Column: Lopsided odds are good for many big-time college football teams

What big-time teams crave, even more than stiff competition, is minimal competition.

Quiet, black-out periods between important seasonal markers produce weekends like this one, in which the strong can’t wait to make appetizers out of the weak.

Many of Saturday’s lopsided wagering lines make sense. Who doesn’t like Michigan State by 28 points, at home, over Wyoming?

Michigan State lost by 19 at Oregon, but the game was closer than that. It really felt as if Oregon was only better by, oh, six.

Oregon then defeated Wyoming in Eugene by 34. Subtracting Oregon’s six-point win over Michigan State, from 34, leaves 28.

And there you have it: Michigan State’s point-spread advantage over Wyoming.

See how easy setting betting lines can be?

Louisiana State should cover the 43-point cushion it has been handed over New Mexico State. LSU is madder than a honey badger and looking for a cardboard cutout to run over after last week’s embarrassing home loss to Mississippi State.

The game was only close because Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen forgot what to do with a big lead after most of Tiger Stadium had been cleared of LSU fans. Mississippi State nearly blew a 34-10 fourth-quarter advantage.

Mississippi is a three-touchdown favorite at home against Memphis, which also serves as a barometer for UCLA followers.

UCLA and Memphis were tied late, 35-35, only a few weeks ago at the Rose Bowl. The Bruins needed a late touchdown to win.

If Memphis covers in Oxford, we might better understand how UCLA would fare in the Southeastern Conference West.

Texas Christian is plus-32 over Southern Methodist (0-3), which hasn’t looked this decrepit since it was coming off NCAA death-penalty sanctions.

Auburn is favored by 33 over Louisiana Tech (yes, of course) and Wisconsin is a reasonable plus-34 at home against South Florida.

One line that nearly stopped the clock was Utah as a 13-point home favorite against Washington State.

Utah is coming off a nice win at Michigan, but Washington State last week walked No. 2 Oregon to the ledge of a major upset. Oregon won by seven only because the Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota didn’t miss the team plane.

The jaw-drop shocker of the week, though, is California by 14 over Colorado. The game is in Berkeley, yes, but this truly belongs in the man-bites-Golden Bear file.

Cal was arguably the worst team in the Football Bowl Subdivision last year. The Bears went 0-11 against major-level opponents, their only win coming against lower-level Portland State.

Colorado went 1-8 in Pac-12 Conference play, with its only win coming against Cal.

Cal is 2-1 and certainly improved, already scoring a win at Northwestern, but forgive the Bears if they appear shell-shocked. Last week, the Bears blew a 31-13 fourth-quarter lead at Arizona, losing on a last-second Hail Mary pass.

Arizona scored 36 points in the final quarter.

And the oddsmakers think Cal is ready for an emotional bounce back?

Second-year Coach Sonny Dykes said his team was a “little somber” when it gathered for Sunday’s practice.

“The good thing about football,” Dykes said, “is you really don’t have time to wallow around in your own self pity.”

How Cal responds against 2-2 Colorado may reveal how much the bottom of the Pac-12 has improved. Or not.

With sophomore Jared Goff at quarterback, Cal is a points-scoring machine. The Bears rank No. 17 nationally in total offense.

The problem remains a young defense that collapsed in the fourth quarter at Arizona.

“I think we just got tired,” Dykes explained.

Cal, if it is going to threaten anyone in the Pac-12, needs to learn that a football game is 60 minutes.

The Bears have outscored opponents, 56-0, in the first quarter and 97-20 through two quarters.

However, whatever Dykes is saying at halftime isn’t working.

He needs to dust off a few of Knute Rockne’s speeches, or at least get mad and hurl a plate of pasta against the wall.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com