College Football Predictions: USC Trojans vs Hawaii Week 1 Odds

The USC Trojans will begin a new era without 10-year head coach Pete Carroll, 30 scholarships over the next 3 years and a shot at the Pac 10 conference title or a bowl this year as they open the 2010 season at the Hawaii Warriors tonight. Kick-off on ESPN is set for 11:05pm EST and USC has opened at online sportsbooks as a 21-point favorite in college football predictions for week 1 with a total of 51. Lane Kiffin will begin his new stint as the USC head coach. Kiffin was a top assistant for Carroll before striking out on his own at the Oakland Raiders and then last year with the Tennessee Volunteers. Kiffin faces the great coaching challenge of trying to motivate a team that, at the end of the day, has nothing to play for in 2010 college football odds.

USC is ranked 14th in the AP poll heading into 2010 college football predictions and does have plenty of talent left over from the Carroll regime. Sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley returns after starting as a freshman and should be much improved. Normally a trip to Hawaii is often treated as a bowl game or a working vacation for the visiting squad but that will not be the case for Kiffin’s Trojans, who are all business for tonight's college football betting opener. “This is not a vacation,” said Kiffin. “This is not a pleasure trip. We have not won one game. We don’t deserve a vacation right now. Win a bunch of games, then we can start talking about days at the beach.”

“If feels great to finally get going after everything that went on this offseason,” added Kiffin. “There are a lot of question marks about this team, and I have a lot of questions personally, but now is the time to go out there and start figuring out where we are as a team.” Tail back Marc Tyler says USC football has bought into Kiffin and despite not being able to win the national title in college football predictions, the focus remain the same. “Everybody is committed,” said Tyler about the 2010 season. “When we go out there, it’s about everybody being committed to show that SC is still SC.”