College Football begins... your thoughts!

**Sonnie** · **09-01-07, 01:39 PM**

College football is upon us already. Who are the teams to watch this year... is your team ready... any early predictions?

My team, the Crimson Tide of Alabama, gets a new coach in Nick Saben, now the highest paid coach in college football. Will money buy us wins? We'll have to wait and see, but I'm more excited about our future than I've ever been.

Another semi-somewhat of a team of mine is Troy University. I was born and raised in Troy... and still work there. They open the season against Arkansas. Troy is supposed to be much improved over last year, but I'm not sure they are ready for the big time yet.

USC comes out ranked on top and most likely deserving of it. They seem to have a tough schedule though and I'm not sure they will survive it.

Can Florida repeat? I have my doubts due to a young QB.

No early predictions here for me... with Appalachian State putting a whooping on Michigan

... it just shows how anything can happen.

**lcaillo** · **09-01-07, 03:17 PM**

Go Tigers!
Go Gators!

The tide will have more success this year but the SEC is brutal. At least Saban has purchased some new suits since he was at LSU and is better dressed. He is a fine coach and will bring success back to Bama, but this will be another tough year.

The Gators will not repeat but will win the SEC East and face LSU in the SEC Championship game. Those two games will be the highlights of my season even if neither makes it to the National Cahmpionship, but I think the Tigers might.

The Gator defense still needs a good test to see if they can really step up, as they have little experience. They have looked pretty good so far today, however.

Wow! What do you think of App. State beating Michigan? And Va. Tech looked much weaker than I expected today. They better bring it up to a higher level before meeting LSU next week.

**rcarlton** · **09-02-07, 10:48 AM**

Michigan State University here. I bet we could beat Appalachian State

!

**JCD** · **09-06-07, 03:24 PM**

All I have to say is... so far, so good. The Cal win against Tennessee was great. Our defense looked a little soft, but our offense looked awesome.

I have a prediction: the highest percentage of punts that are intentionally kicked out of bounds is going to be teams playing Cal. Tennessee actually kicked it away from DeSean Jackson on their first punt, so it wasn't really a "challenge". However, after that first punt, each one was kicked out of bounds. Man that guy is good.

How will we do in the end? It's tough to say -- we've got a brutal schedule. Besides having to play both UCLA (#15) and USC (#1), we'll have to play against a couple of Oregon teams that are pretty tough (both are on the cusp of making the top 25). And one of the Arizona schools is also a sleeper -- they could make wave in the standings. Bottom line -- it will depend on our defense. If they can toughen up, I think Cal could be in the BCS. If not, it'll be in the lame Emerald Bowl or something similar. Pac Ten teams have some poor contracts for the back up bowl games.

JCD

**lcaillo** · **09-07-07, 05:19 AM**

Cal's runners were certainly impressive. I'm not sure if there is that much speed in ball carriers on any other team in the country. I hate to see any SEC team get beat, but Tennessee deserved this one. They did not represent the SEC well and if they don't get their act together they will end up at the bottom of the east division.

We will find out more about LSU this w/e, though VT looked surprisingly weak last w/e. As for the Gators, all I can say is...Troy?...are you kidding...two teams in a row that are not serious opponents for a BCS caliber team...we won't know much more about that defense for at least another week.

**Sonnie** · **09-08-07, 10:18 AM**

Troy is gonna beat Florida today...

NOT!

Okay... it probably won't be near as close as the Arkansas game was in the first half... Troy actually surprised me.

Troy is where I was born and raised and where my wife and myself work... we live 20 miles from there. Just remember that there will come a day that Troy will be a team to reckon with.

Vanderbilt may be a challenge for BAMA today, but I believe we can come out on top... at least I hope we can.

Oklahoma needs to watch out for Miami... that could be an upset.

Other interesting games:

TCU vs Texas
South Carolina vs Georgia

and the biggie will be VT vs LSU...

**lcaillo** · **09-08-07, 10:24 AM**

Sorry about your Trojans having to go to the swamp.

Both the Bama/Vandy and the SC/UGA games will be very interesting to see who has really got what in the SEC.

I was not impressed with what I saw from VT last week. Hopefully they take it up a notch in BR tonight and make a game of it. The Tigers need to be tested before hitting the SEC...oops...excuse me, MSU.

**WillyD** · **09-14-07, 08:13 AM**

My team (NC State) is struggling. Oh well though....I still watch all the other games. I am looking forward to USC @ Nebraska.

**Sonnie** · **09-14-07, 09:45 AM**

I think the game of the week will be Michigan vs. Notre Dame... one of those poor teams is gonna go 0-3. And to think Henke came back as QB, bypassing the pros just because they felt like they had a good shot at the championship. What a shame!

Our Troy team plays Oklahoma State here at Troy tonight. Maybe that will be closer than the Florida game was.

Florida will probably spank Tennessee pretty bad this week. That's usually always a big game, but I just don't see it being that big this year.

USC vs Nebraska could be interesting, but I'm thinking USC might be too much for the Cornhuskers.

I'm a little worried about my Bama team this week with Arkansas coming to town. I guess we'll find out if we really have any kind of a team this weekend.

**lcaillo** · **09-14-07, 04:31 PM**

I suspect Bama will win. AK will not have much success running the ball.

Florida and Tenn may have some fireworks but I suspect the gator offense will put up more points. Hopefully they start to work out the defense...they had better before they get to Baton Rouge.

The Michigan/ ND game may just be a train wreck worth watching. Goodness, I hope Carr begins to have some success before they try to get Les Miles back to Michigan.

**Sonnie** · **09-14-07, 05:08 PM**

I suspect Miles is gone... just one of those things. He has done better than Saban at handling the press, expressing that he will not discuss it. Smart move!

**lcaillo** · **09-15-07, 04:32 AM**

I think you may be right, but the ride this season should be fun for tiger fans. Can't wait for that LSU/UF game...I'd love to get to go to BR for that one.

**Sonnie** · **09-15-07, 11:25 AM**

The LSU/UF game is going to be massive... HUGE! Somebody has to lose, which is a shame, because both are so good. You might call it the Nat'l Championship game played early.

How bout our Troy Trojans last night ... they looked good putting that whooping on Oklahoma State...

**lcaillo** · **09-16-07, 10:48 PM**

That Troy performance put the UF game in a different perspective. The Gators might just give the Tigers some trouble. I think they will be playing twice this season, because whoever loses likely will not lose another game and they will meet in the conference championship. Maybe one of them will get a shot at USC, but my money is on either Oklahoma or Penn State.

Six SEC teams ranked in the top 25 and the Razorbacks and Vols are not among them...WOW!

**Sonnie** · **09-16-07, 11:01 PM**

Well Auburn ain't there either and they've been up there for several years.

How about my Tide pulling one out of the hat to get past t8hem hogs? Wow! I thought it was over when Arkansas scored and it was 31-31... then we kick the field goal for 34-38. I surely thought it was over then. I'm still pinching myself wondering did we really win.

There are no doubt at least 4 very serious teams this year... USC, Oklahoma, LSU and Florida. Something tells me that USC ain't the best of those. My gut tells me it's Oklahoma, but then again, it's early on in the year. After a few more games we'll know more.

**lcaillo** · **09-16-07, 11:18 PM**

I really never thought AK would be a contender this year. They have too many holes, the least of which is certainly not the O-Line. The Tide has lots of talent and great coaching. Don't be surprised if they end up right behind LSU in the West. The LSU/SC game will be interesting. I don't expect an upset, but it will be interesting to see how Spurrier's guys hold up and his game plan looks. Bama is always tough for LSU. Some great football coming up...

**Sonnie** · **09-22-07, 02:21 PM**

More good games today...

LSU vs. South Carolina - This might actually be a closer game than most suspect.

Bama vs. Georgia - Scary one for me... and it may also be a close game.

Michigan vs. Penn State - Before last week I would have said PSU would route Michigan, but this could end up being interesting as well.

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