The Saturday before college football’s first big Saturday is filled with potential pitfalls for teams in the Top 25, and for a few intriguing teams outside the rankings to make a statement.

Teams such as Miami. Yep, the Hurricanes are now on the outside looking in at college football’s elite and if they want to get back in, beating No. 5 Florida in Gainesville would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Staying close to the Gators would be promising for the ’Canes.

Cincinnati could win some respect back for the Big East, which had a rough opening weekend with Rutgers, Louisville and Pittsburgh losing, with a good showing at No. 4 Oklahoma.

After opening with a loss at Stanford, Oregon State heads to No. 19 Penn State trying to avoid an 0-2 start.

New Mississippi coach Houston Nutt can score his first attention-grabbing victory with the Rebels at No. 20 Wake Forest.

And in maybe the most interesting game, East Carolina goes for consecutive victories over ranked teams at home against No. 8 West Virginia.

The picks:

Today

No. 24 South Carolina at Vanderbilt

Second game, second starting QB for Gamecocks ... SOUTH CAROLINA 21-13.

Saturday

Central Michigan (plus 231⁄2)

at No. 2 Georgia

Chippewas QB Dan LeFevour is Tebow of the MAC ... GEORGIA 50-21.

Ohio (plus 34) at No. 3 Ohio State

No Beanie required for Buckeyes ... OHIO STATE 47-7.

Cincinnati (plus 211⁄2) at No. 4 Oklahoma

Sooners won’t be up 50-0 like last week vs. Chattanooga ... OKLAHOMA 42-17.

Miami (plus 211⁄2) at No. 5 Florida

Gators expect injured WR Percy Harvin to play — might not need him ... FLORIDA 45-20.

SE Missouri (no line)

at No. 6 Missouri

Tigers WR Jeremy Maclin should get time to rest aching ankle ... MISSOURI 55-10.

No. 8 West Virginia (minus 8)

at East Carolina

Mountaineers have won seven straight against Pirates ... WEST VIRGINIA 35-21.

Southern Mississippi (plus 171⁄2)

at No. 9 Auburn

Tigers hope to have kinks out of new spread offense ... AUBURN 28-14.

No. 10 Texas (minus 26) at UTEP

Last meeting was 1933 ... TEXAS 49-14.

No. 11 Wisconsin (minus 201⁄2)

vs. Marshall

Badgers RB P.J. Hill goes for second straight 200-yard game ... WISCONSIN 38-14.

No. 12 Texas Tech (minus 101⁄2)

at Nevada

The Wolf Pack can put up some points, too ... TEXAS TECH 48-30.

Tulane (plus 30) at No. 13 Alabama

Green Wave evacuated to Birmingham to avoid Gustav ... ALABAMA 40-3.

Louisiana Tech (plus 201⁄2)

at No. 14 Kansas

Bulldogs coming off first win over BCS-conference opponent in five years ... KANSAS 45-14.

Stanford (plus 14) at

No. 15 Arizona State

RB Toby Gerhart gives Cardinal offense punch ... ARIZONA STATE 31-21.

No. 15 BYU (plus 91⁄2) at Washington

Huskies couldn’t stop Oregon’s second- or third-string QB ... BYU 35-28.

No. 17 South Florida (minus 14) at UCF

Knights moved into Conference USA when Bulls moved to Big East ... USF 24-7.

Utah State at No. 18 Oregon

Ducks expect QB Justin Roper (concussion) to be ready ... OREGON 55-10.

Oregon State (plus 161⁄2)

at No. 19 Penn State

Beavers trying to avoid first 0-2 start since 2004 ... PENN STATE 27-20.

Mississippi (plus 8)

at No. 20 Wake Forest

ACC’s image can’t afford another loss to SEC ... MISSISSIPPI 27-24.

UNLV (plus 211⁄2) at No. 22 Utah

Utes back in AP rankings for first time since Urban Meyer left ... UTAH 38-13.

Eastern Illinois (no line)

at No. 24 Illinois

Illini QB Juice Williams coming off career passing day ... ILLINOIS 48-10.