Finally - it's college football season!! Of course, as always, the preseason rankings mean absolutely nothing. The only thing worth recognizing is the fact that the SEC has the most ranked teams in the top 25 of any conference - and that's the way it should be. The SEC is still far superior to the other college football conferences.
Because I obviously haven't seen any teams play yet, this week I will make predictions based on a combination of last season's performances, gut feelings and just plain biases. With that said, I don't think too much will shake up in the first week because most ranked teams do not play tough games the first week.
And here are some of my predictions for week 1....
The Big East may not be good, but I will pick Louisville over Murray State and UConn over Fordham. I'll pick the Chippewas over SCSU. Still not impressed with the ACC as of late, but Georgia Tech will beat WCU. My Scarlet Knights will have no trouble embarrassing North Carolina Central. UNLV will play Wisconsin tough, but the crowd in Madison will jump around as Wisconsin starts the season 1-0. Mississippi State will beat Memphis - CUSA can't handle the SEC and Dan Mullen. Wake Forest should beat Syracuse - but does it mean anything for either team? Utah over Montana State. Kentucky over the Hilltoppers.
Friday I'll take Mich St and TCU. When Mich St beats Youngstown State they'll start climbing the rankings - because we'll all be very impressed with such a high quality win.... or something like that. TCU shouldn't have a problem with Baylor - but it might be closer than they think. Important: GO ZIPS! I'd love to see the Buckeyes lose. Unfortunately, Ohio State will win this one - even if they have to vacate the W later. Dirty cheaters. Missouri beats the Redhawks. Defending national champs Auburn keep the undefeated streak alive with a win over Utah State. ACC might be weak, but Boston College beats Northwestern. Penn State wins in Happy Valley. Alabama will humiliate Kent State. Iowa beats the great Tenn Tech. Appalachian State won't pull off a miracle this year like in 2007 - I just hope they can locate Virginia Tech on a map. Not sure one notable alum can....
FSU will win this weekend, unfortunately. Nebraska will blow out Chattanooga and scare the hell out of the Big Ten. Notre Dame will squeak past USF. USC beats Minnesota. Michigan won't start strong - may have a closer game this weekend than people expect. But they'll win. James Madison isn't beating the ACC again this year. North Carolina will win this week, but lose next week to the Big East! (Not that I'm biased on that one...) Clemson will beat Troy. Houston should beat UCLA. Watch out for Case Keenum!!! Zook will beat Arkansas State. Ole Miss will beat BYU. Oklahoma State will win. Tennessee will win. Arkansas will win.
The FLORIDA GATORS will beat the FAU Owls. Gators eat owls for breakfast - even John Brantley. And he better impress me this weekend. I want a HUGE victory. No 20-14 nonsense against Florida Atlantic.
Washington will win even without Jake Locker. Ball State could beat the Big Ten. Cincinnati, Kansas and Kansas State will all win their cupcake games. Texas Tech and Vanderbilt will have no problems. Tulsa will go down in flames to Oklahoma. I think even with the suspensions LSU is beating Oregon. Too much talent in the SEC. Also think Georgia is upsetting Boise State. When Georgia sees all that orange and blue, they're just gonna flip out. I'd like to see Hawaii beat Colorado. West Virginia will spare itself embarrassment this season and beat Marshall by double digits. Would LOVE to see June Jones beat Texas A&M, but I don't see it happening. Does Miami have anyone eligible to play Monday night? -- I'll pick Maryland.
Not many surprises here. A ton of meaningless games. Oregon-LSU and Boise State-Georgia are the obvious highlights. I care most about Florida, Rutgers and Nebraska as usual.
GO GATORS!!!!!!! Go Scarlet Knights! Go Huskers!
