Bowl Pick'em Part 1

Done ( 47 - 38 ) Bill ( 44 - 41 ) J Rock (43 - 42 )

Fresno vs. Wyoming : Fresno
Central Florida vs. Rutgers : Central Florida
Southern Miss vs. Mid. Tenn. State: Southern Miss
Oregon State vs. BYU : OSU
Utah vs. Cal: Cal
Nevada vs. SMU: Nevada
Marshall vs. Ohio: Ohio
Pitt vs. North Carolina
Boston College vs. USC : USC
Kentucky vs. Clemson: Clemson
A & M vs. Georgia : Georgia
UCLA vs. TEmple: UCLA
Miami vs. Wisconsin: WISC
Bowling Green vs. Idaho: Idaho
Arizona vs. NEbraska: Arizona
Houston vs. Air Force: Air Force
Oklahoma vs Stanford: Stanford
Navy vs. Mizzou: Navy
Minnesota vs. Iowa State: Iowa State
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee: Tennessee

Last Picks before the bowl season begins

DOn ( 45 -34) Mildbill ( 40 - 39 ) J Rock ( 39 -40 )

Conference Championship Week

Oregon State @ Oregon -10: Oregon State
Ohio vs. Central Michigan - 13 1/2 : Ohio
Cincy -2 @ Pitt : Cincy
Florida -5 1/2 vs. Bama: Florida
Georgia Tech vs. Clemson Pick: Clemson
Texas -14 1/2 vs. Nebraska: Nebraska
Houston -2 1/2 vs. East Carolina: ECU

Thanksgiving Picks

Rivalry week for a lot of schools:

UT -21 1/2 @ A&M : A&M
Bama -10 @ Auburn: Auburn
Pitt -1 1/2 @ WVU: Pitt
Nevada @ Boise -13 1/2: Nevada
Ole Miss -8 @ Miss. State: Ole Miss
Ok. State @ OU -10 : OSU
Texas Tech -20 1/2 vs. Baylor: Baylor
Georgia @ GT - 6 1/2: GT
Notre Dame @ Stanford -10: ND
Florida State @ Florida -24: FSU
Arkansas @ LSU -3 1/2

Pick

Current standings after last week nobody had a winning record.

Bill ( 31-29 ) Don ( 37-23 ) J Rock ( 32 - 28 )

Colorado @ Ok. State -16 1/2: Ok. State
Miss. State @ Arkansas -11: MSU
LSU @ Ole Miss -4: LSU
Kansas @ Texas -27 1/2: Texas
Ou @ Texas Tech +6 1/2: OU
Baylor @ A & M -7: A&M
Cal @ Stanford -7: Stanford
ORegon @ Arizona +5 1/2: Oregon
Ohio STate @ Michigan + 12 1/2: Michigan

Last Major test for Frogs

Utah is the only thing standing in the way of TCU and their first ever BCS Bowl. The Frogs have been impressive this year and of late the offense has really been putting up some points. That has always been my one thing against TCU, that they just didn't have the offense to stack up against most the other BCS foes. Patterson seems to have loosened the reigns and for the first time i honostly believe the Frogs deserve to be in the title talk. Texas may be undefeated, but with the Big XII being so far down this season i'm not sure that they have played any tougher of a schedule than TCU.

NOW for my "WHAT THE HELL POLL QUESTION"

USC ranked #9 in BCS ? WTH? USC and Oregon both have 2 losses, not to mention Oregon ran all over SC and they are ahead of SC in the PAC 10 standings. Congrats Trojans if you can get by Arizona my guess is the BCS will reward you with an at large BCS game. Who knows maybe we'll see USC vs. Boise or TCU.

Question is should they: Looking at the current BCS polls it looks like the SEC will have 3 teams ranked ahead of USC, so will and should the BCS take 3 SEC teams into the BCS Bowls?

Pick

Billy ( 26-23 ) Don (33-16) J Rock ( 28-21 )

WVU @ Cincy -8 1/2: WVU
Florida - 15 1/2 @ South Carolina: Florida
Bama -13 @ Miss. State: Miss. State
Utah @ TCU -20: TCU
UT -23 1/2 @ Baylor: Baylor
Iowa @ Ohio State - 17: Iowa
Notre Dame @ Pitt -6 1/2: Pitt
TT @ Ok. State -4: Ok. State
A&m @ OU -20: A&M
Tenn. @ Ole Miss -4 1/2: Tenn
Auburn @ Georgia -4: UGA

Don PUlls ahead

Last Week Don pulled ahead in the pick'em contest going an impressive 10-1 against the spread.

Billy 5-6 ( 20-16 ) Don 10-1 ( 25-11 ) J Rock 6-5 ( 21-15 )

this week

Boise State -21 @ LT : LT
Northwestern @ Iowa -16 : Northwestern
UCF @ TEXAS -36 1/2: TEXAS
South Car. @ Arkansas -7: South Carolina
Kansas @ Kansas State -2 1/2: KSU
A&M -3 @ Colorado: A&M
Baylor @ Mizzou -14: Mizzou
LSU @ Bama -8: LSU
OREGON -6 1/2 @ Stanford: ORegon
OHio State @ Penn State 3 1/2: OSU
Ok.State -7 @ Iowa State: OK State
OU -5 1/2 @ NEbraska: OU
Vandy @ Florida -35: Vandy

Pick'em

the pick'em game is all tied up: Billy 15-10 J-rock 15-10 Don 15-10

We're going with the full schedule of Big XII vs. Big XII and SEC vs. SEC from here on:

Nebraska -13 @ Baylor: Baylor
Mizzou -3 1/2 @ Colorado: Mizzou
Iowa State @ A&M -7 : Iowa State
Kansas @ Texas Tech -6 1/2: Kansas
Kansas State @ Oklahoma -28 1/2 : Kansas State
TExas -9 @ Oklahoma STate: Oklahoma State
Ole Miss -4 @ Auburn: Ole Miss
Georgia @ Florida -15: Florida
Miss. State @ Kentucky -3 1/2: Miss. State
South Carolina @ Tenn. -5 1/2: USC
USC -3 @ Oregon: USC

Breaking Down the Top 10 / BCS Bowl Predictions

Let's break down the BCS top 10 and what each team has left ahead of them.

#1 Florida - remaining road blocks: Georgia, South Carolina, Florida State, and either Bama or LSU in the SEC title game

#2 Bama - LSU, Miss. State, and Auburn: and possibly the SEC title game if they can win out

#3 Texas - Oklahoma State, Kansas and whoever survives on top in the north for the title

#4 Iowa - Ohio State

#5 USC - Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona

#6 TCU - Utah

#7 Boise - pretty much done after week 1 vs. Oregon

#8 Cincy - West Virginia and Pitt

#9 LSU - Bama, Ole Miss, Arkansas: possibly SEC title game if they win out

#10 Oregon - USC, Stanford, Arizona, and Oregon State

What will happen? I have no idea! What do I think? I think the 5 bowl BCS system this season will have a hard time keeping Boise and TCU out provided neither lose a game. My thinking behind this is generally you have multiple teams from at least two conferences and this year it could be hard to justify any conference outside of the SEC for two teams unless Texas has a let down versus Oklahoma State. My fear is that the BCS will make a mockery of TCU and Boise State by matching them up against each other to avoid both Boise and TCU knocking off two BCS conference schools and clouding up the BCS theory even further. Both of these schools have great programs, but unfortunately BCS schools don't want them on their schedule regularly and it makes it tough for either of these two to have a strong enough strength of schedule at the end of the year to justify a shot at the title.

Bowl Predictions:

BCS Title: Florida vs. TEXAS
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Ohio State ( yes i think they win out, knocking of IOWA )
Sugar Bowl: Bama vs. Boston College ( this is a shot in the dark )
Orange Bowl: Cincy vs. TCU
Fiesta Bowl: Boise vs. Iowa ( only because i think OU will give Ok. State their 3rd loss)

8 Game pick'em this week

Heading into the week J Rock leads the pack @ 11 - 6 while Don and I are both 10-7

this week

Arkansas @ OLE Miss - 6 1/2 : Arkansas

Oklahoma State -9 1/2 @ Baylor : Oklahoma State

Bama -14 1/2 vs. Tennessee : Tennessee

A&M vs. Texas TEch - 21 1/2 : A&M

TCU - 2 1/2 vs. BYU : BYU

Auburn @ LSU - 7 1/2 : AUBURN

Oregon STate @ USC -20 1/2 : Oregon State

Texas -13 @ Mizzou : Texas

Two Questions

Texas and Florida narrowly survive last weekend, but the road ahead appears to be much easier for UT with really only Oklahoma State and the Big XII title game in between them and the National Championship. Texas Tech rolled Nebraska with relative ease last week, and once again shows that the North half of the Big XII just doesn't stack up to the South. In the SEC, Auburn falls to Kentucky, which if this were basketball would be no big deal, but in football this just doesn't happen.

So, here's my first question: Is or was the Big XII overrated coming in to this season, the first BCS polls released and only 3 teams make the top 25, and in my opinion the third Kansas @ 25 doesn't deserve that ranking. My answer is yes, the conference was highly overrated this year, to me this has primarily been a two team conference for the past decade or so, and honestly i think the 3 loss Sooners are still better than the rest of the pack behind UT.

Question #2: If Texas were to slip up and lose a game is it really possible that we could Boise State in the title game? Some of you may ask why only Texas slip up, what about Florida and Bama, and my answer would be that with the Big XII not being as strong this year Texas will not have any advantage in strength of schedule. Okay, back to the question, I believe absolutely under no circumstance will the BCS put Boise in the title game even if they are the only unbeaten remaining. Boise is a great program that has done very well with what they have, but at the end of the day they only faced one BCS school all season, and I would have no problem with them getting a BCS birth, just not the one that really matters.

Picks!!

my pick
Texas vs. OU TEXAS -3 : TEXAS

Alabama vs. South Carolina Bama - 17: USc

TT vs. Nebraska Neb. - 10 TECH

Virginia TEch vs. Georgia Tech VT - 3 VT

Mizzou vs. Oklahoma State OSU - 7 Mizzou

Florida vs. Arkansas UF - 24 1/2 Arkansas

Big week ahead for Big XII and SEC

Pick em results: Billy : 5-1 (7-5) Don: 3-3 (6-6) J Rock: 4-2 (7-5)

Seperation Saturday this week as UT vs. OU, Florida vs. Arkansas, Bama vs. South Carolina, TT vs. Nebraska, VT vs. GT, USC vs. ND, and Mizzou vs. Oklahoma State.

The REd River rivalry resumes with the Big XII South on the line as #2 Texas faces off with #18 OU. The Horns got caught sleeping in the 1st half vs. Colorado, similar to the slow start they had against Wyoming, but it won't be so easy to recover from a slow start against OU. Oklahoma on the other hand has been a hard team to figure out this season, Stoops seems to get ultra conservative in big games and rely on his defense, but the Sooner defense isn't strong enough to play that brand of football. One thing is for sure, if OU has a chance they will have to find a way to contain Jordan Shipley, he could and should be the one UT player in the Heisman talk rather than McCoy. My guess is the Horns will find a way to get out of this game undefeated and move a step closer to the National Championship.

PIcks, and new rules

Last week nobody pulled away in the pick'em contest:

Billy: 2-4
J rock" 3-3
Don : 3-3

So, from here on we will pick against the spread on the day it's posted. This should help eliminate any ties down the road.

favorite my pick


#21 Nebraska @ #24 Mizzou: Nebraska favored by 3 : Nebraska

#3 Bama @ #20 Ole Miss : Bama favored by 6 1/2 : Bama

#2 Texas @ Colorado : Texas favored by 32 : Colorado

Auburn @ Arkansas : Auburn favored by 2 1/2 : Auburn

#1 Florida @ #4 LSU : no line out so pick im : Florida

#16 Oklahoma State @ A & M : no line : OSU

Nothing surprises me any more

OU lays and egg against the U and Houston gets absolutely blown out by UTEP. This week brings us a couple of good match-ups, including Auburn @ Arkansas, Nebraska @ Mizzou, Florida vs. LSU

My Big XII championship picks are constantly changing these days as OU seems to have the Stoops curse in big games. So, here's my new championship prediction. Nebraska vs. UT and Nebraska will be this years Big XII champion.

Games of the Week, take your stance boys

As requested this week we'll start games of the week, since i seem to have only two followers that comment, lets make our picks and i'll keep up with the standings. Anyone else who would like to make picks feel free as well.

Games of the week: Make your picks

#8 OU @ #17 Miami : this game would have been much more interesting had Miami not got blown out last week, but OU seems to be getting on track on offense with or without Bradford.

I like OU - 27 Miami - 10

A & M vs. Arkansas : A&M comes in unbeaten, but that is not saying a lot considering they have played nobody to this point, Arkansas comes off back to back losses against BAMA and UGA, but i think they win here going away.

Arkansas - 41 A&M - 28

#4 LSU @ #18 UGA - the tigers take their unbeaten record between the hedges to do battle with the 1 loss bulldogs. Interesting game, Georgia's offense is on track and LSU's defense has stepped up to keep them winning despite the problems on offense, but between the hedges i'll have to lean towards UGA taking a bite out of Mike.

#18 UGA - 31 #4 LSU - 20

Auburn @ Tennessee - Auburn gets it's first road test of the season against a much improved Vols, Auburns offense is 100% better than last year, but the defense to this point has been just good enough. Tennessee can play D, but Crompton and this offense has been absent thus far in the season.

Auburn - 24 Tenn - 20

#7 USC @ #24 Cal: i'm going against the field here with my upset of the week, and here's my thinking. Cal will match up against USC much better than they did against the ducks. USC has struggled running the ball effectively thus far and really has been putting up a lot of points thus far. Cal after being blown out last week in Eugene is looking to save their season. As for USC, this isn't the high powered Trojan attack of past seasons, and yes they may very well show up and blow away Cal, but you have to take a chance somewhere.

#24 CAL - 27 #7 USC - 24

UCLA @ Stanford - I like UCLA here by a field goal

Washington @ Notre Dame - I'll take Washington in the minor upset on the road

Wow

Four teams in the Top 10 went down this week, and at this pace Boise State will be the #1 one team in the land. Florida's season looked to be in jeopardy as Tebow was taken away in the ambulance, but he gets on extra week off for his brain to quit shaking before LSU comes knocking. Speaking of LSU, they sneak by MSU in a game in which the #7 Tigers should have walked in and taken care of business, they are not playing real good football at the moment but do remain unbeaten. Also unbeaten in the SEC are Auburn and Bama, and the way Bama is playing currently I'd put them in front of Florida and Texas if i had a vote in the polls.

The Big XII's weekend featured a couple of closer than expected games, and a lot of blowouts of lesser teams. The game of the week had to be TECH @ Houston, honestly i thought Tech had this game under control late in the second half. I give Houston a ton of credit for pulling this one out ( 2 - 0 vs. Big XII ). Kansas struggled with So. Miss. and Mizzou had a hard time putting away Nevada. Despite the last minute collapse versus Virginia Tech, Nebraska is playing solid football and should be the clear favorite in the north now.

This week features a couple of big games: OU @ Miami, LSU @ UGA, A&M vs. Arkansas, and Auburn @ Tenn.

Last but not least, i'd like to thank Iowa for knocking off Penn State and potentially eliminating the Big 10 from a spot in the National Championship.

What a week

Every week seems to be getting better and better, USC and BYU fall, Texas wins but wasn't exactly dominating in doing so, and Florida struggles to get by Tennessee. The BCS busting MWC took two big hits this week with Utah and BYU going down, but TCU, Boise, and Houston ( idle ) remain unbeaten looking to stay in the BCS hunt.

The Big XII opener between UT and TT was closer than the so called experts thought, as the Horns went off favored by 18 1/2, but it was Tech that gained my respect in the game. Texas will have to improve off of this win or OU could roll past them as they seem to have gotten the offense rolling after a poor showing versus BYU. Nebraska also gained a lot of respect this week, and if it weren't for one blown coverage in the final minute of the game would have left Blacksburg with a W ( not many teams can say they've done that) . Three weeks into the season now, and i'll revise my Big XII picks as follows North - Nebraska vs. South - Oklahoma . Sorry Texas, but this week could have been a statement week for you and the statement was you don't deserve to be #2 in the country after that performance.

The SEC week was a mixed bag as well, 1st where has all the defense gone? 2nd what the heck is wrong with Florida's offense. Tennessee played inspired football vs UF, but just doesn't have any offensive fire power at this point to make any real push for competing in the East. Georgia has allowed 41 points in each of it's first two SEC games, which doesn't bold well for the rest of the SEC schedule. LSU continues to win quietly as the offense still isn't running as well as it should. Bama and Ole Miss roll on to easy wins, although the Rebels really haven't played anyone to this point. Auburn' defense allowed close to 500 yards of offense to WV, but also forced 6 turnovers that was the difference in the game.

last but not least my picks were 6-0 this week, which is much better than the previous two weeks.

Week 3 SEC / Big XII

Well so far my picks and predictions have been pretty useless, with couple of exceptions. So here are the key games in the two conferences this week.

Big XII

UConn @ Baylor: i know Baylor? key game? The Bears have slowly but surely been improving under Briles, but this UCONN team may be one of the better defenses in the country that nobody talks about. So we'll start the week off with an upset alert, he Huskies will control the clock and keep the Bears off the field

UCONN - 13 Baylor - 10

Nebraska @ Virginia Tech: VT looks to show the country that the ACC does at least have one good team in it. Inexperience at the QB position will be the downfall of the Huskers as this is a very solid VT defense, and Blacksburg is no picnic either. The Hokies are close to unbeatable at home.

VT - 20 NEB - 13

TT @ UT : see previous entry for more details but here's the score prediction if you're to lazy to read the previous post

UT - 34 TT - 31

SEC

Tenn @ UF: don't expect any surprises here

UF - 38 Tenn - 10

UGA @ Arkansas: haven't seen or heard much from the Razorbacks, but this Georgia team better find a defense and fast after allowing way too many points to a bad South Carolina offense.

UGA 30 ARK - 27

West Virgina @ Auburn: Auburn looks for redemption at home after being run out of the building last year in the 2nd half by the Mountaineers, but that was last year and Auburn seems to have found some offense to give the defense a little more rest on the sidelines.

Auburn - 41 WVU - 24

UT vs. TECH

Last year this game gave us on of the best games of this decade, and now the Horns look for revenge as the whiney orange have their hopes set on a championship run. Two weeks into the season so there's not a lot to go one from the teams either of these have played as to what the future holds for them both. What we do know is that Tech lost key players on both sides of the ball, and replacing Crabtree's production from last year is next to impossible. Texas on the other hand really has no excuses if this season falls short of their lofty expectations, considering the bulk of the offense is back, and the Big XII is an offense heavy conference their destiny lies squarely in their hands.

So lets get to what we think could happen, although two weeks in I've been completely wrong on just about every game I've highlited on. The Texas defense will be the key to this game, the Horns D allowed 300 yards of offense to ULM and 260 or so to Wyoming, without a doubt they'll have a much tougher time containing the Tech machine. Also, the Texas coverage team on kickoff is allowing over a 20 yard avg. on returns which could lead to TEch working with a short field. On the other hand the TECH defense has been pretty solid against it's two lesser opponents thus far in the young season. For the Red Raiders Potts is the key to this game, can he step up in his first road start among 100,000 plus and deliver? I don't know the answer to that, but my feeling on the game is TECH will give Texas all they can handle, but the Horns sneak out with a last second field goal.

UT - 34 TT - 31

OS(hit)U

The Pokes and what glimmer of a hope they had for a BCS game took a serious hit over the weekend. Two weeks in and both Oklahoma schools have a loss in the books, and it would appear that Oklahoma State still has some serious defensive questions to answer heading into Big XII play. The other OSU Buckeyes and Tressle kept to form by finding away to lose another big game, and this time at home in front of 106,000. Now if we can just find a way for them not to win the Big 10 we won't have to suffer through another Buckeye BCS humiliation.

The Big XII went 6-4 this weekend, with two bad losses by CU and KSU, and a huge upset with the Cougars taking down OSU. Maybe it's the year of the Cougar, as both OU and OSU were defeated by Cougars. If i'm the AD at CU the only chance Hawkins has to keep his job is to win the Big XII North, and after the first two weeks I'd say he'll be lucky to win 3 games the remainder of the season.

The SEC went 2-1 in non-conference match-ups, as the upstart Vols hit a road block that was UCLA.

Conference play got started this week with Auburn running away from MSU, LSU sliding by Vandy, and UGA tipping a pass in the final moments to get by USC. The East side of this conference looks to be UF and a bunch of scrubs, but the west side of the SEC could be as wide open as it's ever been. So wide open that the winner of the West could very easily have 2 conference losses, as Ole Miss, LSU, Bama, and we'll now throw Auburn in the mix since they seem to have found some form of offense at the moment.

Big XII week 2

Week 2 or Weak 2 for the Big XII should be a week of routes for the Big XII except for a couple of interesting games.

Iowa vs. Iowa State

The Hawkeyes look to rebound after narrowly getting by another in state foe in NIU, anything can happen in these rivalry games, but if the same Iowa team from last week shows up the Cyclones could walk away with victory.

Iowa 17 ISU 24

K-state vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

i only highlite this game because if KSU struggles here it's going to be a very long season, i expect they will rebound with a more convincing victory this week.

KSU 27 ULL 10

#24 Kansas vs. UTEP

UTEP is a program that doesn't get a lot hipe, but the program has been solid the last few years and should provide a decent test for KU. With that said, Kansas has too much offense for the Miners.

#24 KU 38 UTEP 24

#5 OSU vs. Houston

The Pokes have to avoid the let down game coming off an impressive win against UGA, but they can't let the guard down now. The Cougars have the ability to put points on the board with the spread offense, but reality is they can't outscore this Cowboys team should this turn in to a score fest.

#5 OSU 51 Houston 27

SEC conference games get going

Week 2 doesn't seem to hold a lot interesting match-ups, but the SEC schedule gets rolling. Let's look at the SEC match-ups and the handfull of other could be good games.

Vandy vs. #11 LSU

LSU comes off a closer than expected game versus a much improved Husky team, and i think they'll have a little easier time of it this week as VAndy doesn't offer much in the way of explosive offense. Jefferson is going to have to get the kinks out early if the bayou boys have any shot at the SEC title game.

Vandy 10 LSU 24

South Carolina vs #21 Georgia

Georgia was a little over ranked going into the season, and the Pokes were just to much for this young team to handle. Things won't get any easier this week as the Gamecocks play tough defense, this could be my upset pick of the week if USC can find a way to get into the endzone twice.

South Carolina 17 #21 Georgia 13

MSU vs. Auburn

Hopefully this game is a little more high scoring than the barn burning 3-2 game of last year. I have little faith in the Tigers at this point and the Bulldogs have nowhere to go but up. Minor upset in the making here.

MSU 20 Auburn 17

UCLA vs. Tenn

Two teams looking to get things moving in the right direction, Tennessee coming off its confidence building blowout over cupcake U gets it's first test of the Kiffin era.

UCLA 24 Tenn. 27

The other two SEC games this week are #1 Florida against Troy and BAMA vs. FIU, i don't anticipate any surprises in either of those.

O- my what a start to the season

So, what did we learn in week 1, and yes i realize it's early. We learned that OU must win out to have any shot at the BCS, the Big 10 and ACC are a joke, and if week 1 is any indication it could be a wild season.

OU, no excuses, Bradford or not they should have plenty of talent to handle the 3rd best team in the MWC. Stoops may possibly be the worst big game coach in college football, well, at least behind Tressle.

Ohio State, REALLY an interception of a 2 point conversion to avoid OT with Navy? Iowa, two blocked FG attempts to squeak by Northern Iowa ( are they even D-1 ? )

The Hawkins era in Boulder could officially be coming to an end in week 1 as the Buffs fall to CSU, and K-state with Snider back on the sidelines eaks by UMass.

Let's take a look at week 1 by conference

BIG XII: 10-2 ( 2 wins vs. BCS Conference schools )
SEC: 11-1 ( 3 wns vs. BCS Conf. schools )
Big 10 (11) 10-1 ( 1 win vs. BCS )
ACC : 4-7 ( 5 losses against BCS, 1 being a conf. match up UM vs. FSU )
PAC 10: 7-3 ( 2 BCS wins, 1 was conf. match up)
Big EASt: who gives a shit, they don't deserve to be in the BCS to start with!!

It's Time

The best 4 months of the year are set to kick off tomorrow night, and all i can say is IT'S ABOUT TIME. There are plenty of what seem to be good games in store for week 1, i've already touched on a few of these in the previous post, but realize i left a couple of good match-ups out.

THURS> #16 Oregon vs. #14 Boise State - interesting ballgame, but if the Oregon team that ended the year shows up they should have this game in hand by the start of the 4th quarter

Oregon 31 BSU 20

#5 Bama vs. #7 Va. Tech - if you like low scoring grind it out football, this is your game. My gut tells me that the first team to 13 wins.

Bama 17 Va. Tech 10

Miami vs #17 Florida State - not long ago this game every year seemed to be the deciding game on who was in the title game, well times have changed but the hatred between the two schools remains.

Miami 10 Florida State 20

Week 1 key games for Big XII / SEC

Week 1 gets the season started off with a bang and here are the three most interesting games of note in the 1st week.

#13 Georgia vs. #9 Oklahoma State

I'm leaning towards OSU in this game, a lot of fire power and returning talent from last year, and UGA has a lot of parts to replace from a season ago.

score - OSU 38 UGA 24

#20 BYU vs. #3 OU
the MWC wants respect, here's your chance. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

#20 BYU 10 OU 41

Mizzou vs. Illinois

I think this is an interesting game to get a early look at Mizzou, but this Illinois team may be a little to good for the Tigers this early in the season.

Mizz 20 ILL 24

CFN preseason top 10

Here is College Football NEWS early top 10

1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Oklahoma State
6. LSU
7. Oregon
8. Ole Miss
9. North Carolina
10. Alabama

The Big XII and SEC occupy 7 spots in the preseason poll, although at the end of the year it'll be hard to keep that many up there as they will beat on each other. BUT, seriously NORTH CAROLINA in the top 10? A team i don't care for that will be in the top ten by midseason is PENN STATE, the Big 10 is down but there schedule is easy and if they can get by the Buckeyes they should be 11-0. I don't think they are good enough to beat Florida, OU, or Texas, but obviously at least one of those three will have at least 1 loss.

SEC Preview

The gauntlet of the SEC conference is a little tough to figure at this point, but i'll make my predictions anyway and see what happens. Let's start with the WEST. AUBURN: coming off of the disaster of last season, things might not be much better this year. Auburn was not able to sign a single top 150 player in the offseason and the offense is looking to come out of it's one year coma of last season. I would imagine as usuall the defense will be the strength of this team, but no defense can spend as much time on the field as this one did last season and be successful. ALABAMA: defense and run the ball, pretty simple game plan and they seem to have the pieces to do it successfully. They should battle for WEST spot in the title game because they don't see the Gators in the regular season. ARKANSAS: Petrino having his first year behind him in the SEC should have this team better, but this ain't the BIG EAST and LOUISVILLE. They should be better, but don't look for them to contend for anything other than possibly a minor bowl game. MSU: not a lot to say about them other than a new era will begin this season, and it wouldn't have to do much to be better than the last. LSU: should be a strong contender once again, another good recruiting class, but the biggest hurdle i see for them is that they will have to go to Tuscaloosa and Oxford and they catch the Gators at home at night( and we all know what that means ). OLE MISS: looking to ride the success of last season Houston Nutt returns a solid team, and the schedule works well for them. They catch Bama and LSU at home, and more importantly they too miss the Gators all together.

The EAST seems to be a little easier to figure out, looks to be Florida and a bunch of also rans. VANDY: program has continued to improve, but hard to imagine they'll ever be able to recruit the quality numbers of athletes to be a force in this conference. KENTUCKY: will play some teams tough, but in the end they just aren't that great of a football team. SOUTH CAROLINA: is one of the toughest teams to figure out for me, since the arrival of Spurrier i've been waiting for some offense out of this team, and well there just hasn't really been any to speak of. With that said i don't see things changing this season, and they'll probably end up fighting for second best in the EAST. GEORGIA: possibly had the biggest let down of a season last year with all the expectations, and now they'll be starting a new QB which usually doesn't work well in the SEC. TENN: may have the best coaching staff in the country now, but it's going to take a little time to turn the ship. Great recruiting class and Lane Kiffin will bring a new upbeat atmosphere to this program and i think the future looks bright, just not for 2009. FLORIDA: should cruise into the title game, but if there are any questions to ask of this team it would be how do you replace Percy. Okay so it's really not that big of a deal with the talent they have.

Prediction for title game: FLORIDA vs. OLE MISS

Starting with the Bix XII

As the 2009 season is fastly approaching, let's take a look at what could be in store for the Big XII this season. Starting with the North half of the conference, this shapes up to be a wide open race. On the side of experience i would tend to give Kansas the advantage heading in. Only two teams with a chance in the North return their starting QB's, Kansas and Colorado. Mizzou is a team to watch, but not sure how they will replace their top two receiving threats and a QB all at once. Bo Polini looks to improve the corn children even further and they could be in the chase if they can get some sign of offense. K State took a trip down memory lane with Coach Snyder, but not real sure what the point of him taking over again was? The coach under the most pressure in the North this year has to be Hawkins in Colorado, he will need a little Boise magic this season or it could be his last in Boulder. In the end i think we will see a 4 or 5 loss team from the NOrth heading to the Big XII title game.

NOw to the South, and unfortunately it looks like another typical year, the winner of the Red River shootout should be on the inside track to Big XII title and national championship. We'll look at everybody else anyways, so let's start with the Red Raiders. Leach will break in a new QB this year ( not that it matters much )but that's not too big a deal considering all their QB's are products of the system anyways, their biggest issue is how do they top last year? I don't think they can, i predict they'll lose 3 conference games and possibly be back in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma State seems to be the sexy pick this year, and although i do like the coach they historically don't seem to be a team that plays well when it's expected of them. The Cowboys will be better, but i have a feeling they will take a couple of heartbreaking losses that will make their season less than memorable. Baylor will continue to improve but will largely remain irrelavent in the conference, and the Aggies, well I don't see things getting better in Aggieland anytime soon, maybe they should bring Slocum back. That leaves UT and boomer Sooner, and there are not a lot of holes in either team. OU will have to replace the receiving core from a year ago and they may take a little time, so I'll give the Horns the leg up in South.

Prediction for Title game Texas vs. Kansas

Getting Ready

College football is right around the corner, and in the coming weeks I'll be doing my preview of the Big XII and SEC conferences. I will follow mostly these two conferences but will also discuss the other major players in the BS ( i mean BCS ) system. Any thoughts or recommendations on what any of you would like to see in this blog would be appreciated.