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Dallas -2 vs. Tampa Bay

If a Dallas Cowboys‘ fan woke up in August dreaming of their 13 win team from 2007 falling to a pedestrian 4-3 in 2008 after losing to a lousy St. Louis team, whom they decimated 35-7 one year ago, and saw an injured Tony Romo riding the pine and Adam Pacman Jones mysteriously missing, they would have brushed away the cold sweat from their brow consoling themselves it was only a nightmare. Sorry to tell you this Tex, but it is really late October and your gridiron heroes have indeed done exactly what you feared.

The Cowboys have experienced more scandals and setbacks than they have victories this season.  Sandwiched between their losses to Arizona and St. Louis, the Cowboys’ lost their starting Pro-Bowl quarterback, their best cornerback and continue to sputter in the hotly contested NFC East standings. Since starting the season perfect in three games and looking as good as last year’s team which stormed through the regular season, Dallas has lost three out of four and two straight. In fact the Cowboys are just a touchdown against the winless Bengals away from losing four straight and having a losing record.

Even though Romo flirted with coming back for the Rams game, which Dallas (4-3) lost 34-14, it appears the team will have to come to terms with the fact that he will not be back until at least the middle of November.

Things do not get easier for the Brad Johnson-led Cowboys as they play host to the NFC South’s number one team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and attempt to avoid a three game losing streak for the first time since 2004. Johnson appeared rusty in his first start since 2006, throwing for three interceptions. Johnson personally knows it will be a tough test going up against a solid Bucs defense since he was the quarterback who propelled the Bucs to their Super Bowl title in 2002. The Bucs (5-2) are second in the league with 12 interceptions and eighth in total defense.

Tampa Bay continues to impress after winning 27-3 win over division rival Carolina in Week 6 and then beating the visiting Seahawks 20-10 in a solid Sunday night outing last week. The Bucs held Seattle to 176 yards and 7 first downs.

The Bucs had a 402-176 advantage over the Seahawks in total yards, and limited Seattle to seven first downs. One thing Dallas may have going for them is while Tampa Bay has dominated at Raymond James Stadium going undefeated in four game, they have struggled to a 1-2 road record thus far and needed a late rally to get by the Bears in overtime at Soldier Field on September 21.

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Broncos -23 1/2 vs. Warriors

On the eve of the first BCS rankings of the season, the Boise State Broncos want to be heard. They do have to get past Hawaii Saturday night before basking in the glow of being a potential BCS-buster. Memories are fresh in Bronco player and fans minds of Hawaii hurdling Boise State on the way to their BCS bowl last season. Poor defense ultimately sealed the Broncos' fate last season, but in 2008 it has been the secret to their success.

Boise State (5-0, 1-0) ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense and have allowed a paltry 11 points per game. This is heads and tails better then the output in the loss to Hawaii last season, in which the Broncos surrendered 39 points to a Colt Brennan-led Warrior team. Case in point, last week's victory over Southern Mississippi. Boise State held their opponents to seven points, which was quite a feat as Southern Mississippi was considered the 17th best offense in the nation.

Hawaii is a team in transition. Most of the time this season, the team has seemed inconsistent and searching for their identity after losing Brennan to the NFL and iconic coach June Jones to SMU at the end of last season. The Warriors have had some big wins this season, however. They beat a Fresno State team, who was ranked at the time, on their home turf. This marked the first time ever that Hawaii has beaten a ranked team on the road. Another upset on the road of a good team, especially an undefeated rival, will go along way for the latest incarnation of the Hawaii Warriors to find themselves.

For Hawaii to win in Boise State, they much buck the trend of the all-time series. Hawaii has only won three of the teams' nine meetings. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday night in Boise.

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