LouisianaMonroe Warhawks at Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers, who are looking to make a major move in the Southeastern Conference, the league that has produced the last two national champions, will take to the field for the first time in the 2008 season on Saturday, when they play host to the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe in the college football opener for both teams, slated for a 7 PM ET kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium (natural turf) in Auburn, AL.

BetUS NCAAF Betting Odds: AUBURN -26, Total 49

Here are some of the NCAA football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* ULM has won five of its last six games SU

* ULM has covered 12 of its last 17 road games

* ULM has won five of its last 15 road games SU

* ULM has played four of its last five road games UNDER the total

* AUB has won four of its last five games SU

* AUB has won its last five home games SU

* AUB has won the last five meetings SU

It is difficult to disparage what Louisiana-Monroe was able to do against a higher level of opposition last year. They were able to "hold" Tulsa to 35 points, six below their season average, was relatively competitive with high-powered Clemson, losing a 49-26 decision, and actually beat Alabama in November, 21-14.

But that was a senior-laden team, and after that win over the Crimson Tide, Auburn will hardly be caught by surprise. ULM has a lot of holes to fill; for one thing, they have to replace Calvin Dawson, who rushed for over 100 yards twice for the Warhawks. And they have to replace at least three starts on the offensive line.

It's on defense, however, that ULM is going to be the most challenged. Remember that the secondary ranked 101st in the country against the pass, and they are going to facing an Auburn team that will look different than it's ever looked before. That's because of the arrival of new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, kind of a coaching curiosity in that he has been rather entrepreneurial about it, selling his spread "system," which includes a no-huddle approach, to hundreds of high school and college coaches. he has previously worked his magic at Kentucky and Troy, and feels that he has ideal QB's to run the system in Kodi Burns and Chris Todd.

Is there any question that Auburn and Franklin would like to make a statement here? Don't think so. However, there are a couple of twists to this story. One is that in the first game in Franklin's system, there are still some kinks to work out, and the fact that one quarterback has not been settled upon is not necessarily a plus.

In addition, ULM is no stranger at all to preparing for Franklin's scheme; as he had been the offensive coordinator at Troy (a Sun Belt rival of Monroe) for the last two seasons. The Trojans' offense scored 24 on ULM the last two meetings.

Because of the anticipation surrounding Franklin's arrival, Auburn is probably a little overpriced here. So we'll grab the points with ULM, the 26-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: LOUISIANA-MONROE +26 *

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com gives it more than the old college try as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)