College Football 2012 Week 1!

Ah yeah, its that time of the year again.  It all kicks off tonight.  Baseball is now irrelevant, the NFL is still in "pretend" mode, basketball and hockey aren't going yet, and soccer is worthless in this part of the world.

The offseason was anything but boring this time around.  Oh sure, it's long and drawn out, but it has not been boring.  Between recruiting, Penn State and realignment we've had plenty to talk about.  Thank goodness we have actual games now.  I'm tired of the offseason.

Cheering for:
-Bill O'Brien: Bet you weren't expecting this situation.  Good luck, you'll need it.
-UTSA, Texas State, UMass, and South Alabama: welcome to the big leagues.  Good luck!

Feeling sorry for:
-The players at Penn State: There's no way you could have known this was coming.  While you did have a free ticket out of the school, you stuck together and are working on it.  As with the others, Good luck!

Laughing at:
-North Carolina: You can't hide your academic woes for forever.  The NCAA hammer should hit really hard soon.

I'm not doing a Top 25 yet.  Everybody is undefeated right now.

-South Carolina at Vanderbilt: Last year the Gamecocks played like total crap against Vandy, didn't score much, but it didn't matter.  Vandy got one field goal.  I expect there to be a little more scoring this year but most of it will be done by South Carolina.  USC by 20.
-Washington State at BYU: The return of the pirate, Mike Leach.  Washington State was horrible last year, which lead to the hiring of Leach.  BYU was actually rather good last year as an independent, and will be too touch for the Cougars.  BYU by 14.
-Tennessee vs NC State in Atlanta, GA: Tennessee had an absolute miserable season last year and cannot afford to start off this season that poorly.  NC State is picked to do well and could very well be a player in the ACC Atlantic division.  That being said this is ACC vs SEC and we know how that usually goes.  Tennessee by 3.
-Boise State at Michigan State: Boise State comes in ranked 24, and if they hadn't been so good lately wouldn't be that high.  Michigan State is a team that's quite tough at home, hasn't lost at home since 2009 (Penn State, or if you don't count that since the NCAA doesn't, Iowa earlier in 2009).  Boise State had a ton of talent graduate from last year's squad.  Sadly for the Broncos I see this being a bit of a repeat from when the Broncos visited Athens, GA in 2005.  UGA lit them up.  Michigan State will this time too.
-Notre Dame vs Navy in Dublin, Ireland: I don't know the appeal of playing this game on foreign soil so far from home.  I wonder what Notre Dame and Navy are going for here.  It isn't like Ireland is a great recruiting area.  Ah well, Notre Dame returns a ton of talent... if they weren't all suspended for the game.  Navy is Navy, plays hard and does what it can.  LAst year Notre Dame blew out Navy, unless the time zone change is that tough on the Irish, it'll do the same this year.  Notre Dame by 20.
-Friends of Coal Bowl; Marshall at West Virginia: Its an in-state rivalry game to kick off the season!  Marshall isn't that good, West Virginia is. This is the last of the series between them, or at least what was originally scheduled.  WVU hasn't lost to Marshall yet.  It ain't happening this year either.  WVU by 24.
-Southern Miss at Nebraska: It has been a few years, 8 to be exact since these two teams played each other.  Oddly enough Southern Miss won the last meeting.  There's a chance for the streak to hit two, but I don't see it happening.  Nebraska by 10.
-Clemson vs Auburn in Atlanta, GA: One thing we do know is that the Tigers are going to win.  Okay that's too easy.  Clemson comes in loaded, Auburn comes in wounded a bit.  Clemson came in loaded in 2008 against Alabama and got smoked.  Auburn won't quite do the same but will still win.  Auburn by 4.
-Florida International at Duke: FIU is a rising program from the Sun Belt, soon to be Conference USA.  Duke... still sucks.  When David Cutcliffe can't win consistently at a school, it usually is the school.  FIU wins by 3.
-Hawaii at USC: This game should be fun to watch, there will probably be close to 1000 yards of offense combined.  USC comes in ranked #1 in a few polls, will show off why.  USC by 14.
-Michigan vs Alabama in Arlington, TX: These two schools have never met on the field in the regular season.  This should be a treat.  Michigan with a nice offense and Alabama loaded still after a BCS Championship.  Alabama's defense will prove to be too much here.  Crimson Tide by 10.
-Governor's Cup; Kentucky at Louisville: This has been a pretty good rivalry between the two teams since they started playing regularly in 1994.  Since then Louisville leads 10-8.  Charlie Strong has Louisville up and coming, Kentucky is in a rut.  Louisville by 7.
-Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech: Well the ACC is sure getting this over with quickly.  Since the expansion of the conference and split into two divisions, this game has decided the Coastal division champion every year.  Virginia Tech has been stronger lately, Georgia Tech has a lot to prove.  I'd love to see my Yellow Jackets win, but I don't see it happening.  Sorry guys.  VT by 10.


*note: Yes I'm posting this late.  I wrote up most of it before the games kicked off on Thursday but did not finish.  My predictions of the South Carolina @ Vanderbilt game as well as the Washington State @ BYU have not been editted.