Rating the TV Games

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Break out the chips and salsa

** Keep the remote handy

* A fine time for chores

*** No. 24 North Carolina State (1-1) at No. 3 Ohio State (2-0), 9 a.m., Channel 7: With Maurice Clarett suspended for the season and a shaky victory over San Diego State, it seems only a matter of time before the defending champs fall. LINE: Ohio State by 9 1/2

** Purdue (0-1) at No. 20 Wake Forest (2-0), 9 a.m., ESPN: Wake up and watch the Demon Deacons. With an undergraduate enrollment of less than 4,000, Wake Forest is the smallest school in any BCS conference. LINE: Pick

** Nevada Las Vegas (1-1) at No. 14 Wisconsin (2-0), 9 a.m., ESPN2: Against Akron, the Badgers became the first Big Ten team to have a 200-yard rusher (Anthony Davis) and 200-yard receiver (Lee Evans) in the same game. LINE: Wisconsin by 20

** No. 23 Iowa (2-0) at Iowa State (2-0), 9:30 a.m., Fox Sports Net: Iowa has won 33 of the 50 games between the schools, but Hawkeye Coach Kirk Ferentz is 0-4 against the Cyclones. LINE: Iowa by 4

*** No. 25 South Carolina (2-0) at No. 8 Georgia (2-0), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2: The Bulldogs will try to send Lou Holtz back to Columbia with the Gamecocks’ new ranking hanging by a thread. LINE: Georgia by 14

**** No. 15 Notre Dame (1-0) at No. 5 Michigan (2-0), 12:30 p.m., Channel 7, XPRS (1090, Spanish): Last season’s 25-23 Irish victory was Notre Dame’s first over a top-10 team since 1998. A repeat won’t be easy. LINE: Michigan by 10

** Hawaii (1-0) at No. 4 USC (2-0), 1 p.m., Fox Sports Net, KMPC (1540), XKAM (950, Spanish), KWKW (1330, Spanish): In the previous four meetings, USC has outscored Hawaii, 173-18. But June Jones has a better team than he did in 62-7 loss in 1999. LINE: USC by 21

** East Carolina (0-2) at No. 2 Miami (2-0), 4 p.m., ESPN2: East Carolina actually won the last two meetings, in 1996 and 1999. Chances of three in a row are close to nil. LINE: Miami by 41

** Kentucky (1-1) at Alabama (1-1), 4:45 p.m., ESPN: Alabama hung in there against No. 1 Oklahoma. Besides, the Crimson Tide leads the Kentucky series, 31-2-1-- and one of the victories was in 1922. LINE: Alabama by 13 1/2

** Illinois (1-1) at UCLA (0-1), 5 p.m., Channel 7, XTRA (690): The last time Illinois played at the Rose Bowl, UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell caught two touchdown passes in a 45-9 Bruin victory on Jan. 1, 1984. LINE: UCLA by 10

** Oregon (2-0) at Arizona (1-1), 7 p.m., TBS: Oregon’s Samie Parker, from Long Beach Poly, has consecutive 100-yard receiving games and ranks fourth in the nation at 145 yards a game. LINE: Oregon by 12

* Jackson State (0-2) vs. Tennessee State (1-1), 8 p.m., BET: Two teams with one victory between them don’t make this Southern Heritage Classic a classic. LINE: No line

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-- Robyn Norwood