Florida International Golden Panthers at Kansas Jayhawks

The Florida International Golden Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference are kind of hoping for a better fate upon their return trip to Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday as they face the Kansas Jayhawks, last year's Orange Bowl winner, in the season opener for both teams, kicking off at 7 PM ET at Memorial Stadium (artificial turf).

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: KANSAS -36, Total 57

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

* FIU has covered five of its last 20 games
* FIU has lost 23 of its last 24 games SU
* FIU has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* FIU has covered two of its last 11 road games
* FIU has lost its last 15 road games SU
* FIU has played four of its last five road gams OVER the total
* KS has covered 10 of its last 11 games
* KS has won 12 of its last 13 games SU
* KS has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total
* KS has covered five of its last six home games
* KS has won nine of its last ten home games SU

In last year's game Kansas out-gained FIU by a whopping 360 yards en route to a 55-3 victory. That kind of result was nothing strange for either of these teams. The Jayhawks were starting to learn how profitable it was (in terms of rankings and perception) to pound outgunned opponents into submission, as they bat their first four foes, all of which were out-of-conference, by an average of 48 points, as they made people stand up and take notice. The best part of it was that KU had the real goods, so the end result was a BCS berth.

I wouldn't expect them to stray from that formula this time around, and they bring back a quarterback in Todd Reesing (3486 yards, 33 TD's, seven INT's) so what it really comes down to is not whether Kansas can repeat its 12-1 season with Oklahoma and Texas now on the schedule, but for purposes of this discussion, how much resistance can FIU really offer on Saturday?

Well, this is a team that gave up 47 points or more to four different opponents, aside from Kansas, and in terms of point differential, well, they ranked last in scoring and 115th in scoring defense (minus-24 points per game). And on top of that, only one defensive back with starting experience returns to the lineup.

The returning starter at quarterback, Wayne Younger, tossed 17 pickoffs to go with nine TD passes last year. Paul McCall will see action as well, but either way, this team, which must also turn around its minus-15 turnover ratio (114th nationally) against a Kansas team that was +21 in that department (1st in country), and that is going to be too much ground to make up to cover the spread this time around.

Because we think they're in that "bullying" mindset at this point in the development of their program, we're laying the points with the Kansas Jayhawks, the 36-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: KANSAS -36 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

The 2008 NCAA football betting season is here, and if you like to bet on college gridiron action, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The BetUS sportsbook has college football odds up on a ton of games, totals and propositions, and you will also find NCAA future lines up to the BCS Championship as well. Join BetUS today and we'll help guide you right through to the bowl games and beyond!

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