Ah, finally, the first kickoff of the 2008 NCAA college football season opens Thursday (8-28-08) with 14 games scheduled, followed by 2 games Friday, 55 games Saturday, 2 more Sunday and 2 Monday. The most interesting game for the opening night is Buffalo hosting Texas-El Paso (UTEP).
Two years ago Turner Gill took over the Buffalo head coaching job. He only went 2-10 his first year but did defeat Kent State University, the FIRST team with a winning record that the Bulls had defeated in 8 years. Buffalo had been a doormat in the NCAA for far too long.
Gill's Bulls went 5-7 last year and 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference, Buffalo's first conference winning record since the Bulls became a Division I-A school. Gill was named MAC Coach of the Year. Turner Gill was part of 3 national championships as a coach at Nebraska, and his positive influence in Buffalo is becoming evident.
UTEP is interesting because of Mike Price, the former Washington State University head coach who led the Cougars for 14 years, compiling three 10-win seasons (he was 20-5 his last two seasons) and 5 bowl appearances.
Alabama hired Price away from Washington State but he never coached the Crimson Tide due to an off-field incident that resulted in a lawsuit that Price won against Sports Illustrated magazine. Price led UTEP to two consecutive 8-4 seasons and two bowl appearances, but then has had back-to-back 5-7 and 4-8 seasons.
The Buffalo-UTEP game is the most interesting game because either Turner Gill and Buffalo are going to continue to ascend the ladder of success, or Mike Price and UTEP are going to make a comeback. One coach will win and one will lose in this confrontation. We will let you know what happens if you miss the results on the tube.
Here are my choices for the 4 other games of real interest this week, two of which involve teams ranked in AP's Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Nick Saban starts his second year at Alabama (ranked No. 24) by traveling to Clemson (No. 9) for his opener. This was not what he had in mind when he signed on with the Crimson Tide, but then again, this is the Southeastern Conference (SEC), also known as (aka) the suicidially-energized conference. Clemson from the Atlantic Coast Conference could be trouble with a capital T.
The Big 12's Missouri Tigers (No. 6) will host Illinois (No. 20) from the Big Ten. Coach Gary Pinkel's Tigers went 12-2 last year and stomped Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Heisman Trophy Finalist Chase Daniel will return as quarterback for the Tigers.
All Daniel did last year was throw for 4,300%2B yards and 33 touchdown passes and compile a QB rating of 147.9 (this is not a typo).
The other two highlight games find Colorado State traveling to Colorado for in-state bragging rights (this is no way to start the season for either team), and Mark Dantonio's Michigan State Spartans traveling to California. As a MSU alum I would to remind Dantonio that he will face much tougher teams than California this season-like Ohio State (No. 2), Michigan, Wisconsin (No. 13) and Penn State (No. 22).
Here are 21 teams ranked in the AP Poll that must win their opener to justify their preseason ranking:
Georgia (No. 1) hosts 1-AA Georgia Southern. Although this is an in-state rivalry, I doubt very much that Georgia is going to lose this game, especially if the Bulldogs plan on winning the BCS national championship game this year.
Ohio State (No. 2) hosts AA Youngstown State. Buckeye Coach Jim Tressel led Youngstown State to 4 National I-AA titles and 6 other playoff berths while coaching at Youngstown State, and he has not forgotten where he came from, giving Youngstown State a huge payday they would not otherwise enjoy.
Southern California (USC) (No. 3) travels to Virginia.
Oklahoma (No. 4) hosts AA Chattanooga. Are you serious, Mate? I would not want to be the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Florida (No. 5) hosts Hawaii. Give some real kudos to Hawaii for taking on a quality, Top 5 team on the road in its opener.
Louisiana State (LSU) (No. 7) hosts Appalachian State. Last year 1-AA Appalachian State had its opener at the Big House in Ann Arbor, upsetting the highly favored Michigan Wolverines. Trust me when I say Appalachian State will not be sneaking up on LSU.
West Virginia (No. 8) hosts AA Villanova. Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia last year for a bigger job at Michigan. Good luck, West Virginia.
Auburn (No. 10) hosts Louisiana-Monroe.
Texas (No. 11) hosts Florida Atlantic. Florida Atlantic just might be in for a thumping.
Texas Tech (No. 12) hosts AA Eastern Washington. Eastern Washington just might find out what an air attack is in college football. Eastern Washington has no chance to win this game. Last year the Texas Tech Red Raiders were No. 1 nationally in passing offense, No. 2 in total offense, No. 4 in pass efficiency offense and No. 6 in scoring offense. The game will be over before it starts. Even prayer will not help Eastern Washington.
Wisconsin (No, 13) hosts Akron.
Kansas (No. 14) hosts Florida International. Florida International could be nothing but road kill after this outing.
Arizona State (No. 15) hosts AA Northern Arizona. Watch out, Sun Devils, these in-state rivalries can be surprising.
Brigham Young (BYU) (No. 16) hosts AA Northern Iowa.
Virginia Tech (No. 17) travels to East Carolina.
Tennessee (No. 18) travels to UCLA. This game marks Rick Neuheisel's debut as the Bruins' head coach following his "problems" and exit from the University of Washington. Neuheisel has some proving to do. Remember a guy named Norm Chow (think Southern California's national championship team)? He is Neuheisel's offensive coordinator. The defensive coordinator is a guy named DeWayne Walker. Let's see if Neuheisel can put together a huge upset and a first-game win for the Bruins, Neuheisel's alma mater.
South Florida (No. 19) hosts Tennessee-Martin. Can you believe that South Florida was actually ranked as high as No. 2 nationally last year?
Oregon (No. 21) hosts Washington. Could Tyrone Willingham's Huskies find a way to win this game, and begin to save his coaching job at Washington?
Penn State (No. 22) hosts AA Coastal Carolina. Yikes, I would not want to be Coastal Carolina.
Wake Forest (No. 23) travels to Baylor.
Pittsburgh (No. 25) hosts Bowling Green. Once again, former NFL coach Dave Wannstedt tries to get his alma mater, the Pittsburgh Panthers, on the map as a major contender this season.
Here are 8 more unranked teams (favored teams first) that had better win their opener if they expect to do diddly squat this year:
Arizona hosts Idaho.
Arkansas hosts AA Western Illinois.
Boise State hosts AA Idaho State.
Boston College travels to Kent State.
Connecticut hosts AA Hofstra.
Kansas State hosts North Texas.
Michigan hosts Utah.
Nebraska hosts Western Michigan.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
No comments:
Post a Comment