What effect did Tennessee's big win have on the Vols' title chances? Which Rocky Mountain rebuilding efforts are starting to bear fruit? Which program can accomplish an against-the-spread feat it hasn't achieved in 20 years with a win this week? And which team is the talk of the town right now but should refocus before its next matchup -- one that it was expected to be a double-digit home favorite in but could be much tougher?
We cover all of that in a gambling recap of Week 2 and a look-ahead to a Week 3 college football slate that features four matchups between ranked teams.
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USC Trojans:
Colorado Buffaloes: There's a totally different feel around this program in Year 4 under Mike MacIntyre. The 2016 Buffs have a belief and confidence that was missing from recent editions, and for good reason: This team is older, wiser, bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic and deeper than any since the last Colorado team to play in the postseason -- an Independence Bowl loser to Nick Saban's first Alabama squad back in 2007. The Buffs are 2-0 against the spread, outscoring their first two foes 100-14 and outgaining them by 854 yards.
Wyoming Cowboys: Coach Craig Bohl built what might have been the greatest power rushing teams in FCS history and won three consecutive national titles at North Dakota State. His championship culture is now taking hold in Year 3 in Laramie. The Cowboys couldn't hold on to the cover last week at Nebraska despite trailing by only seven points entering the fourth quarter, but after two games it's evident that the offensive line has absorbed Bohl's signature toughness, and one of the Mountain West's better linebacker groups is leading an improved rush defense. The progress of the latter will be the real key to turning around a program that has allowed 200 yards per game on the ground for six straight years.
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Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns: The Cajuns lost four straight to close last year's disappointing 4-8 campaign and don't look improved so far in 2016. Mark Hudspeth fired defensive coordinator Melvin Smith and shuffled the depth chart after a blowout loss to Boise State in Week 1. The results were better in a comeback win over FCS foe McNeese State, but this unit is still weak, and the offense has yet to prove that it has more bullets in the gun besides star running back and 2014 Sun Belt Player of the Year Elijah McGuire. This team is still figuring it out on both sides of the ball.
Games of interest
Florida State Seminoles (-3.5) at Louisville Cardinals
Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson's Louisville offense has scored 132 points this year, with the team outgaining its opponents by 886 yards. The Seminoles are looking just as explosive with their own gifted underclassman Deondre Francois under center, and have now covered seven straight regular-season games. Last year, Florida State started to pull away from Louisville late in the third quarter, and turned what had been a close game into a 41-21 win. But the last meeting in Louisville, the Seminoles trailed 21-0 with under a minute to play in the first half, and then -- just like Labor Day night against Ole Miss -- used a late-first-half touchdown to turn the momentum and wound up covering as a single-digit favorite. This year's game carries the same price as that 42-31 Seminoles win, although you can be assured that when the totals are posted later in the week, this one will be higher than the 51 that oddsmakers hung on the 2014 matchup.
New Mexico Lobos at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-4)
It's hard to believe that Rutgers was that bad toward the end of Kyle Flood's tenure, but the Scarlet Knights have not outgained an FBS opponent other than Kansas since 2014. They'll get another chance this week at a very short price against a New Mexico team that has a tough mental and logistical turnaround for this long road trip, coming off a 32-31 heartbreaker on the road at rival New Mexico State. If the vast talent gap in this matchup isn't sufficient to cover this one, it's a sign of a very tough season ahead for new coach Chris Ash.
UNLV Rebels at Central Michigan Chippewas (-13)
UNLV lost at Michigan and Northern Illinois last September, covering both games by two touchdowns, so a flight to the Midwest is old hat. This fast-rising outfit can play Central Michigan's power game in the trenches and catches the Chips coming off a wild, controversial upset win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater that will still be the talk of campus all week.
Movers and shakers
After two weeks, there are just five teams the Westgate oddsmakers take seriously enough to price lower than 18-1. Despite merely routing lowly Idaho at home, the Washington Huskies jumped into this group of contenders, plummeting from 30-1 to 12-1.
The oddsmakers were evidently unimpressed with Tennessee Volunteers' turnover-fueled whipping of Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway, and now seem willing to encourage action on this team. The price on offer lengthened from 12-1 to 18-1 despite the big win.
The LSU Tigers likewise have seen their stock slip in Las Vegas after the offense struggled in a loss to Wisconsin and a non-cover vs. FCS foe Jacksonville State. The Tigers have plunged from 8-1 in August to 15-1 last week to now 18-1 alongside the Vols.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson showed up for the second straight week, recording an ACC-record 610 yards of total offense at Syracuse. He's now thrown for seven touchdowns and rushed for six more in just two games, and has seen his Heisman odds fall from 100-1 at opening all the way to 8-1, while his team's title odds took one of the steepest drops of the week, going from 50-1 to 25-1.
The Iowa Hawkeyes' odds were also halved, from 40-1 to 20-1, after an impressive blowout of rival Iowa State that ran coach Kirk Ferentz's career record against the Cyclones to 9-9.
Most winners in big Week 1 games -- like Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Texas and Houston -- struggled and/or failed to cover in Week 2, while the Wisconsin Badgers stayed focused in downing Akron 54-10. Yet, Wisconsin saw its national title odds lengthen from 60-1 to 80-1, in part thanks to impressive performances from league favorites Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa -- all of which are on Wisconsin's schedule this year.
Chalk bits
Army's road trip to UTEP is off the board because of the uncertain status of Miners quarterback Zack Greenlee, but the Black Knights have the opportunity to start 3-0 for the first time since the 1996 team produced the school's only 10-win season. That was also the last season that saw Army win and cover three straight games. Cadets backers are not only asking for something that hasn't been done in 20 years, but they might have to do it as a road favorite.
The American Athletic Conference is entering just its fourth season, but already Houston and Cincinnati have developed a rep for high-flying offenses. Don't be surprised if the total doesn't match the hype in Thursday's showdown. The under has cashed in two of the three meetings as AAC leaguemates, and each team has gone under the total in seven of its past 10 games. Houston's top two offensive players have been limited with minor injuries, while Cincinnati's 2016 identity is more about rushing and defense after changing quarterbacks and losing the top six receivers from a year ago.
Baylor has won and covered seven straight against Rice, including last year's 70-17 humiliation. To break the streak, the Owls will have to overcome a serious speed disadvantage on the perimeter -- one that Western Kentucky exploited repeatedly in the opener, hitting seven plays of more than 25 yards.
It's extremely rare that a MAC team is favored in a Big Ten stadium, but Bowling Green delivered as field goal chalk at Purdue last year, and now Western Michigan will lay about the same in its effort to mount Illinois on its wall alongside Week 1 victim Northwestern.