Here we come high-stepping into Week 2, and things are starting to heat up. I would say "starting to get interesting", but outside of the fall of the ACC, there aren't any huge story lines right now. (And no, I refuse to talk about Beanie Wells' injury at Ohio State, wake me when they take on Southern Cal, then I'll care.) Southern Cal jumped over Georgia in the rankings, but that'll work itself out for the Bulldogs over the next 11 weeks if they get their work done.
Well, despite my fervor for the new season, this week offers few big games for us fans to sink our teeth into. The Canes take on the Gators, but that would have been a better showdown three years ago ... or three years from now.
But hey, who cares, football is back. What does it matter who's playing? In three-plus months, it'll be taken away from us, and you won't have anything to watch except pre-conference college basketball and hockey. So grab a beer, some chips and a couple of chicken wings and get your pigskin on.
Saturday's 10 Best Games
1. Miami at No. 5 Florida, 8 p.m., ESPN (4 stars)
Easily the weekend's best game is a matchup of former Sunshine State rivals. Canes are about a recruiting class or two from catching up to Florida (if Randy Shannon is all he is hyped to be). Miami will make an early run before the Gators run away with it, say 40-21-ish?
2. No. 8 West Virginia at East Carolina, 4:30 p.m., ESPN (2.5 stars)
Big dropoff sees the second best game as a potential upset of the week. The Pirates will try to become kings of multiple Virginias after last week's knock off of potential ACC power Virginia Tech. An upset here and only two ACC weaklings and the C-USA schedule would be between the Pirates and a BCS party crasher invitation. Won't happen, though. Pat White's good at football.
3. Southern Miss at No. 9 Auburn, 12:30 p.m., ESPN Gameplan
(2 stars)
USM is always a threat, so here's a mini-upset alert for Auburn, which is still trying to find a quarterback. Chris Todd (the passer) gets the start over injured Kodi Burns (the runner), so if pass protection becomes a problem, things could get interesting for the Tigers. A rout here could start to make Auburn look like the SEC's third title contender.
4. Mississippi at No. 20 Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., ABC (2 stars)
Must win for the Basketball Conference. The Rebels are dangerous but untested while Wake Forest is ... well, the Deacs are well coached. Other than that they have QB Riley Skinner, who should put Wake over the top. But lose here and no BCS berth for the ACC, unless Miami or FSU runs the table or something crazy (holds breath).
5. No. 12 Texas Tech at Nevada, 9:05 p.m., (1.5 stars)
Worth your late-night viewing pleasure is a matchup of one of the best QBs you've heard of, Tech's Graham Harrell (left), and one of the best you likely haven't, Nevada's Colin Kaepernick. Tech should roll, but it should be a fun shootout. Might see 100 points combined.
6. Cincinnati at No. 4 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m., ABC (1.5 stars)
Interesting cross-sectional matchup and a matchup of two good coaches on the sidelines. On the field, Sooners are just too good; they're still one of my picks for the title game.
7. Stanford at No. 15 Arizona State, 10 p.m., FSN College (1 star)
ASU and coach Dennis Erickson get an early Pac-10 test against an improved Stanford team led by Jim Harbaugh. The fighting Trees opened with a nice win against Oregon State and may have improved enough for a bowl bid while the Sun Devils seem destined for the Pac-10's No. 2 spot behind Southern Cal (my other title game pick).
8. Oregon State at No. 19 Penn State, 3:30 p.m., ABC (1 star)
Another cool cross-country game, though Oregon State's loss to Stanford took a lot of the suspense out of this one. Still, it's not the same ole-same ole. With FSU playing I-AA Western Carolina, JoePa stays tied with Papa Bowden this week. Rough stretch for the Beavers who have Southern Cal and Utah two of the next three games.
9. No. 17 South Florida at UCF, 7 p.m., ESPN2 (1 star)
Florida rivalry battle, take 2. Could be the last time these two "rivals" meet with their contract to play one another expiring after this year. Too bad since USF has no other natural rival. Chance to see if USF is a BCS dark horse in the Big East, or just more talk.
10. Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ESPN-GP (1 star)
Sheer. Morbid. Curiosity. How do the Fighting Wann-Staches rebound after last week's death knell? The Bulls are improved under coach Turner Gill, and who knows what Pitt is going to do. Pitt should romp on talent alone, but they should have done that in last week's loss to Bowling Green. I'll go with rout here, but I'm betting the Panthers won't crawl much past a mid-level bowl this season (what do you like: papajohns.com or that Toronto bowl?).
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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press
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