Unfortunately, I was correct last week when I was afraid that Tech would come out a little flat. So, for once, not only were all the times below Eastern, a prediction was, unfortunately, right. So let’s hope things get back on course here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Arkansas @ Georgia (ESPN): Georgia’s got problems. Mainly, they can’t score points and last week their defense couldn’t stop the runaway locomotive that is that Lattimore kid at South Carolina. These days, Arkansas likes to throw it over the top, though, and I suspect that’s what we’ll see here.
• Kent State @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN2): I’m not even going to dignify most cupcake games with a summary this week. So Penn State and let’s move on.
• Iowa State vs. Kansas State (@Kansas City, MO; FSN): Well, unless a cupcake plays a cupcake I guess. K-State should still win easily though.
• Maryland @ West Virginia (ESPNU): I have no idea how WVU almost loses to Marshall, but they almost did last week. Maryland won based mostly off Navy shooting themselves in the foot last week, which is probably what it would take for them to beat WVU. In Morgantown they should be able to take care of themselves, though.
• North Texas @ Army (CBSCS): Army lost to Hawaii last week, largely for the reasons you’d suspect. North Texas is pretty awful, though, so I think Army stands a fair chance of pulling this off.
• Massachusetts @ Michigan (BTN): Michigan.
• Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (SEC/Gameplan): Vandy gets a double-dose of the SEC’s two craziest coaches back-to-back, after going through the Les Miles Experience last weekend. Vandy did what they usually did though, which is somehow keep the game close in the first half, and then gradually slip away in the third quarter as your opponent beats you down with their superior size, depth, and speed. That said, Vandy is technically the best team Ole Miss has seen so far this season, and then you remember that the Rebels have already lost once. They should still win, of course, but it could be close until the end.
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina (ACC/Gameplan): What the hell is there even to say? I haven’t really even fully comprehended the loss last weekend and I’m not sure I want to. We were, simply, bad. Even if UNC’s defense is still suspended, if we play like we did last week it won’t matter. Oh, and the defense still looks awful, and neither unit was helped by stupid and untimely penalties. Without significant improvement in all phases of the game, this will be a long year for us.

3:30:

• Florida @ Tennessee (CBS): You know football season has really arrive when Uncle Vern is back, and this game certainly fits the bill. UF should roll though.
• Nebraska @ Washington (ABC/ESPN2/Gameplan): Nebraska.
• Arizona State @ Wisconsin (ESPN2/ABC/Gameplan): Arizona State has, to this point, literally played no one as they’ve played two DI-AA teams. Neither has Wisconsin, really. So this game is pretty much a toss up to me, but I’ll take Wisconsin.
• Alabama @ Duke (ABC/Gameplan): When I first started thinking about how I would approach this writeup, I was thinking about it along the lines of many old Southern rivalries now broken up by conference affiliation. That doesn’t really apply here, though. Because for all the history, these teams have only met three times. Duke won the first meeting, on New Year’s Day in the 1945 Sugar Bowl, but it’s been all downhill from there, as Bama won the encounters in 1972 and 2006. This the return trip from the latter game. Suffice it to say, Alabama should have a pretty easy go of it. Oh, as for the rootability index of this game, I have to disagree with Orson and say this one is pretty easy: Duke. The Duke fans everyone hates are Duke basketball fans. Since Duke football is such a nonentity they don’t really have any fans, and the ones they do have are pretty loyal and definitely not bandwagon fans. Meanwhile, I can’t think of anything positive at all to say about Alabama fans.
• Southern California @ Minnesota (ESPN): As bad USC looks this year, Minnesota is a truly awful team and the Trojans should roll easily.
• Air Force @ Oklahoma (FSN): This game will probably be fun to watch, but the Sooners should come out ahead in the end.
• Brigham Young @ Florida State (ESPNU): Remember last year, when no one was talking about FSU after they lost to GT and BYU was one of the major mid-major teams? And then FSU went to Provo and shallacked the Cougars 54-28? Well, this year FSU again has the deflating defeat, but so does BYU with a 35-14 loss to Air Force. While I don’t expect a repeat of last year’s utter blowout, I do like FSU again.
• Washington State @ Southern Methodist (CBSCS): A lot of awful major conference teams are on TV today, huh? I have to take SMU here. Yes, I am aware they lost 28-7 to UAB. I think either team is better than Wazzou.

4:30: Baylor @ Texas Christian (Versus): I think TCU is a pretty good team. This isn’t your usual truly awaful edition of Baylor, but TCU is still a superior team that would love to show the Texas legislature who should’ve been muscled into the Big 12 back in the day.

5:00: Indiana @ Western Kentucky (BTN): Indiana, well, at least I hope so.

7:00:

• Clemson @ Auburn (ESPN): I won’t make a joke about the Tigers winning here, and just come straight and say that Auburn is going to win this game. Why? It’s at home, and Clemson probably just isn’t ready after facing North Texas and Presbyterian.
• Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): LSU, but hey, with Les Miles at the helm you never know.

8:00:

(AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)

• Texas @ Texas Tech (ABC/ESPN2): Okay, there’s a lot of hype around this game, but in reality, Texas should win. Tuberville has done a fine job in Lubbock so far (and is still throwing it a lot, surprisingly enough) but Texas is just better.
• Notre Dame @ Michigan State (ESPN2/ABC): Notre Dame did everything but win last week against Michigan, but without really putting any thought into it the Domers should still win.
• Boise State @ Wyoming (CBSCS): Unless Boise is just utterly disgusted by Wyoming’s home brown unis they should be able to win here. (As someone who always sought to create the ugliest uniforms possible in the NCAA Football games, the Wyoming unis have a special place in my heart, though.)

10:30:

• Iowa @ Arizona (ESPN): Begrudgingly, the years of hate towards Iowa on this site have now turned to a sort-of respect. Which means that it’s probably about to be betrayed, but whatever, I like the Hawkeys a lot here.
• Houston @ California-Los Angeles (FSN): Honestly, I’ll take Houston here. UCLA looked terrible last weekend against Stanford and there’s no reason to think they’ve suddenly gotten better.
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Idaho (ESPNU): The main reason I can recommend watching this game is because KIBBIE DOME. That said, these teams both have the records would expect at this point but what the hell I’m taking Idaho because KIBBIE DOME.

11:15: Wake Forest @ Stanford (ESPN2): I’m half tempted to hop the train and go to this game, because, hey, it’s not like there won’t be tickets or anything, and it’s pretty well after most of the other games will have been decided most likely. Also, I always like Wake to make it tough, but The Cardinal should take care of business in the end.

Well, that’s that. Have a great Saturday, folks.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• San Jose State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): San Jose State continues their fundraising tour, this time making an appearance in Madison, WI. Badgers win easily.
• Georgia @ South Carolina (ESPN2): As usual, the good doctor talked about this game much better than I possibly could. But for the heck of it, and the fact I didn’t see either of these two teams play last week, I’ll take South Carolina.
• Georgia Tech @ Kansas (FSN): Okay, you’re a GT fan. You’re psyched up about your team’s first regular season game west of the Mississippi for the first time in awhile (since the 2003 BYU game, if I recall correctly). It’s also Tech’s first game against a current Big 12 school since playing Baylor in 1993. And then your opponent loses 6-3 in its first game to… North Dakota State. So now you doubts. Oh, sure, most outside observers think this is an easy win for you (the line seems to be 13.5 to 14 points at press time), but you’re a fan. And not just a normal fan, but a Georgia Tech fan, who within your ability to recall have dropped plenty of games they were supposed to win. (Also, you’re probably an engineer of some sort, which is a profession that doesn’t generally lend itself to optimists.) For instance, losing to Virginia in Charlottesville every year from 1992 to 2007. Losing to Duke in 2003. Sure, the past two years it hasn’t been as bad (the only truly terrible loss of the Paul Johnson era was probably the home game with UVA in 2008), but still, you just can’t shake that feeling of dread when you play a supposedly overmatched opponent.
• Michigan State vs. Florida Atlanta (@Detroit, MI; ESPNU): Sparty rolls. Howard Schellenberger is unfazed.
• Hawaii @ Army (CBSCS): Tune into this game for some good, old fashioned cognitive dissonance theater. Army may not throw a pass, while Hawaii may not run 10 times. It should be fun and high scoring, provided Hawaii can’t stop the option attack. Since that’s the only part I’m not sure about, I’ll take the figurative warriors over the guys who are more likely to be real ones.
• Illinois State @ Northwestern (BTN): NU.
• South Florida @ Florida (SEC/Gameplan): I have to say, as a fan of a school which is not a football powerhouse, it’s funny watching fans of said schools fret over their supposed shortcomings. Florida rolls.
• Duke @ Wake Forest (ACC/Gameplan): It used to be pretty automatic that I would take Wake here, but the past couple of years have seen Wake trending down and Duke trending up, so at this point it’s difficult to say which side as superior athletes, especially since Wake lost their 500th-year senior finally. (Seriously, it seemed like Riley Skinner was there forever.) Is this the year Duke’s first win over the Demen Deacons since 1999? Sure, why not.

 3:30:

• Michigan @ Notre Dame (NBC): Honestly, I think Michigan can (and will) take this game. But as with the past few years, I think in the end it’ll matter as much as it has the past few years – which is to say, it won’t.
• Florida State @ Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2): Okay, FSU played Samford last weekend so that doesn’t really tell us much. But Oklahoma sure tried mighty hard to lose to Utah State, didn’t they? Nonetheless, it’s hard to pick against them in this situation, at home against the relatively green Seminoles.
• Iowa State @ Iowa (ESPN2/ABC): Last year, Iowa finally did what they were supposed to against the Cyclones, which negates my usual post about how surprisingly competitive this rivalry has been since 1998, during which time the Hawkeyes have gone 5-7. Thing is, now most people would just say that Iowa has gone 5-2 since 2003. I have a pretty good feeling they’ll get to 6-2.
• University of Miami @ Ohio State (ESPN): it’s a matchup of two schools that like to use the article “the” when referring to themselves. Oh, I guess it’s also a rematch of some national title game? Well, if this were those Hurricanes, I would probably like them here, but Tressel seems to have taken the sweatervest reins off of Terrelle Pryor. It may be close, but I think OSU will win in the end.
• Colorado @ California (FSN): You know what’s great about week 2? Despite the fact I missed most of week 1 I still didn’t really miss anything because despite the fact these two teams are 1-0 I still have no idea what to make of them. Oh, right, CU is still coached by Dan Hawkins because they couldn’t afford to fire him. Bears all the way then.
• Kent State @ Boston College (ESPNU): BC rolls.
• Georgia Southern @ Navy (CBCS): Aw, we miss you Jaybo Shaw! While this is one of the rare times you’ll get to see the Paul Johnson offense play itself, Navy still has the edge here.

4:00: Brigham Young @ Air Force (Versus): I don’t know why people complain about Versus being hard to find. It’s right next to the ESPN channels, at least here. Geez. Anyway, I like BYU here.

7:00:

• Pennsylvania State @ Alabama (ESPN): As we slide on into primetime, we’re first greeted with Penn State and Alabama, possibly the most anticipated OOC matchup of the season. That said, I’m not really sure how Penn State wins this game.
• Oregon @ Tennessee (ESPN2): Tennessee travels west once again. Too bad by the time I wrote this every conceivable joke about their hygiene has already been made, because otherwise Oregon should win easily.
• Wyoming @ Texas (FSN): Okay, I’m running out of time here. I’m just going to say I wish Wyoming could wear their brown home duds as Texas rolls.
• Louisiana State @ Vanderbilt (ESPNU): LSU.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas (SEC/Gameplan): Ar-kansas.

7:30:

• North Carolina State @ Central Florida (CBSCS): Okay, NCSU should win this game, but you never know those guys.
• Southern Illinois @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois.
• Western Kentucky @ Kentucky (SEC/Gameplan): Kentucky.

9:00: Mississippi @ Tulane (ESPNC->ESPN2): Ole…. wait. Didn’t they lose to Jacksonville State last weekend? Even Tulane managed to beat their DI-AA patsy last week. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Rebels should still win, but that certainly adds another dimension to this thing, doesn’t it?

10:30:

• Stanford @ California-Los Angeles (ESPN): Am I seriously picking Stanford to beat UCLA? You betcha. This time last year that would’ve been unthinkable, but here we are.
• Virginia @ Southern California (FSN): Okay, USC will still win, but the way their defense played last weekend this could be a lot more interesting than many anticipated.
• Colorado State @ Nevada (ESPNU): Well, provided the ol’ Nevada pistol is still humming a long, they should win rather comfortably, I would think.

All right, time to get some sleep before the 9am kickoff.

Once again, it’s time for the following statement!
As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
7:30:

• Southern Mississippi @ South Carolina (ESPN): It’s not technically the first college football game (Division II started last week) or even the first DI-A game (Buffalo starts at 7:00), but it’s the first one on national TV. Despite Spurrier’s inability to pick a quarterback, South Carolina should be able to handle this one.
• Minnesota @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPNU): With Dwight Dasher, I actually kind of liked MTSU here, but some ill-advised and somewhat illegal financial escapades have landed Dasher in some trouble, the least of which is that he won’t be playing in this game. So I’ll have to fall back to the safety of Minnesota.
• Marshall @ Ohio State (BTN): Well, if you can find the Big Ten Network on your dial, this game will be here. Then you’ll likely turn it back. Tyrelle Pryor should have a pretty solid effort here.

8:00: Northern Illinois @ Iowa State (FSN): I wouldn’t be surprised if Iowa State lost this game. But they shouldn’t. They might though.

8:30: Pittsburgh @ Utah (Versus): Honestly, this is probably the best game of the night! Of course, once again I probably won’t see any of them, but hey, them’s the breaks. Also, I have to like the Utes at home here. I think they’ll be out to prove that their Pac-10 invite isn’t based on some sort of fluke.

11:00: Southern California @ Hawaii (ESPN): It’s USC’s bowl game! Have fun, guys.

Friday

8:00: Arizona @ Toledo (ESPN): Well, presumably, there won’t be any Toledo fans in t-shirts stating their opinions on swine flu in this game. But still, I don’t think Arizona will be able to repeat Colorado’s spectacular self-destruction from last year. Also, you’re going to watch this, because it’s Friday and it’s college football dammit.

Saturday
Noon:

• Miami University @ Florida (ESPN): Pro-tip for the rest of the year on this site: U of Miami is the one you care about, and Miami U is the one in Ohio. And that’s the one Florida is bringing in for some hot MACtion. And it will be hot, because it’s noon in Gainesville.
• Western Michigan @ Michigan State (ESPN2): Spartans. It’s 3:42 AM. Let’s speed this up.
• Samford @ Florida State (ESPNU): I’m not even sure why I listed this.
• Youngstown State @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): JoePa starts a freshman! Penn State rolls anyway.
• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Georgia (SEC/Gameplan): Oh hey, it’s UGA reppin’ the UL-U-Pick ‘Em. Word to your mother. Unless she went to UGA.

12:30: Illinois vs. Missouri (@St. Louis, MO; FSN): Well, this game loses a bit of its luster this year, but it’s probably your best bet early this day.

1:00: South Carolina State @ Georgia Tech (espn3.com): It’s kickoff for GT! And I can’t wait. It’s going to be an exciting fall here at asimsports, provided the Braves make the playoffs.

3:30:

• Purdue @ Notre Dame (NBC): I feel like I have to take Notre Dame here. But hear me out! If they lose, Brian Kelly will not have my trust again.
• Kentucky @ Louisville (ABC/Gameplan): I keep forgetting how astronomically bad Louisville was last year. In a way, it’s almost like they weren’t even there, which was kind of true in a literal sense as well. I’ll take Kentucky for now though.
• California-Los Angeles @ Kansas State (ABC/ESPN2/Gameplan): Woooo – does UCLA’s Socal trust busting begin on the plains of Kansas? Perhaps. Both these teams are rebuilding big time, but I think UCLA is a little further ahead than the Wildcats.
• Connecticut @ Michigan (ABC/ESPN2/espn3.com): I’m still not entirely sure Michigan even has a quarterback, but I’m going to roll with them anyway.
• Texas vs. Rice (@Houston, TX; ESPN/espn3.com): Well, I already spent my smart-guy JFK reference in the Big 12 OOC Schedule Preview, so I don’t really have anything here other than wish they could play it actually at Rice and not in some fancy NFL stadium. And Iron Bowl should still be played at Legion Field, and the Cotton Bowl should still be played at…. you get the idea.
• North Texas @ Clemson (ESPNU): Clemson.
• Jacksonville State @ Mississippi (SEC/Gameplan): Ole Miss.

7:00:

• Washington State @ Oklahoma State (FSN): Oklahoma State may be rebuilding here, but I’m pretty sure their metaphorical gun has a few more bullets than Wazzou’s.
• Memphis @ Mississippi State (ESPNU): I’m not really sure that Miss State will win here, but they should. Wait, did I use that gimmick already? Well, guess what, I just did it again! What are you going to do about it, huh? Yeah. That’s what I thought.
• Washington @ Brigham Young (CBSCS): Does Jake Locker exact vengeance on the bogus personal foul call from a few years ago? (By the way, those could get a lot more bogus next year. More on that later.) Anyway, I don’t think so. I still like BYU here.
• Arkansas State @ Auburn (SEC on FSN/Gameplan): WHOOPS (when I originally wrote this I didn’t see the “State” in “Arkansas State”). Auburn rolls.

7:30: Northwestern @ Vanderbilt (SEC/Gameplan): Godspeed, Robbie Caldwell. Now hopefully your games are as entertaining as your press conferences, as you’ll probably only begin to realize the magnitude of your task here (a.k.a., realize why Bobby Johnson just woke up one morning in the middle of this summer and said “I quit!”). Oh, and I’ll take NU here.

7:45: Texas Christian vs. Oregon State (@Arlington, TX; ESPN): It’s the first edition of football schedules in the Intergalactic Space Palace, and it should be a doozy. I like TCU here, but Oregon State should put up a great fight.

8:00: Louisiana State vs. North Carolina (@Atlanta, GA; ABC): Well, I can’t say I liked Carolina much before this “academic fraud” business started because I still have no idea how they will score any points. Now, I’m not sure how LSU is going to score points either, but they seem to have gotten pretty far in spite of themselves. I think the EDSBS Live! folks summed it up best – this will either be a “cynical game” with a final score of 8-6 or a 3-2 “thriller” a la that Auburn-Miss State game from a couple of years ago.

10:00: Cincinnati @ Fresno State (ESPN2): Cincy has a great chance to prove they can still win without their greatest coach ever, but it won’t be easy. I think they hold court in THE VALLEY, though.

11:00: Wisconsin @ Nevada-Las Vegas (Versus): Wisconsin.

Sunday
2:00: Tulsa @ East Carolina (ESPN2): Here’s some good early season C-USA goodness for ya. There should at least be a lot of points. And remember, you probably have Monday off! So just sit around and enjoy some more football. Also, I like Tulsa. (Is it just me, or am I picking a lot of away games? Hrm.)

3:30: Southern Methodist @ Texas Tech (ESPN): Texas Tech begins their shameful OOC schedule run against the Mustangs, who at least are actually better than when TTU originally scheduled this game.

Monday
4:00: Navy vs. Maryland (@Baltimore, MD; ESPN): I like this game, despite the fact there’s a very real chance Maryland will embarrass the ACC by losing it. And I actually think they will. It’s just hard to see what Maryland will be able to do this year, as one of the trio of schools with coaches who more closely resemble zombies than head football coaches.

8:00: Boise State vs. Virginia Tech (@Landover, MD; ESPN): By far the biggest game of opening weekend. Both these teams think they have a shot at the national title, and the loser is out, as neither has room for error. It should be fun, it should be intense, and it should be close. But in the end, I think VPI just a better team – their offense is sketchy, of course, but their defense is just so good. While of course Boise has had time to prepare, well, it’s not Bud Foster has been sitting on his thumbs all summer, you know?

Anyway, I’d like to wrap up this column with a little feature looking back at 20 years ago in college football. Now, the season in 1990 didn’t actually begin until next weekend, but a few teams had played in the old “kickoff classics” the weekend before. One of them being the Colorado Buffaloes, who tied Tennessee 31-31 down in Anaheim in one of those games. They were ranked #5 in the pre-season AP poll, and would move down to #6 20 years ago this Monday. Georgia Tech was, at the time, unranked and had not yet played a game.

At any rate, enjoy the first weekend! This should be a very interesting year of college football.

With one DI-A game this weekend various sorts of playoffs, I figured I would go ahead and write up a post for this weekend.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday
8:00: William & Mary @ Villanova (ESPN2): I’ll still refrain from making predictions about the DI-AA playoffs because, again, I don’t really know enough. At any rate, this semi-final is a rematch of two CAA divisional foes. Villanova won the first meeting in October 18-17, and both teams sport DI-A victories this season. And, hey, it’s Friday night – it’s not like anything else is on.

Saturday
1:00: Grand Valley State vs. Northwest Missouri State (@Florence, AL; ESPN2): This is for all the Division II marbles, folks. NW Missouri State is, from what I can tell, the Buffalo Bills of Division II – they’ve reached the title game four straight years and lost each time. This game is also a rematch of the 2005 and 2006 games.

2:00: Alabama A&M vs. Priarie View A&M (@Birmingham, AL; ESPN Classic): It’s the SWAC title game! Why the SWAC has a title game, I have no idea, but there you go!

2:30: Navy vs. Army (@Philadelphia, PA; CBS): Before the start of the UGA game a few weeks ago, my Dad said to my brother and I, “I guess I should be as nervous about Army-Navy as you guys are about this game,” or something to that effect. And indeed, Army fans haven’t had a whole to to cheer about lately. This is the first year they’ve even sniffed .500 since 1996, and they haven’t beaten Navy since 2001. And it’s not just to the losing to Navy over that span – the games haven’t really even been competitive, with an average score of Navy 39.14 and Army 10.14. Even though Navy is in a relative “down year” by their recently lofty standards, it’s difficult to pick against them.

4:00: Appalachian State @ Montana (ESPN): It’s the last game of the day, and it’s more DI-AA semi-final action. Montana is the number one overall seed and hasn’t lost since last year’s DI-AA title game, while Appy State has won three of the last four championships. This should be a good one.

Coming up next week, bowl predictions!

You should totally subscribe to my twitter feed.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
9:00: Oregon State @ Oregon (ESPN): The Civil War is back. On the line? A berth against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Cross-state rivalries don’t get much bigger than that. Add to the mix that this game is in Eugene, which is normally crazy but gets even crazier after dark. All year, I’ve felt that Oregon is one of the best teams in the Pac-10, with Oregon State in the echelon just slightly below the Ducks. I’ll stick to my guns here, but it could still be close. Worth watching, that’s for sure.

Friday
8:00: Central Michigan vs. Ohio (@Detroit, MI; ESPN2): (Author’s note: I just added the phrase “upset Temple” to my vocabulary so I can type the following sentence.) Ohio upset Temple Saturday to earn a berth in this game against everyone’s favorite mid-major Tebow, Dan LeFevour, as Central Michigan hopes to avoid being upset themselves a la Ball State in last year’s game. I don’t see that happening though.

Saturday
Noon:

• Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh (ABC): It’s the de facto Big East title game featuring the guy Notre Dame should hire (Brian Kelly of Cincy) and the guy whoever Notre Dame hires is likely to resemble (Dave Wannstadt). Which is to say, I just don’t see how Cincy loses here, as has been foretold by numerous message board pundits. Cincy plays decent enough defense and is light-years ahead of Pitt offensively.
• West Virginia @ Rutgers (ESPN): Despite Bill Stewart’s best efforts to the contrary, West Virginia will probably win this game.
• Houston @ East Carolina (ESPN2): This (the Conference USA title game) may be the most exciting of the noon games, in all honestly. ECU is probably one of the more mature teams in C-USA, while we know Houston’s going to score a lot of points and not play a lot of defense. This one is hard to figure, though note that the game is at East Carolina. In the end, I’ll take the flashy Houston offense, and if I were a betting man (as you might guess from the quality of my predictions, I’m not) I’d take the over on this one, whatever it is.

12:30: Fresno State @ Illinois (BTN): Fresno should be able to put the Illni out of their misery.

3:30:

• Arizona @ Southern California (ABC): Perhaps USC has its mojo back after Pete Carroll did everything but literally flip the bird to Rick Neuheisel last weekend? Can Arizona shake off the excitement from its own rivalry game (which they won on a last second FG)? I think USC will come out on top and salvage a Holiday Bowl bid in the process.
• Carson-Newman @ Grand Valley State (ESPN): More playoffs (playoffs?!?), this time brought to you by Division II. If nothing else, they’ll give you something to watch until…

4:00: Florida vs. Alabama (@Atlanta, GA; CBS): And so it has come to pass. Florida versus Alabama. Atlanta. SEC title game. Is there anything that I can say about this game that hasn’t been said already? Those of you who’ve tracked my bowl predictions throughout the year have no doubt noted that I’ve projected Alabama to the title game in most of them. For most of the season, this made sense. My perception has been that Alabama has sort of cooly and professionally sailed through their SEC schedule while Florida has looked vulnerable several times and was willed to win by a stingy defense and Tebow-ian moxie. Of course, then rivalry weekend happened, and Alabama found itself trailing to Auburn most of the game while Florida took Bobby Bowden and FSU out behind the woodshed.
The funny thing about perceptions, though, is sometimes (read: most of the time) they’re not always accurate. In SEC play, Florida outscored its opponents by 15.625 points per game. Alabama outscored its opponents by 15.375 points per game. Both are in the top quarter of the conference in scoring and are, by far, the two stingiest defenses (10.625 pts/game for Alabama 12 pts/game for Florida) in the SEC.
So what does this mean? This means the game will probably live up to its billing: tight, low-scoring, yet exciting. And, somehow, writing this is making me renege on my bowl predictions. I’m picking the Gators.

8:00:

• Nebraska vs. Texas (@Arlington, TX; ABC): I think we all know the expected result. Colt McCoy goes out there, completes 75% of his passes and runs for a bunch of yards. Yet while I’m fully aware of the disclaimers surrounding rivalry games (you might say I’m acutely aware of such things this year), Texas did struggle to put away Texas A&M and didn’t play that great of a defense. And, indeed, if there is any team in the Big 12 that can actually slow down Texas it would have to be Nebraska. The problem for Nebraska, of course, is that they themselves cannot score against Big 12 defense, which is pretty bad when you consider that they don’t get to play themselves. It’s hard to for me to go against the grain here.
• Georgia Tech vs. Clemson (@Tampla, FL; ESPN): So, as you may or may not know, I am actually leaving SFO at 12:30 AM to go to Tampa for this game. I’ll try to update as I go along.
  At any rate, when Clemson lost to (and by “lost to”, I mean “got shellacked by”) South Carolina on Saturday I was ecstatic. With a victory over Georgia, Tech would have all the advantages going into the ACC title game and could be reasonably expected to win.
  Yeah, well, so much for that.
  So instead we have two teams coming off losses to bitter rivals (though at least Tech’s offense showed up, unlike Clemson’s) playing for a berth to the Orange Bowl. So you have to assume both teams are going to be ready to play. Tech won the first meeting, 30-27, by building up an early lead (24-7 at the half), squandering it, and then kicked a late field goal to win it in regulation. Since then, both teams have an appropriate number of all-conference players (Tech has the 1st team QB, RB, WR, and DE, Clemson has the ACC Player of the Year) and so there doesn’t figure to be a lack of offense for this game, especially given Tech’s major issues on defense.
  Speaking of said defense, so far the wisdom in Tech circles what used to be a decent rush defense (the pass defense has been a known liability all year, and indeed that was mechanism for Clemson’s rally in the first game) relates to mostly two things. The first is overpersuit by the linebackers, and the second is our defensive tackles just got manhandled. Suffice it to say, both have been known issues all year, but they really manifested themselves last weekend. So what can Tech do to counter Clemson’s weapons? Well, keep them off the field, for starters. Secondly, this means doing whatever South Carolina did to limit CJ Spiller to 18 yards on 9 carries (and 19 yards on 3 receptions). Tech was able to “contain” Spiller on the ground (87 yards on 20 carries), but got gashed through the air (4 receptions for 69 yards) the first time.
  At any rate, we’ll see how it goes. This weekend promises to be crazy, regardless of the result.
• South Florida @ Connecticut (ESPN2): I’m as glad as anyone that UConn beat Notre Dame last weekend. (Indeed, if anyone deserved to get a win last weekend, it was UConn.) Unfortunately for them, they have to play USF this weekend, and I have to say I like the Bulls here.

8:30: California (PA) @ Northwest Missouri State (CBSCS): Just pushing more DII playoffs here, folks.

11:30: Wisconsin @ Hawaii (ESPN2): Hawaii could throw a spanner into the WAC bowl works by pulling off the upset here to get bowl eligible, but they probably won’t as long as Wisconsin takes their vacation at least somewhat seriously.

Like I said, I will be in Tampa this weekend! I may do a series of posts on my weekend, or maybe sign up on Twitter or something. We’ll see!