ESPN College Football

Much has been made of the great mystique that playing a game at Notre Dame carries with it. This week everyone is pointing to the great upsets the Irish have pulled off over the years. We like Notre Dame to upset Southern Cal this week, not just because the Irish are at home but because they have possibly the smartest coach in college football in Charlie Weis.

But there's no downplaying the importance of the home field in college football. Some teams, like Hawaii, can't seem to do anything wrong at home and can't win at all on the road (the win at Idaho was an aberration). This week, 12 of our 14 picks are home teams, including home-cooking specialists Syracuse, Ball State, SMU, Baylor, Marshall and Hawaii.

Louisville -7 over West Virginia: After scoring 69 points against North Carolina, seemingly with ease, there's no doubt the Cardinals have an explosive offense. And after learning a big lesson at South Florida, we don't think they'll be taken by surprise again. This will be no easy victory; West Virginia is well coached and a difficult place to play, but the Mountaineers are also young, and cannot match Louisville's power.

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