So far against extremely meager competition, the Hoosiers have looked like a solid club behind a power run attack and the steady hand of QB Kurtis Rourke, a sixth-year senior transfer from Ohio. The Bruins had a week off to rest and improve following their 16-13 opening win over Hawaii. Like many Hawaii opponents before them, the Bruins slept walk through the first half and trailed 10-0 at the break before doing just enough to emerge with a 16-13 victory. Behind senior QB Ethan Garbers, look for a much-improved Bruins club to get the best of an Indiana team that is getting too much respect as the favorite in this new age Big Ten showdown at the Rose Bowl.

Two teams with first-year coaches, but Indiana looks so much better to start the season than the Bruins. Deshaun Foster has a lot of work to do in Brentwood, while this Hoosiers team may win eight games.

When Curt Cignetti was hired by Indiana, he brought with him nearly the entire staff from James Madison and a ton of key players from that Dukes team that went 11-1 in the regular season and finished inside the top 25. That continuity through a transition, plus the addition of other transfers like Kurtis Rourke, has made the Hoosiers one of the big success stories among teams with new head coaches. Sometimes when a roster is totally flipped it will take a few weeks for the power rating to catch up to the new personnel, and that situation gives us value here on Indiana.

Home and Big Ten opener for UCLA, and I'm not really sure why the Bruins are getting 3 from Indiana. Guess the books are impressed by the Hoosiers hanging 77 points on Western Illinois this past Saturday. UCLA had two weeks to prepare for Indiana and new coach Curt Cignetti as the Bruins won close at Hawaii in Week 1 and were off in Week 2. UCLA is 9-1 in its past 10 September games and IU 1-9 in its past 10 vs. the Big Ten.