Boston College vs. USC Football: Eagles Open As A 20-Point Home Underdog

Boston College enters week 3 of the college football season as a significant home underdog. According to the Wynn Las Vegas, the Eagles open as a 20-point home underdog this weekend as they host the #9/#10 ranked USC Trojans (Saturday 8 p.m., ESPN).

Having watched both this weekend's BC and USC games, gut tells me the opening line is a bit of an overreaction to the results in week 2. USC notched the big 13-10 victory over 13th ranked Stanford on the Farm, but the Cardinal committed numerous mistakes and let the Trojans hang around just long enough to spring the upset.

The Stanford offense out-gained USC 413 to 291, but committed two turnovers, missed two field goals, committed eight penalties for 68 yards and came away with just 10 points on five separate trips into the USC red zone. Not to take away from USC's win, as good teams find a way to win games, but couldn't help leaving Palo Alto feeling like the Cardinal beat themselves as much as the Trojans won the game.

Then again, Boston College is coming off a demoralizing 30-20 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night in a game which wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates. So who knows.

Last year, BC opened the week as a 15-point underdog against USC, only to lose 35-7 in a listless performance on the road. That opening line may have also been a bit of an overreaction to the results from the week before, though then, the roles were reversed. BC was coming off a 24-10 victory over Wake Forest on Friday night, while USC was reeling after falling to hapless Washington State, 10-7, at home.

Boston College and USC have met four times in program history -- all USC wins. Only one of those games was played on the Heights, a 34-7 loss to kick off the 1988 season.

Other early week 3 lines of note:

-- N.C. State is a 2-point road favorite at South Florida.
-- Virginia Tech is a 10.5-point home favorite as the Hokies host East Carolina.
-- Syracuse is an 8-point favorite on the road at Central Michigan.
-- In the only ACC game of the week, Louisville is a 9.5-point road favorite at Virginia.
-- Wake Forest is a 14-point road underdog at Utah State. Dark days for #therivalry.
-- Georgia Tech is a 24.5-point home favorite as the Jackets host Georgia Southern.
-- Duke is an 18-point home favorite vs. Kansas.
-- Miami is also an 18-point home favorite as the Hurricanes host Arkansas State.

-- Pittsburgh is a 26.5-point favorite at Florida International.
-- Massachusetts is a 19-point road dog at Vanderbilt.

Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina are all off this week.