Don’t expect California to ease up on Colorado

Colorado gets a sneak preview of life in the Pac-10 Conference today when it travels to meet the California Golden Bears.

In 2012, Colorado will take up permanent residency in the Pac-10, but for now the Buffaloes must finish their tenure as a member of the Big 12 North, which is also set to lose Nebraska to the Big Ten next season.

Cal senior quarterback Kevin Riley told the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune this week that the Bears want to give the Buffaloes a rude introduction to their soon-to-be league.

"You definitely want to show them what they are going to come to in the Pac-10, what type of conference we are and how we play football," Riley said. "I feel the Pac-10 gets a pretty bad rap every single year. We just have to show them what Cal football is all about and what the Pac-10 is all about."

Although an improved team with veterans at many positions, Colorado appears to lack the offensive weaponry to stand toe to toe for four quarters with the more revved-up offenses found in the Pac-10.

While Cal's Jahvid Best has graduated to the NFL, the Bears still have a top-shelf tailback in Shane Vereen and a talented receiving corps, including electric freshman Keenan Allen, who had 158 yards of offense last week in a 52-3 blowout of UC Davis.

Go with Cal as a 10-point favorite in this nonconference matchup of future league rivals.

Six more plays for today (home teams in CAPS):

■ Hawaii (+3) over ARMY -- Three of Army's final four opponents (Air Force, Virginia Military Institute and Navy) last season combined to throw just 20 passes against the Cadets. By contrast, the Warriors might throw 20 times in a quarter against an Army team that typically lacks the athletes to cover multiple receivers in open space.

■ NEBRASKA (-28) over Idaho -- The Vandals return four starters from last year's offense that averaged almost 33 points per game. The defensive line for Nebraska, which is 8-2 against the spread (ATS) in its past 10 games as a home favorite of 21 points or more, should overwhelm an inexperienced Idaho offensive line. Cornhuskers freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez is a strong runner and should show significant strides early in the season.

■ OHIO STATE (-8½) over Miami -- "The Rock," who went by Dwayne Johnson during his bench-warming days as a member of the Miami football team, recently made ill-advised statements about the Hurricanes, and I paraphrase, putting a tail-kicking on the Buckeyes this weekend at The Horseshoe. This Miami team probably can't back up that talk. Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor will outclass the Hurricanes.

■ Mississippi (-20) over TULANE -- Mississippi held Jacksonville State to 13 points through three quarters last week before the wheels came off in an embarrassing 49-48 double-overtime loss. Rebels coach Houston Nutt's teams typically rebound nicely from such adversity.

■ Troy-OKLAHOMA STATE (Over 63) -- Successfully handicapping totals over the long run requires accurately projecting the number of offensive plays by each team. Troy ran a whopping 84 offensive plays last week, and Oklahoma State ran 80. This pairing should produce lots of plays and points.

■ FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (+17) over Rutgers -- Historical data reveals that college teams playing their second game of the season have no real ATS advantage against teams playing their season opener, so disregard that piece of the puzzle. Sun Belt home 'dogs getting seven points or more against Bowl Championship Series opponents are 8-1 ATS the past five seasons.

Last week: 0-4-1 against the spread

Texas-based handicapper Paul Stone of Vegassportsauthority.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.