Reintroducing... College Football!

It's been far too long since I've posted about small-town America's national pastime. With the season kicking off this Saturday, it's time for some random thoughts and some prognostication:

* What happened to the Kickoff Classic this year? Instead of a marquee match-up of two ranked teams, we have to start the year with Oregon at Houston on ESPN2 tomorrow night?

* I really hope that Cal's Joe Ayoob wins the starting QB job, if for no other reason than his last name is "Booya" spelled backwards. This guy will be fun to root against.

* I shake my head every year when the media goes ga-ga over high profile coaches even though they have mediocre squads. As if we're supposed to start TiVo-ing South Carolina and Notre Dame games to watch Steve Spurrier and Charlie Weis scowl on the sidelines.

* Pardon me while I neglect to board the bandwagon for Ted Ginn Jr. Yes, he had some nice kick returns for Ohio St. last year, but I'm just not ready to hand the Heisman to a guy with 25 career catches.

* This will finally be the year that the wheels come off at Florida State. Their QB woes, which have lingered since Chris Weinke graduated, while finally catch up with them. I see the Seminoles as this year's Kansas State.

* I don't care about last January's stirring Rose Bowl win. I don't care how exciting Vince Young is. I don't even care that Jason White has graduated and Oklahoma has no experienced quarterbacks. I'm still don't trust the Longhorns to beat the Sooners in the Red River Shootout. I consider Texas to be guilty until proven innocent.

* Everyone who's handing USC their third straight title just doesn't know their history. Look, we all know that the Trojans are loaded and on paper, they've got the brand name QB and RB and therefore, it doesn't make sense to pick against them. But people were saying the same thing about Nebraska in 1996, before Arizona State ended their three-peat bid in a 19-0 shocker. There's a reason that no team has ever won three straight titles. In college football the margin for error is way too small-- one late-season loss submarines your chances. This year, the upset will come courtesy of Fresno State, who will go into the LA Coliseum on November 19 and shock USC.

* My attitude toward's Stanford's team is a mixture of relief, aprehension and optimism. Relief that the Buddy Teevens Offense is a thing of the past. Aprehension at the prospect that The Willingham Big Game Hex may be real (Tyrone was 11-0 against Cal as coach and assistant; we haven't won since he left). Optimisim that with two young quarterbacks and a stadium renovation next year, the program has sunny days ahead of it. Looking at the '05 schedule, I see wins over Navy, Davis, Arizona, UCLA and Notre Dame. If the ball bounces our way in Big Game, we're bowl bound.

Mr Predicto

ACC: Virginia Tech
Big East: Louisville
Big Ten: Iowa
Big Twelve: Texas
Pac Ten: USC
SEC: Florida
BCS at large: Michigan
BCS at large: Tennesse

Rose Bowl: Louisville over Virginia Tech

Yep, the media will be howling as the national title game shall feature a contest of two nontraditional football powers. With Marcus Vick finally handling the QB duties, the Hokies will put all of the pieces together and roll through a weakened ACC for their second straight league crown. As for Lousiville, the tandem of Pitino and Petrino is building quite a basketball/football juggernaut. Despite losing Stefan LeFors (who had the best name in college football) the Louisville will keep rolling with stud QB Brian Brohm. The key to their success will be the schedule: the Big East is pathetic, meaning that the Cardinals have a better chance at an undefeated regular season than anyone. Once theyr'e thrown into the national title game, the juggernaut offense will snag them the title. Who says defense wins championships?