Washington State is 3-0. I realize the competition hasn’t been too strong (Wyoming, San Jose State, Eastern Washington), but the Cougars have won all three in blowouts. That has them rolling into southern California Friday night to face a Trojans team that struggled to beat UNLV and is coming off back-to-back losses to Stanford and Texas.

The play: Washington State +4¹/₂. I’ll take the points with the confident team against the one trying to find its identity. Besides, the fact this line is just 4¹/₂ points (with USC’s home-field advantage factored in), tells me the oddsmakers agree that these two teams are a lot closer in talent than most people think.