Its that time! We start the season with a bunch of warm-up type games, a few rivalries and a few really good games to watch. I can't blame the schools for scheduling a patsy to start the season, this isn't the NFL where you get four pre-season games to tune up and test out stuff.
Cheering for: The perceived underdogs. A lot of teams are predicted to do poorly and rise up every year to surprise a lot of people. I cheer for those guys this week.
Laughing at: Texas. Yes, The University of Texas. Last I heard that great Longhorn Network you expect to make a fortune just for you... has one cable provider showing it, regionally only.
Feeling sorry for: The rest of the Big 12. Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and maybe Texas Tech will have good homes to go to when the Big 12 collapses. Kansas and Kansas State may be attractive enough to the Big East if they want it, but Baylor and Iowa State are screwed.
Top 25: I had to think for awhile on this, and I'm not really sure about it. This is really just a gut feeling. My method that I used last year and will use again this year doesn't really work until about week five or six. This will change, quite often for the next few weeks. For example, the loser of Oregon vs LSU may drop out completely depending on how the game goes.
1) Oklahoma
2) Oregon
3) Boise State
4) Arkansas
5) Alabama
6) LSU
7) Stanford
8) Nebraska
9) Wisconsin
10) Texas A&M
11) Oklahoma State
12) TCU
13) Florida State
14) Virginia Tech
15) Notre Dame
16) Michigan State
17) Missouri
18) Southern Cal
19) Iowa
20) Arizona State
21) Penn State
22) Mississippi State
23) Florida
24) West Virginia
25) Auburn
Week 1 Predictions:
-UNLV at Wisconsin: You wouldn't think this is a rivalry in any way but these two teams have played each other five times over the past decade. UNLV did win one of them too, the other four have been played well. Wisconsin is just that good this year and will not overlook UNLV. Wisconsin by a lot.
-TCU at Baylor: If Baylor wants to make itself look attractive to another conference, it needs to win this game and prove that it belongs in the upper echelon of college football. TCU has to replace a lot of parts from last year's Rose Bowl winning undefeated team. Still, the defense will do just enough to win, TCU by 3.
-Minnesota at USC: Minnesota has hired a winner of a coach in Jerry Kill from Northern Illinois. Unfortunately this is not a good way to start your career at a school like Minnesota that is rebuilding in a lot of ways. Still, this could be an upset alert if USC isn't prepared. I don't see that happening though. USC by 10.
-South Florida at Notre Dame: Two teams that should be on their way up meet in an opening game that's actually rather interesting. Notre Dame should win this one just on the fact that the talent level is better and it's at Notre Dame. I think it will be close though! Notre Dame by 1.
-Troy at Clemson: Troy is a team that's ruled the Sun Belt for a bit and has surprised a few teams over the past few years. Clemson has a new quarterback and several new starters. While I think Clemson is not going to have a good year this game should go their way. Tigers by 7.
-BYU at Ole Miss: Oddly enough this game came about due to the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta. Boise State was supposed to play BYU to open the season. Ole Miss stepped in and picked up the game as a preview to the 2014 Kickoff Classic. Anyway, BYU has gone independent of any conference, and Ole Miss wants to start off this season much better than the last one. Ole Miss wins at home by 3.
-Fresno State at Cal: Cal sure has disappeared from any national attention lately. Fresno State just keeps winning games like this. Fresno by 3.
-East Carolina vs South Carolina in Charlotte: While this is the lesser of the three neutral site games to open the season, it might very well be the best to watch! East Carolina loves these games and South Carolina has a lot to play for this year. South Carolina should win this one, Gamecocks by 3.
-Boise State vs Georgia in Atlanta: In 2005 Boise State traveled to Athens to open the season... and got shelled by UGA. This time around it should be Boise doing the shelling. I see Boise winning this one by 7.
-Oregon vs LSU in Arlington: LSU has way too many off the field issues right now. Sure, both teams are talented beyond belief, but I think Oregon takes this one. Oregon by 7.
-Marshall at West Virginia: These two teams despise each other. WVU has a new head coach after quite a bit of offseason drama involving the coaches and not the players! Look for a statement here, WVU by 14.
-Miami at Maryland: All eyes will be on this game, mostly due to the fact its on Monday night and there will be no other games on at the time. Miami has quite a few suspensions being served here, a new coach, and a new QB (at least for this game). Maryland has a good QB but a new coach too. I see Maryland pulling off the win here, by 3.
No comments about GT's game? Or were you sure they were gonna win? Also, ugh about WF losing already in the season. *facepalm*
ReplyDeleteI was hoping the ACC would look better this year, but then again, we have a lot of basketball schools. It's never going to be easy for the conference of confusion.
I try not to pick easy games in my predictions, I tend to go for the interesting matchups of the week. Lets face it, GT vs FCS-member Western Carolina (who finished last year at 2-9) isn't much of a matchup! :)
ReplyDeleteThe SEC doesn't suck because Vanderbilt is bad, so in theory the ACC can't suck because of Wake Forest.