Football is finally here!

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 15, 2006

TIME FOR A DIET

This is a simple request to all the schools out there that are scheduling the cupcakes by playing 1-AA teams. STOP IT NOW!!!! Come on, really what benefit do you get by beating a team by 60 points? If you are just trying to make sure you get the extra home game, fine schedule a cupcake team, but at least have the cupcake team be a team from D-1 football. There are 119 D-1 schools, I’m sure that every school out there can find an easy win from a smaller school willing to travel to play the game. I don’t mind seeing schools like Buffalo or Temple doing this, because it may be their best chance for a victory during the year, but BCS team, top 25 teams, give me a break.

Last week alone we saw Miami, West Virginia, and Nebraska all play 1-AA schools, and beat them by a combined 159-20. And this week is more of the same. Penn State plays host to the powerful Penguins of Youngstown State, and Cal plays Portland State. Nice to see that Joe Paterno can find a spot to put the Penguins on the schedule but still seems befuddled when asked why he doesn’t try to schedule Pitt anymore (obviously the alumni would rather see Youngstown State, how dumb of me to ask). Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks also will play host to Wofford, like Spurrier doesn’t run up the score enough, now he is going to do it to 1-AA schools.

Enough is enough already, do us a favor and play tougher non-conference games. It makes the season more exciting and it helps your chances in getting to the National Championship.
Come December mountaineer fans could be wondering if the 52-3 whooping they put on Eastern Michigan was worth not having a tough enough strength of schedule to put them in the title game.

THE BIG (L)EAST?

The Big East has been anything but big the past few years, since the Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left for the ACC, but they are turning some heads quickly and getting the attention they have wanted and claimed to deserve. So far this season the Big East is a combined 13-3. Of those 3 losses, 1 is by Cincinnati against another Big East team (Pitt) and the other two are by Syracuse, who is the worst team in the conference but still took a Top 25 team in Iowa to double over-time before falling to them. Not bad. They are also 5-2 against other BCS conference teams; again the 2 losses are by Syracuse. The 5 wins are from teams from the ACC (2), Big Ten, SEC and Big XII.

This week is another week for the Big East to prove it is worthy of its BCS spot. After WVU destroyed Maryland on national television last night, Pitt host Michigan State, Louisville hosts Miami, and Connecticut hosts Wake Forest; while Cincinnati and Syracuse play on the road against Ohio State and Illinois, respectively. (Good luck bearcats that one might hurt a bit.)

SEPERATION SATURDAY

It is only week 3 and this is already the biggest football weekend of the year. 14 of the top 25 teams play each other this Saturday, including 5 teams in the top10.

The game everyone is talking about seems to be Michigan @ Notre Dame (3:30, NBC). After last weeks performance I think it is clear that Notre Dame really is for real this season. This will be the first real test for Michigan and Lloyd Carr, who hasn’t won a road opener since 1999.

Nebraska @ USC (8:00, ABC) is a game that many people are interested in for a couple reasons. First, is Nebraska really this good? And secondly, Can USC still possibly be as good as they appeared in the opener despite losing Matt Leinert, LenDale White and Reggie Bush? We shall soon find out.

The two biggest games this weekend are both big time conference games. Only in the SEC can you get such a big conference game this early in the season, what is amazing is that the schedule never lightens up in this conference, that is why I think it is the best conference in football year in and year out. First up we have two of the top 5 teams in the country, LSU @ Auburn (3:30, CBS). The home team has won this match-up the past 6 years, due largely in part with Auburn kicker John Vaughn missing 5 FGs in an overtime loss last season. The second of the two games is a primetime match-up, Florida @ Tennessee (8:00, CBS). This match-up pits the red-hot Urban Meyer Florida Gators against The Tennessee Vols under the lights at Neyland Stadium. A night conference game and Neyland is one of the best football atmospheres you can find. This could be a big win on the way to Phil Fullmer keeping his job in Tennessee.

The other match-ups are all non-conference showdowns:
Texas Tech @ TCU (5:30, CSTV)
Oklahoma @ Oregon (3:30, ABC Regional)
Miami @ Louisville (3:30, ABC Regional)

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Ok I just hyped all these games so now, here is how I see them, as well as some games of local interest, playing out.
PITT over Michigan State
PENN STATE over Youngstown State
NOTRE DAME
USC
AUBURN (my national champion pick)
FLORIDA
TEXAS TECH
OREGON
LOUISVILLE

My work is done here, you are now officially set for another great Saturday of college football, enjoy it. I know I will!