There's The Big Game being played at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday. And there is a slew of other big games going on all over the country this weekend that've been pushed out of the spotlight by the Ohio State-Southern California mega-matchup.

South Florida hosts Kansas, playing not only for its own aspirations but for Big East dignity. Georgia starts its Southeastern Conference season at South Carolina, where Steve Spurrier is playing musical quarterbacks again. Texas and Arkansas renew a classic rivalry with a new twist: Welcome, Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino. Oregon and Purdue offer a potential Big Ten-Pac-10 shootout.

Also, two potential BCS busters try to stay undefeated at home against teams from the Big Six conferences: BYU hosts UCLA from the Pac-10 and Fresno State gets a visit from Wisconsin of the Big Ten.

Lots to like.

The picks:

TOMORROW

No. 13 Kansas (plus 3 1/2) at No. 19 South Florida: Intriguing matchup between programs on upswing ... SOUTH FLORIDA, 31-24.

SATURDAY

No. 5 Ohio State (plus 10 1/2) at No. 1 Southern California: Big game, if you haven't heard ... USC, 28-20.

No. 2 Georgia (minus 7) at South Carolina: Bulldogs have won three straight in Columbia, but usually it's close ... GEORGIA, 27-17.

No. 3 Oklahoma (plus 20) at Washington: Won't be much to celebrate for Huskies this week ... OKLAHOMA, 47-21.

Nevada (plus 26 1/2) at No. 6 Missouri: Second straight ranked Big 12 team for Wolf Pack ... MISSOURI, 50-21.

North Texas (plus 41 1/2) at No. 7 LSU: Tigers can get by no matter where they play ... LSU, 55-7.

No. 9 Auburn (minus 10 1/2) at Mississippi State: Bulldogs snapped six-game losing streak to Tigers last season ... AUBURN, 23-10.

No. 10 Wisconsin (minus 1 1/2) at No. 21 Fresno State: BCS talk would ramp up if Bulldogs can beat Badgers ... WISCONSIN, 28-24.

Western Kentucky (plus 28) at No. 11 Alabama: Last warm-up for Tide before consecutive SEC road games ... ALABAMA, 40-10.

SMU (plus 36 1/2) at No. 12 Texas Tech: With all those passes, this could take a while ... TEXAS TECH, 68-24.

No. 14 East Carolina (minus 13) at Tulane: Now Pirates are favorites ... EAST CAROLINA, 28-13.

UNLV (plus 22 1/2) at No. 15 Arizona State: Rebels are 3-9 vs. Pac-10 teams ... ARIZONA STATE, 44-14.

No. 16 Oregon (minus 8) at Purdue: Chance for Boilermakers QB Curtis Painter to grab some attention ... OREGON, 41-27.

No. 17 Penn State (minus 27) at Syracuse: Have not played since 1990, back when Syracuse could compete ... PENN STATE, 41-10.

UCLA (plus 8 1/2) at No. 18 BYU: Split two games last season, with Cougars winning Vegas Bowl ... BYU, 24-17.

No. 22 Utah (minus 24) at Utah State: Rivalry in name only; Utes have won 10 straight ... UTAH, 38-10.

No. 23 California (minus 14 1/2) at Maryland: Bears back in rankings and averaging 52 points ... CALIFORNIA, 36-20.

Louisiana-Lafayette (plus 24 1/2) at No. 24 Illinois: Illini outscored Sun Belt teams 183-36 in four previous games, all wins ... ILLINOIS, 51-14.

Last week: 18-3 (straight); 12-7 (vs. points).

Season: 37-6 (straight); 21-10 (vs. points).