SEC East is bad.
Arkansas State at Auburn
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | Auburn | 19 |
| FPI | Auburn | 25 |
| S&P | Auburn | 14 |
Auburn used three quarterbacks last week against a much better opponent, so they will probably do the same this week.
Eastern Michigan at Missouri
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | Missouri | 25 |
| FPI | Missouri | 21 |
| S&P | Missouri | 21 |
The media has written several articles questioning the existence of football at Eastern Michigan, so they should not provide much competition for Missouri.
Virginia Tech at Tennessee at the Bristol Motor Speedway
| Winner | Margin of Victory | |
| Vegas | UT | 11 |
| FPI | UT | 15 |
| S&P | UT | 6.3 |
This is the best game of the week, mostly because of the site of the game and the fact that most SEC teams are playing guarantee games this week. It would be easy to criticize Tennessee for their near loss to Appalachian State, but for now, people are overreacting to that game. Josh Dobbs had one of the worst games of his career, and should rebound this week.
There aren't any particularly bold picks from either projection system this week. While Alabama wins easily, Western Kentucky will probably manage to cover the spread.