Other Games To Watch This Weekend

Ohio State-USC gets top billing Saturday, but there's are plenty of other matchups worth keeping an eye on, including these three:

No. 13 Kansas (2-0) at No. 19 South Florida (2-0)

Friday, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Kansas faces its most challenging nonconference game in a visit to South Florida, where the Bulls could stamp themselves as the class of the Big East with a win. That opportunity is there for South Florida because West Virginia has already suffered an upset loss, Rutgers and Pitt do not look ready to contend, and Louisville is still rebuilding its defense.

Kansas, which won the Orange Bowl a little further south in Miami last season, is off to a strong start, having outscored two lightly regarded foes by a 69-10 combined score. Quarterback Todd Reesing has picked up where he left off last season, but could spend much of the evening running from speedy USF defensive end George Selvie.

UCLA (1-0) at No. 18 BYU (2-0)

3:30 p.m., VS

BYU is still the owner of the nation's longest winning streak (12 games) but required an assist from the officials to finally put away Washington last Saturday. From the looks of the way UCLA opened the Rick Neuheisel era two weeks ago, the Cougars will have to play much better to extend the streak to 13.

UCLA overcame four first-half interceptions to upset Tennessee in overtime two weeks ago, and was off last week. Quarterback Kevin Craft has to hope the magic of his second-half performance against Tennessee can carry over this week, because UCLA likely will need to put some points on the scoreboard to upset the high-powered Cougars. BYU quarterback Max Hall is putting up Heisman-type numbers, but UCLA's defense is a step up from what he has faced thus far.

No. 10 Wisconsin (2-0) at No. 21 Fresno State (1-0)

10:30 p.m., ESPN

Under coach Pat Hill's "anyone, anytime, anywhere" philosophy, Fresno State has earned a reputation for tough scheduling and putting a scare into BCS-conference teams. On Labor Day, they delivered a thumping to Rutgers on the Knights' home field, and now they get the 10th-ranked Badgers to visit in what could be the biggest home game in program history.

Wisconsin has always played a physical brand of football, but so does Fresno, which wore down Rutgers with a punishing ground game in the second half. Tailback Ryan Mathews rolled to 163 yards and three scores in that contest.

The Bulldogs also have plenty of speed and skill, and with a rowdy night crowd backing them up, they could give Wisconsin fits, particularly if the Badgers dig themselves an early hole like they did against Marshall last week. Wisconsin rallied from that 14-0 deficit with 51 unanswered points, but scores won't be as easy to come by against Fresno, though the Wisconsin offense should get a big boost with the expected return of star tight end Travis Beckum from a hamstring injury.