Often games that get circled on the schedule at the beginning of the season aren't quite as big as expected when kickoff comes.

There are a few of those this weekend. All are still important, but they're not quite the marquee showdowns that were expected.

Louisville at West Virginia was penciled in as a rematch of last year's huge Thursday night Big East matchup. The Cardinals and Mountaineers again meet on a Thursday night, but it's been a disappointing season for Louisville (5-4, 2-2). Still, West Virginia is hanging around the fringe of the national title race and very much in the hunt for a conference title.

The Southern California-Cal game has played a major role in deciding the Pac-10 in recent seasons, but the Trojans and Bears have already combined to lose five games.

Wisconsin and Michigan were top-10 teams to start the regular season, but they, too, will meet Saturday with a combined five losses.

TODAY'S GAME

Louisville (plus 16) at No. 6 West Virginia: Average score in last two meetings: 45-39 ... WEST VIRGINIA, 39-20.

SATURDAY'S GAMES

Illinois (plus 14 1/2) at No. 1 Ohio State: Illini held Buckeyes to regular season-low 224 yards in '06 ... OHIO STATE, 37-17.

Louisiana Tech (plus 36) at No. 2 LSU: Tigers are 16-1 against Bulldogs ... LSU, 55-13.

Baylor (plus 38) at No. 4 Oklahoma: Sooners are 16-0 against Bears ... OKLAHOMA, 50-10.

No. 5 Kansas (minus 6) at Oklahoma State: Cowboys' No. 1 rush offense in Big 12 vs. KU's No. 2 rush defense ... KANSAS, 28-24.

Texas A&M (plus 19 1/2) at No. 7 Missouri: Tigers TEs Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman have 104 receptions ... MISSOURI, 44-17.

No. 8 Boston College (minus 6 1/2) at Maryland: Terps must win two of final three to get bowl eligible ... BOSTON COLLEGE, 27-20.

No. 9 Arizona State (minus 7) at UCLA: Bruins have won five of last six in series ... UCLA, 27-24.

No. 17 Auburn (plus 2) at No. 10 Georgia: Road team has won 11 of last 15 meetings ... AUBURN, 24-23.

Florida State (plus 6) at No. 11 Virginia Tech: Seminoles have won 12 straight against Hokies ... VIRGINIA TECH, 20-17.

No. 12 Southern California (minus 4) at No. 24 California: USC is minus-5 in turnover margin ... USC, 24-21.

No. 13 Michigan (minus 2 1/2) at Wisconsin: Wolverines have won seven of last eight against Badgers ... WISCONSIN, 27-24.

Fresno State (plus 17 1/2) at No. 14 Hawai'i: Bulldogs are 1-5 at Hawai'i since 1995 ... HAWAI'I 49-30.

Texas Tech (plus 6 1/2) at No. 15 Texas: Tech's Graham Harrell has 1,183 more passing yards than No. 2 QB in nation ... TEXAS, 39-28.

No. 16 Connecticut (plus 6 1/2) at Cincinnati: UConn going for third nine-win season in school history ... CINCINNATI, 28-20.

No. 18 Florida (minus 6 1/2) at South Carolina: Gators' Tim Tebow is top-rated QB (179) in country ... FLORIDA, 33-28.

No. 19 Boise State (minus 24) at Utah State: Aggies are one of two winless teams in country ... BOISE STATE, 55-20.

Wake Forest (plus 9) at No. 20 Clemson: Demon Deacons haven't won at Clemson since 1998 ... CLEMSON, 28-17.

No. 21 Alabama (minus 5) at Mississippi State: Tide must bounce back from LSU loss ... ALABAMA, 26-23.

Arkansas (pick) at No. 22 Tennessee: Razorbacks TB Darren McFadden making Heisman push ... ARKANSAS, 27-26.

No. 23 Virginia (plus 3 1/2) at Miami: Cavaliers have won five games by two points or fewer ... MIAMI, 21-14.

No. 25 Kentucky (minus 3 1/2) at Vanderbilt: Commodores' defense ranks third in SEC ... KENTUCKY, 27-24.

Last week's record: 16-5 (straight); 10-7-3 (vs. points). Season: 159-43 (straight); 95-83-6 (vs. points).