1) Clemson/Alabama - This game is so brilliant that I might want to travel 4 hours up I-75 to watch these two solid teams play in the Georgia Dome. Both teams need to make a statement to open a season and the team who wins might be looking at a conference title run at the very list. Two talented teams with a great deal to prove.
Prediction: Alabama by a FG because I do not like the idea of Clemson facing a team from Alabama in the Georgia Dome. (See Chick Fil-A bowl from last season)
2)West Virginia/Auburn You could argue that this may be the best inter-conference game of the year because both teams have high aspirations as it will be a clash of WVU's speed and Auburn's power. I actually expect this to be a tightly contested, low scoring affair, which would favor Auburn. If there is a team that would not be afraid of going into Morgantown, it is Auburn considering how well they played in Gainesville and Baton /Rouge last season.
3) Arkansas/Texas I love old rivalries and this is as classic of a rivalry as you will find in college football dating back to the sWAC days. Superficially, Texas should dominate Arkansas, but Arkansas always finds a way to shock people with their tenacity. Even though they lose their two best offensive weapons, Bobby Petrino relishes these kind of games as a college coach and he will have his team ready to play their best football in a rivalry game.
Prediction: How can you pick against UT at home against a non-conference foe? The same question was asked in 03 and Arkansas dashed UT's home dominance. History will not repeat itself as the Horns will win by 10 points.
4) Tennessee/UCLA- Tennessee breaks in a new QB and UCLA breaks in a new coach who may not be au courant with college football 2008. Tennessee's last trip to California ended on a sour note, but this football team should be better and UCLA will ensure some growing pains getting used to Neuheisel. However, this game is enticing because UT does not have a reputation of blowing teams out on the road while UCLA resembles a box of chocolates. UCLA certainly possesses the talent to beat UT, but these are the kind of games Fulmer wins.
Prediction: UT by a field goal in the Rose Bowl
5) South Florida/KU- The two biggest surprises of last season will probably not sneak up on anyone this year including each other. USF will lose a good deal of leadership on the defensive side of the ball, but they will have one of the most skilled offenses in the Big East. KU should be solid on both sides of the ball again and they resemble a more polished product than the haphazard Bulls, who found a way to get demolished by 36 against an Oregon team down to their 3rd string QB. Then again, it is very tough to beat USF at the RJ on a Friday Night. Ask WVU about that.
Prediction: KU by 10 since Matt Groethe is a dunce that will get eaten alive by Ku's defense the same way Sean Glennon did in the Orange Bowl. As for USf's defense, have fun trying to slow down the superb Todd Reesing.
6)Virginia Tech/ Nebraska- Virginia Tech is looking to reload this year while Nebraska is looking to rejuvenate their program after the persistent debacles with Callahan. Both teams will come into the game with extremely talented QB's and offenses, but vast inexperience on the defensive side of the ball. This shouls be a real fun game and provide a barometer for how far Nebraska has come with Pelini as HC.
Prediction: Nebraska by 4 in a hard fought game.
7)Oregon/Purdue- This might become the funnest game of the season as the O?U will probably be around 90 points for the game since neither team really plays much defense and they both have explosive offenses. Painter and Roper will probably combine for over 900 yards passing in this game.
Prediction: As last season's game in Ann Arbor proved, you should never pick against Oregon when they are going up against a Big 10 team sans Ohio State. I actually like Oregon to win by 2 TD's 55-41.
8)Missouri/Illinois- They should play this game every year based on the excitement generated at the EJD last season. Illinois may not be as good, but they will be heavily motivated to avenge last year's heartbreaking loss. Expect a good deal of offense in this game with two stellar QB's and two young defenses. However, Missouri is the only team in this game with NC aspirations, thus, expect them to playlike a championship caliber team.
Prediction: MIZZOU by 14: 41-27.
9)Iowa/Pitt The ESPN pundits believe that these will be the two surprise teams of 2008 as neither of them made bowl games last year despite lofty expectations. However, Pitt did derail WVU's chances of a national title and Iowa did dent Illinois' chances of a Big 10 title. Thus, you have two talented teams that will look to bounce back from subpar seasons and take their game to the next level. I think this game is analagous to Missouri and Illinois of 2007 as it will separate the real gold from the fool's gold.
Prediction: Pitt at home by 17 points, but Iowa will have a 9 win season.
10)Miami/TAMU- This game proved to serve as one of the few bright spots for Miami last season as TAMU got exposed as an overrated team which was nothing novel in the Franchione era. With a real head coach in Mike Sherman, TAMU will become a respectable program again, but they will be running into a team that will be fighting to gain back some of its own lost glory. This game should really set the tone for 2008 for both teams as it is essentially a make or break game for both teams.
Prediction: TAMU at home by 10. They overlooked Miami last season, but look for Goodson and Lane to both be utulized in this game this time around. Another advantage for TAMU is that they will have an experienced QB while Miami will still lack much of an offense.
Sorry for not including
Ohio State/USC- Please do not act like USC will not win this game by at least 3 TD's. USC possesses too much speed for OSU and I would bet my entire bank account that USC wins this game.
Arizona State/ Georgia- Georgia will run up and down the field on the pathetic ASU defense just like USC and Texas did last season. At the least, UGA wins by 20.
UCLA/BYU- Forgive me if I am not excited to see this game being played for the 3rd time in a 12 month span and it could be 4 times in a 16 month span.
Oregon State/Penn State- I know the tagline for this game sounds theatrical: "the Beavers invade Beaver Stadium." However, this invasion will be more like a failed mutiny because the beavers will probably get dug underground figuratively by the Lions. After this game, you might want to come up with another possible Hollywood movie title: "Lions and Beavers."
Michigan State/Cal: Looks like a good game on paper as do most Big 10 and Pac 10 matchups, but neither team is really that great, thus, it is a pretty irrelevant game.
