College Football - Only 5 Games Highlight First Week, 29 Others Must Win Their Opener

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

College Football 2007 - 6 Top 25 Teams Lose and Nosedive, 4 Others Join the Top 25 Poll

As predicted, no less than 6 AP Top 25 teams lost in college football's third week, two of them-Louisville and Nebraska-dropped in the rankings and four others-UCLA, Georgia Tech, Arkansas and Tennessee-dropped right out of the poll. Life in big time college football can be a little unsettling.

Four more-Alabama, Kentucky, South Florida and Missouri-moved into the Top 25 for the first time.

No. 9 Louisville finds itself now No. 18 after being upset by Kentucky 40-34. Kentucky is now 3-0 and No. 21 after its victory, the Wildcats' first win against a top-10 team since 1977, 30 years ago. The loss by Louisville should come as no surprise. The Cardinals beat up on AA Murray State 73-10 (as they should have) and then gave up a whopping 42 points to Middle Tennessee before winning 58-42 (that is a porous defense).

Louisville is still overrated. If you do not think so, check this out: Middle Tennessee was rated No. 141 among 119 Division 1-A schools by Sagarin going into its game with Louisville. Good grief, talk about beating a lousy team. It makes you wonder, how good is Kentucky?

No. 14 Nebraska is now No. 24 after being dominated by USC on the Cornhuskers' turf, 49-31. USC gained 313 yards rushing and held Nebraska to 31. USC remains No. 1 in all polls from here to parts unknown.

No. 15 Georgia Tech was upset by No. 21 Boston College 24-10 and fell out of the poll.

No. 22 Tennessee was swamped by No. 5 Florida 59-20 and dropped out of the poll.

Moving into the AP Top 25 this week was No. 16 Alabama which tuned back then No. 16 Arkansas, 41-38, after twice blowing 21-point leads. It was a dramatic win for the Crimson Tide, who put on a defensive stand and a last-minute drive culminating in a final, 4-yard, game-winning touchdown pass with 8 seconds left.

I have said to keep your eyes peeled for Nick Saban, a quality coach in his first year at Alabama. Saban led LSU to the 2003 BCS National Championship while competing in the same SEC conference. Moving into the Top 25 was the No. 24 South Florida Bulls who were idle this week after beating AA Elon 28-13 and upsetting then No. 17 Auburn on the road, 26-23, in overtime.

I have already taken Alabama and South Florida off my list of teams that will be in the Top 25 before the season is over. Last week I predicted that Alabama, South Florida, Washington, Arizona State and Michigan State will crack the AP Top 25.

Missouri beat Western Michigan 52-24 for its 3rd straight win and moved into No. 25 in the poll. The Tigers have also beaten Illinois 40-34 and Ole Miss 38-25. After this weekend's games, Sagarin rated Illinois No. 63, Ole Miss No. 75 and Western Michigan No. 111. I will let you know if Missouri is any good after they play and beat a team worth beating. Washington, still unranked, led No. 10 Ohio State 7-3 at the half and had the momentum to pull off an upset for the second straight week (the Huskies upset No. 22 Boise State a week earlier).

Unfortunately, a 39-second stretch in the 3rd quarter cost Washington dearly. First, the Buckeyes' Brian Robiskie beat freshman cornerback Vonzell McDowell down the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown.

Then another freshman, Curtis Shaw, fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return trying to get more yardage after the initial hit. Ohio State scored on the turnover, taking a 17-7 lead and eventually winning 33-14 in a game that was much closer than the score. I believe Washington is still a team on the rise and will bounce back this week as it starts Pac 10 play with a road game at UCLA. UCLA was ranked No. 11 before playing Utah over the weekend and getting the snot kicked out of it, 44-6, and falling out of the poll.

Arizona State, still unranked, won its 3rd straight by moving by San Diego State 34-13 (rated No. 106). First year Coach Dennis Erickson has also topped San Jose State 45-3 (rated No. 147) and Colorado 33-14 (rated No. 67). Arizona State starts its Pac 10 campaign this weekend at home against Oregon State.

Another first year coach, Mark Dantonio at Michigan State, won his 3rd straight game in hand-to-hand combat with Pittsburgh 17-13 (ranked No. 53). The Spartans led 14-7 at the half but frankly underwhelmed me with their performance.

After watching Michigan State sprint to a 42-0 lead in their opener midway through the second quarter in a 55-18 thrashing of UAB (ranked No. 125), scoring touchdowns in their first 6 possessions, I expected more against Pittsburgh. They got by Bowling Green 28-17 (ranked No. 65) in a not-so-impressive showing, but should have done more.

Pittsburgh brought some defense to the game. Remember that the Panthers' Head Coach Dave Wannstedt was an offensive tackle at Pitt and former NFL Head Coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, both known for their defensive teams. For Michigan State to remain on the rise, the Spartans needed to best Pitt by two touchdowns and to be impressive they needed to beat them by four touchdowns. Neither happened.

MSU travels to Notre Dame on Saturday (9-22-07). The Irish are winless in 3 games and currently one of the worst teams in the nation. They have yet to score an offensive touchdown this season, have allowed 23 sacks (46 teams did not allow 23 sacks in all of last season), and rank dead last (119th) in 3 categories among Division 1-A teams--rushing, total offense and scoring offense.

The Lord will have to help Michigan State more than Notre Dame should the Irish upset the Spartans. So who is moving up impressively this week? Try Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, from No. 17 to No. 12 by leveling AA South Carolina State 38-3; and the Oregon Ducks, from No. 19 to No. 13 by ripping Fresno State 52-21.

So who remains vastly overrated? Try No. 7 Texas. The Longhorns topped Arkansas State 21-13 (rated No. 74) at home, defeated TCU 34-13 (rated No. 39) at home and then barely got by UCF (University of Central Florida, rated No. 64) 35-32 on the road. Texas spotted UCF 32 points (this is defense?) and won by a field goal.

Another overrated team is No. 9 Wisconsin. The undefeated 3-0 Badgers' big time wins came against Washington State 42-21 (rated No. 48), UNLV 20-13 (rated No. 96) and AA The Citadel 45-31 (rated No. 129). They gave up 31 points to a AA team going nowhere.

Wisconsin is going down, it is just a matter of time. Soon the Badgers will be playing Michigan State, No. 10 Penn State at Penn State and No. 8 Ohio State at Ohio State. I want to see this ferocious Wisconsin offense against the Buckeye defense, ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense and No. 5 in scoring defense.

For the record, No. 1 USC is currently ranked No. 41 in total defense and No. 45 in scoring defense. This helps explain why the Trojans handled Idaho 38-10 (rated No. 116) and No. 24-ranked Nebraska 49-31 (rated No. 18). No. 2 LSU is ranked No. 1 in total defense and No. 1 in scoring defense. This helps explain why LSU has stomped Mississippi State 45-0 (rated No. 46), then No. 9 Virginia Tech 48-7 (now rated No. 31) and Middle Tennessee 44-0 (rated No. 109).

So what else is noteworthy? Indiana, Connecticut, Purdue, Penn State, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Florida, Kansas, Arizona State and Hawaii have all gone 3-0 against either cupcake teams or weak competition. The jury is out of these teams until they actually play a decent or worthy opponent.

In other results, the Duke Blue Devils ended their 22-game losing streak, longest active in Division 1-A, by edging Northwestern 20-14. Florida International now has the longest losing streak with 14 after losing to Miami (FL) 23-9.Boise State hosted Wyoming and won by 10, 24-14. Good for Wyoming, losing by only 10 in an away game to the mighty, high-scoring Boise State Broncos.

Mike Price's UTEP team was outscored in the 4th quarter and lost to New Mexico State 29-24 to go 1-2 on the year. It is a real blessing that we will be getting into conference play this weekend so we can really begin to access who has it going on and who does not.

AA games may be interesting at times (like Appalachian State's 34-32 upset of Michigan in their Big House), but it tells you little about a team. Now the nonsense slows to a trickle and we get down to business.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley