Wow, big broad question, lots to consider.
1. How do teams, programs and conferences compare?
2. What happened last season when they played. I am not a believer in "revenge" as a motive, that is garbage. As an athlete, when you realize you can compete with someone you get after them because you did it before. Cal plays USC tight but loses, Stanford plays Cal tight but normally loses. Oregon State knew it could play with USC beating them 2 years ago...
Coach matchups too: .ie. Tedford has owned Oregon and Pete Carroll has owned Tedford.
3. Trends (biggest): Wow, Cal's offense is sputtering but defense playing like monsters. I smell a lot of unders in CAl games. LSU not so hot with bad quarterback play; I just think 'Bama is a better team, etc. Or, MIssouri sure scores a lot of points but have they been tested? I spotted MIssouri and LSU early this year as frauds. IN the last few games, Fresno State started giving up lots of points.
4. Weather, look for big ugly storms.....Let's help each other out here on this one folks.