Friday, September 07, 2007

CFB Weekend Preview: Huge Beyond VT-LSU

This is a spectacular weekend of college football, particularly given that it's only Week 2. If last week's App State-Michigan upset eclipsed every other story, this week offers plenty of storylines beyond VT-LSU:

TCU will beat Texas: I've been picking this since before the season started. TCU is poised to be this year's Boise State; Texas looked mediocre last week. The Horned Frogs stake their claim in Austin and pull off the biggest story of the weekend.

Is No. 5 Oklahoma for real? Underrated Miami will give them a test in a battle of 80s corruption not unlike "Dallas" vs. "Dynasty."

Now that I'm respecting Georgia, what about this week's game against their nemesis, the Ol Ball Coach? And he gets QB Blake Mitchell back. Yeah, it's in Athens, but that never stopped Spurrier before, did it?

Yes, Notre Dame IS that bad: And when they get waxed by Penn State, it will get even worse.

As I mentioned in my Deadspin column this week, if you said in the mid-90s that Nebraska-Wake Forest in Winston-Salem would be a legit toss-up, you would have been laughed out of the sports bar. It's for real.

Boise State at Washington: It will probably be another BCS-league notch on Boise's bedpost, but I don't think it's crazy to suggest that Washington and Ty Willingham NEED to win this game, for legitimacy.

And, finally, can Michigan rebound against Oregon? I'll put the over-under at 80 points and simply leave it with this: Michigan BETTER win, but I think the pressure will crack them. Quack, quack.

The Picks:
9 Virginia Tech over at 2 LSU (Huge!)
3 WVU over at Marshall (My No. 1 team last week!)
4 Florida over Troy (I'll be there!)

Miami over at 5 Oklahoma (The Canes are back!)
5 Wisconsin over at UNLV (standard UW cupcake)
19 TCU over at 7 Texas (Upset Special!)
10 Cal over at Colorado St (Let-down game?)
11 Georgia over South Carolina (Barely)

12 Ohio State over Akron (Zzz...)
13 UCLA over BYU
14 Penn State over Notre Dame (Heh)
Wake Forest over 16 Nebraska (Don't call it an upset!)
17 Auburn over South Florida (Hmm...)
20 Hawaii over LA Tech (Brennan Mania!)
21 Georgia Tech over Samford
22 Boise State over at Washington
23 Texas A&M over Fresno State
24 Tennessee over Southern Miss
25 Clemson over LA-Monroe

-- D.S.

11 comments:

Trey (formerly TF) said...

The game should be fun tomorrow Dan, feel free to stop by our tailgate if you'd like.

Joe (Orlando)

chipp said...

BSU may have beaten some BCS Conference foes, but they are 0-12 lifetime on the road against the Pac-10.

Next week: tOSU (2-0) @ UW (2-0)

Luke Bell said...

UNLV is a "typical UW cupcake," but your mighty Gators are playing....Troy? Whatever.

MuckFichigan said...

"TCU will beat Texas"

No no no. We dont want Texas to come here to UCF next week with anything to prove. The timing is just about right for the Knights to pull an upset over a big time program. Nothin fires your team up like opening a new stadium.

Kevin said...

TCU will beat Texas: I've been picking this since before the season started.

Wow! You've really stuck with that pick through thick and thin, seeing as the season is...one week old...

Jon said...

Why is it always 'the next Boise State' when Boise State was following in Utah's path? Is this simply a case of 'what have you done for me lately' or have people forgotten that the Utes were the original BCS buster?

That and they destroyed a mediocre Pitt team that had no business being in the Fiesta Bowl.

Maybe when USC gets its '04 season wiped off the books due to Reggie Bush's gifts we can crown Auburn and Utah as co-fake-BCS national champs.

Anonymous said...

Thing is, Spurrier never played Georgia in Athens--except in '95, I think--because of the whole cocktail party thing.

The heroin sheik said...

Zebulon the reason we played UGA in Gville (94) and they played us in Athens (95) was because of renovations at the Gator Bowl for the faguars. They had to do a home and home series.

MuchFichigan I had no idea that UCF was about to open their new on campus stadium. I know the whole time I was there in grad school they were talking about and recently they had started working on it but I totally thought it was next season before they started playing there. I kinda wish I could still be in otown just to check out the new digs as the Citrus Bowl was awful to go to games at. I don't know how many other stadiums in the country can be in as bad of a neighborhood as that one. Seriously it is in the heart of cracktown and it is really dangerous at night after late games.

The heroin sheik said...

I just went to You Can't Fails website and I think they are not only opening their new football stadium but a new basketball arena as well this weekend. Bright House Networks Stadium looks pretty cool while the UCF Arena isn't anything spectacular. If the parking situation sucks as bad as it did when my fiancee and I were there it is going to make games a pain to go to. As for tailgating you are not allowed to bring kegs or glass containers to your pregame parties. Thats weak.

Andy Roberts said...

I will maintain to the grave that Notre Dame is not that bad. It may not show against PSU because the Lions are a very good team, but a win over Michigan wouldn't altogether surprise me, and with MSU and Purdue after that, it's not absurd to suggest ND might be 3-2 through 5, which would be a great achievement.

MuckFichigan said...

Sheik: Parking is shit at any campus you go to. I heard taht students cant even yuse their regualr parking apsses ($80 for 2 semesters) and will ahve to pay for parking at games. They are opening a new arena, it looks pretty good to go along with the new med complex tehy are building and the recently completed stadium. They started building it last year and it was finished by the end of the last summer term. Has to be some sort of record for construction being finished in Florida.