Week 2 ACC, SEC previews: You can throw out the SAT scores when Stanford and Duke get together; and a pillow fight or the SEC's top matchup?

Today we're picking our favorites in the big ACC and SEC matchups this weekend. Just so you know, at The Nitty Griddy, we'll evenutally split more amicably than the Big 12 once one of us gets a T.V. network.

ACC-

Marcus says...

Stanford -21 @ Duke
Virginia Tech -20 @ East Carolina
Wake Forest vs. NC State -2
Florida State vs. Charleston Southern OFF
Boston College @ UCF -7

Stanford -21 @ Duke
Andrew Luck looked every bit the Heisman front-runner, carving up the inferior San Jose State defense. Luck threw for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns, completing 65% of his passes. RB Stepfan Taylor scored twice in Week 2 and should continue to benefit from defenses focusing on stopping the Cardinal air attack. Duke dropped their home opener to Richmond, who is led by former USC Trojan Aaron Corp, last week in a close game. It won’t get any easier for the Blue Devils as they will be facing superior talent on both sides of the ball. Expect Stanford to cover here.

Virginia Tech -20 @ East Carolina
The Hokies destroyed Appalachian State in Week 1 and was able to get their starters out of the game in the third quarter. Junior RB David Wilson ran for 162 yards and 3 scores as there was no lack of offense for Va Tech. The Hokie defense looked fast, really fast and much improved from a year ago. East Carolina led South Carolina in Week 1, until the Gamecocks rallied to win a high scoring game. The Pirates Senior QB Dominique Davis threw for 4 scores and ran for another. East Carolina will put up more of a fight than App State, but expect Va Tech’s defense to slow down Davis and cover.

SEC-

Kyle says...

CMU @ Kentucky -13
Mississippi St. -7 @ Auburn
Alabama -10 @ Penn St.
Cincinnati @ Tennessee -6
S. Carolina -3 @ Georgia
So. Ill @ Ole Miss OFF
UNM @ Arkansas -36
UAB @ Florida OFF
UConn @ Vanderbilt -2
NW St. @ LSU OFF

Mississippi St. -7 @ Auburn
We live in a world where the Bulldogs are the road favorites against the reigning NCAA champs. I’ll let you recover from that coronary and ponder this: Miss. St. beat the spread the last time it played at UGA (in 2006) and is actually better on the road in the SEC under the direction of Dan Mullen than it is at home: http://tinyurl.com/4y4os95. The bulldogs and Qb Chris Relf weren’t slowed down by the offseason and amped their offense back up last Saturday in their first game since a beatdown of Michigan in the Gator Bowl to wallop Memphis 59-14. Auburn looked anything but reliable in a squeaker of a week 1 victory against Utah St., when its young defensive line was manhandled. ‘Dogs cover.

S. Carolina -3 @ Georgia
This is the SEC’s in-conference game of the week almost in spite of itself. Only in the weak SEC East could such a marquee be hung on a game featuring a tinkerer like Carolina’s Steve Spurrier (switching between QBs Connor Shaw and Stephen Garcia throughout Saturday’s shaky 56-37 win over East Carolina) and Georgia’s Mark Richt (who hasn’t won a big game since the Bailey boys played for the Bulldogs.) Richt is, by all accounts, coaching for his job after disgracing the south in a loss last week IN ATLANTA against the hillbilly kryptonite that is Boise St. Spurrier brings in a high-flying offensive attack and a defense that appears to have regressed despite its fabulously talented line. The ‘Cocks cover by default.