SELECTION: Auburn +8 over USC

The 20th-ranked Southern California Trojans meet the Auburn Tigers as both teams get their 2002 campaigns underway in a Labor Day tilt at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Auburn had an up-and-down season last year as they shocked Florida 23-20 to improve to 6-1 but then lost three of their last four regular season games and then fell to North Carolina in the Peach Bowl 16-10. Meanwhile the Trojans' 2001 season was a complete opposite of the Tigers' year as head coach Pete Carroll made his debut at USC and struggled out to a 1-4 start. Carroll stayed the course and the Trojans went on to win five of their last seven games but dropped the Las Vegas bowl to Utah 10-6.

Auburn Jason Campbell and Daniel Cobb shared time at the quarterback position a year ago, and Cobb will begin the year as the starting signal caller. Without question, the strength of this offensive unit is the running attack. Tailback Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2001 after gaining 655 rushing yards and six touchdowns and is being counted on for greater production this season. The Tigers' defensive unit is expected to be solid as the bulk of last year's group returns. One key change is at coordinator, where Gene Chizik came to the program from UCF and has simplified the defense. The top performer on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers is undeniably Dontarrious Thomas, a ferocious linebacker with the size and athleticism to make plays in any situation.

At USC, the offense returns eight starters from 2001, headlined by quarterback Carson Palmer. They have quality players at most positions; however, it seems that Palmer has yet to live up to the high expectations, and one wonders if Pete Carroll is the coach to unleash him. The defense should be strong, although with six new starters they make take a couple of games to be where last year's unit was when they led the Pac-10 in scoring defense and ranked second in total defense. They will try to protect the secondary as injuries have thinned them to the point of experimenting with some reserve offensive players at the corner position.

This should be one of the better matchups to wrap up the first full weekend of college football. We expect the game to be tight as the Tiger D keeps Palmer in check, and the Tiger O grind out a ball-control gameplan. Special teams should definitely favor the Tigers, especially in this, the first game for both teams. Coach Tuberville usually has his troops ready to go early in the season as they are 5-1 ATS in their first away game, and against non-conference teams, Auburn is an impresive 21-3 SU. Meanwhile, USC does not to be in a very strong situational spot here as they are 0-5-1 SU/0-6 ATS vs SEC schools, 1-11 ATS at home prior to a road game, 2-14 ATS as a home fave in the last 3 years, and 0-3 ATS out of the Pac-10 under Pete Carroll. USC may well pull this one out but it should be very close.

PREDICTED FINAL SCORE: USC 24 AUBURN 21