For those of you college football cappers who don’t have a lot of time, I’ve decided to open an express lane. Here are the seven trend items every handicapper should add to his cart.

South Carolina is 13-3 SU and 11-4 ATS versus Vandy since ‘92.

The road team is 8-1 SU and ATS in the Northwestern-Duke series since ‘96.

Northern Illinois is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games against Western Michigan.

The OVER is 7-2 in the Arizona State-Stanford series since ‘98.

The home team is 7-2 SU&ATS in the West Virginia-East Carolina series since ‘97.

The home team is 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS in last five games of the UNLV-Utah series.

Washington State is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games versus California.

Good luck at the betting wickets this week and may all your wagers do no worse than push.

In the late 1970’s lightly recruited Rick Neuheisel picked UCLA partly on the basis of the passing stats in his Sunday newspaper; the poorest ones offered him the best chance of playing. In 1983, his fifth season, Neuheisel took over for an injured Steve Bono and not only led the Bruins to the Rose Bowl, but overcame food poisoning to throw four TD passes in a 45-9 victory over Illinois.

The prodigal son made a return trip to the Rose Bowl on Monday night to coach his alma mater for the first time. Nobody gave the young, inexperienced and short-handed Bruins much of a chance against mighty Tennessee. After all, the Southeastern Conference is the best in the land and they don’t really play football in the Pac-10.

UCLA has always been a place where the players always seem faster, the sun brighter and the cheeerleaders prettier. That hasn’t been the case lately, expect for the last part. But the Bruins took a giant step in the right direction with their dramatic overtime win over the Volunteers.

I’ve been rooting for UCLA since 1954, when I was a skinny kid growing up in Santa Monica, Calif. My love for the Bruins only grew when I spent the five best years of my life in Westwood from 1963-67.

There have been many ups and downs over more than 50 years. The highest of highs came in 1965 when UCLA trailed USC 16-6 with four minutes left. I was in the stands at The Coliseum that memorable day and talked my friend into leaving early to beat the crowd. Isn’t that what fans in Southern California always do?

So as we zipped down the freeway I listened as sophomore Gary Beban rolled out and hit Dick Witcher for a 34-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion to make it 16-14. Linebacker Dallas Grider recovered Kurt Zimmerman’s onside kick, and Beban fired a 52-yard strike to Kurt Altenberg for the winning scored with 2:39 remaining as we hit the off ramp.

There was also bitter disappointment 10 years ago when the Bruins seemed headed for a spot in the national title game until they blew a 38-21 lead at Miami . Edgerrin James rushed 39-times for a Big-East record 299 yards and the Hurricanes scored with 50 second left to win, 49-45.

Now that I’m no longer in the press box, where you really can’t root. Or behind the sports book counter, where the house often needed to beat the Bruins to win a bundle, I can now cheer for my team openly. Go Bruins!

Football is on the verge of taking over the national spotlight with a full slate of college action Saturday and the No Fun League kicking off next weekend. But us diehard baseball fans are gearing up for what should be an exciting September.

Here’s three tasty trends on the Friday MLB menu that caught my attention.

Tampa Bay is 22-1 as home favorites of between $1.50 and $2.00.

Seattle is 3-19 after a game where its bullpen blew a save.

The New York Yankees have slipped below the total in 19 of 21 games versus a very good bullpen whose WHIP is 1.250 or better.

Good luck with your weekend wagering and may all your bets do no worse than push.

It may come as a surprise to the oddsmakers, but Cleveland has won nine straight games and 15 of its last 18. That’s why it comes as a shock that Detroit is a prohibitive favorite on Wednesday. Yes, Justin Verlander hasn’t alllowed an earned run in his last two starts. But he has lost 11 of 15 decisions against division foes this season and is 4-8 with a 6.51 ERA in his career against the Indians.

Fausto Carmona seems to have found his groove, yielding just two earned runs over his last 12 2/3 innings. Carmona is 14-2 after two or more consecutive wins and he’s won five of six career decisions against the Tigers with a 2.81 ERA.

Cleveland is 22-8 after scoring 10 runs or more while Detroit is 23-33 against division foes and 41-52 against right-handers.

I may be jumping on the Tribe bandwagon late, but can’t resist this juicy price. No risk, no reward. Why not take a pop with the Indians?

I’ve scoured the archives and come up with a six-pack of trends and angles that may prove helpful in your weekend baseball handicapping.

The Chicago Cubs are 18-3 after scoring three runs or less in two straight games, for those of you who like to lay $2.75.

San Francisco is 2-16 after having won three of its last four games. Tim Lincecum is the real deal but is certainly no bargain at minus $2.15.

Boston is 1-12 on artificial turf and the defending champs have struggled against Toronto this season.

San Diego has eclipsed the total in 18 of its last 20 when playing on Friday. I normally don’t put much stock in these days of the week trends, but 18-2 is hard to ignore.

The Los Angeles Angeles have slipped below the total in 24 of 30 against AL Central opponents.

Texas has zipped ‘over’ in 26 of 34 when facing AL-Central foes.

Let me start the college football season off on the right note by ticking off all those Notre Dame fans out there that are laboring under the misconception that the Irish are going to return to glory in 2008. Notre Dame is a trendy pick to be one of the most improved teams in the country, but I’m not buying into the hype.

The clock is ticking in South Bend for Charlie Weis, the most overrated coach in the country. Quarterback Jimmy Claussen should be better–he could hardly be worse–but even though his offensive line is more experienced, there is no guarantee it’s going to be better.

Notre Dame’s offensive front allowed an NCAA-record 58 sacks and the rushing attack, such as it was, ranked 115th in the land. Weis still doesn’t have a running back he can count on and he doesn’t have any wide receivers that will strike fear in the hearts of opposing secondaries.

Weis can no longer blame other people’s recruits for his lack of success. These are the players he recruited, for better or worse. I think it will be for worse.

I was shocked when I discovered that the lowly Seattle Mariners have the best batting average in the American League since the All-Star break. Combine that with the M’s cruddy pitching and you get a lot of overs. Carlos Silva takes the mound for the M’s on Friday at the Metodome to face his former mates for the first time and he better get ready to chuck and duck.

Silva has provided batting practice for AL hitters this season and I expect that trend to continue against Minnesota. Bad things happen to sinkers that don’t sink. Silva sports a 5.79 ERA on the road and an 8.40 ERA in his last three futile efforts.

Seattle has been on the high side in 26 of its last 39 August affairs and it has topped the total in 11 of 12 after allowing seven runs or more in three straight games.

Francisco Liriano isn’t the same pitcher that set the league on its ear during his rookie season, though he is rounding back into form. Minnesota has zipped over in 14 of its last 19 against AL-West opponents and 14 of the last 20 meetings in this series have eclipsed the total.

Take a free trip to the winner’s circle on me and bet the OVER tonight in Minny.

I haven’t had much luck selling my picks of late despite a respectable 8-3 run with ’side’ plays. It’s been like peddling milk shakes to the lactose intolerant. So perhaps you would be interested in something of the free variety.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Tampa Bay is going to have trouble pushing across runs with Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria on the disabled list. That’s why I was a little surprised that the oddsmakers opened Wednesday’s total at 7 1/2.

The only reason I can see for the number not being seven is that Oakland has hit Andy Sonnanstine well in two chances this season. But that was then and this is now. The Athletics have scored three runs or less in 11 of their last 14 games and averaged 2.4 runs while batting .224 in their last three games.

Justin Duchsherer has struggled in two of his last three outings, but he’s been one of the most consistent pitchers in the majors this season and sports a .225 ERA at McAfee Coliseum.

Tampa Bay has snuggled under in 22 of 33 after scoring two runs or less. The anemic Athletics have been on the low side in 20 of 27 at home when the total is between seven and 7 1/2.

Oakland and the Rays have slipped below the total in eight of the last 11 in the Bay Area.

Don’t be afraid of a Russian-Dane bearing gifts. This ‘under’ at McAfee Coliseum looks like a good thing.

The Texas Rangers have been one of the most resiliant teams in the majors this season. The underrated Rangers have bounced back to cash 31 of 39 after having lost two of their previous three games. Friday night may not be the best time to test that trend. Baltimore ace Jeremy Guthrie has allowed three earned runs and 13 hits in his last three starts. Conversely, Texas chucker Luis Mendoza has been tagged for 15 earned runs and 24 hits over his last 16 1/3 innings.

There are two other trends on the Friday menu that caught my attention.

The New York Yankees are 11-0 on the road versus top-level teams (win percentage greater than 62) in the second half of the season. The oddsmakers opened the Los Angeles Angels as prohibitive $1.70 favorites but you won’t find that bargain price today. Ian Kennedy returns to the Yankees rotation after going 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA over his last four starts at AAA Scranton. Jerred Weaver got lit up at Yankee Stadium and sports a 7.24 ERA in his last three outings. New York is indeed a tempting take.

Milwaukee has been on the low side in 20 of 24 when facing teams from the National League East. C.C. Sabathia is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA since joining the Brewers. However, Washington is in the midst of an offensive renaissance that has seen it score 42 runs in its last seven games. Collin Balester pitched well in his last two games at home, allowing three earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. However, the rookie sports a 0-3 record and a 5.17 ERA on the highway.

Major league baseball chalk bettors have consistenly cashed with the Tampa Bay Rays this season at Tropicana Field. The American League East leaders are an amazing 23-2 in St. Pete as favorites of $1.50 or more.

Here are three other significant trends that may help you battle your bookie on Wednesday.

Seattle’s Jarrod Washburn is 8-24 at Safeco Field versus poor power teams–averaging 0.9 or less homers per game.

The New York Yankees have floundered in 18 of 24 games this season when the total was 10 or higher.

Toronto has been on the low side in 18 of 20 outings after three straight games with no home runs.