Oh finally, the first start of the 2008 NCAA college football season kicks off on Thursday (8-28-08) with 14 games scheduled, followed by 2 games on Friday, 55 games on Saturday, 2 more on Sunday and 2 on Monday. The most interesting game for opening night is Buffalo against Texas-El Paso (UTEP).
Two years ago, Turner Gill took over as Buffalo’s head coach. He only went 2-10 his freshman year, but he beat Kent State University, the FIRST team with a winning record the Bulls had beaten in 8 years. Buffalo had been a doormat in the NCAA for far too long.
Gill’s Bulls went 5-7 last year and 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference, Buffalo’s first conference-winning record since the Bulls became a Division IA school. Gill was named MAC Coach of the Year. Turner Gill was part of 3 national championships as a coach in Nebraska, and his positive influence in Buffalo is becoming apparent.
UTEP is interesting because of Mike Price, the former Washington State University head coach who managed the Cougars for 14 years, compiling three 10-win seasons (he went 20-5 his last two seasons) and 5 appearances. in bowls
Alabama hired Price away from Washington state, but he never coached the Crimson Tide due to an off-the-field incident that resulted in a lawsuit Price won against Sports Illustrated magazine. Price led UTEP to two straight 8-4 seasons and two bowl appearances, but then had back-to-back 5-7 and 4-8 seasons.
The Buffalo-UTEP game is the most interesting game because either Turner Gill and Buffalo are going to continue to climb the ladder of success, or Mike Price and UTEP are going to come back. One coach will win and one coach will lose in this matchup. We will let you know what happens if you lose the results in the tube.
Here are my picks for the other 4 games of real interest this week, two of which involve teams ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25 poll.
Nick Saban begins his sophomore year at Alabama (ranked 24th) by traveling to Clemson (ranked 9th) for his first game. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he signed with the Crimson Tide, but then again, this is the Southeastern Conference (SEC), aka (aka) the conference with suicidal energy. Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference could be trouble with a capital T.
The Big 12 Missouri Tigers (No. 6) will host Big 10 Illinois (No. 20). Coach Gary Pinkel’s Tigers went 12-2 last year and crushed Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel will return as the Tigers’ quarterback.
All Daniel did last year was throw for 4,300% 2B yards and 33 touchdown passes and compile a 147.9 QB rating (this is not a typo).
The other two featured games find Colorado State traveling to Colorado for in-state bragging rights (this is no way to start the season for either team), and Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State Spartans traveling to California. As an alumnus of MSU, I’d like to remind Dantonio that he will be facing much tougher teams than California this season, including Ohio State (No. 2), Michigan, Wisconsin (No. 13) and Penn State (No. 22).
Here are 21 AP Poll-ranked teams that must win their first game to justify their preseason ranking:
Georgia (No. 1) hosts 1-AA Georgia Southern. Although this is an in-state rivalry, I highly doubt Georgia is going to lose this game, especially if the Bulldogs plan to win the BCS national championship game this year.
The state of Ohio (No. 2) hosts the state of AA Youngstown. Buckeye coach Jim Tressel led Youngstown State to 4 I-AA national titles and 6 other playoff berths while coaching at Youngstown State, and he hasn’t forgotten where he came from, giving Youngstown State a huge payday that otherwise they would not enjoy.
Southern California (USC) (No. 3) travels to Virginia.
Oklahoma (No. 4) hosts AA Chattanooga. Are you serious, mate? I wouldn’t want to be the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Florida (No. 5) hosts Hawaii. Kudos to Hawaii for facing a quality Top 5 team on the road in their first match.
Louisiana State (LSU) (No. 7) hosts Appalachian State. Last year, 1-AA Appalachian State made its Big House debut in Ann Arbor, defeating the heavily favored Michigan Wolverines. Trust me when I say Appalachian State will not sneak up on LSU.
West Virginia (No. 8) hosts AA Villanova. Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia last year for a bigger job in Michigan. Good luck, West Virginia.
Auburn (No. 10) hosts Louisiana-Monroe.
Texas (No. 11) hosts Florida Atlantic. Florida Atlantic could take a beating.
Texas Tech (No. 12) hosts AA Eastern Washington. Eastern Washington could find out what a passing game is in college football. Eastern Washington has no chance of winning this game. Last year, the Texas Tech Red Raiders were No. 1 nationally in passing offense, No. 2 in total offense, No. 4 in passing efficiency offense and No. 6 in scoring offense. The game will end before it begins. Even prayer won’t help Eastern Washington.
Wisconsin (No. 13) hosts Akron.
Kansas (No. 14) hosts Florida International. Florida International could be nothing more than a hit-and-run after this outing.
The state of Arizona (No. 15) hosts the AA from Northern Arizona. Watch out, Sun Devils, these in-state rivalries can be surprising.
Brigham Young (BYU) (No. 16) hosts AA Northern Iowa.
Virginia Tech (No. 17) travels to East Carolina.
Tennessee (No. 18) travels to UCLA. This game marks Rick Neuheisel’s debut as Bruins head coach following his “troubles” and his departure from the University of Washington. Neuheisel has some tests to run. Remember a guy named Norm Chow (think Southern California national championship team)? He is Neuheisel’s offensive coordinator. The defensive coordinator is a guy named DeWayne Walker. Let’s see if Neuheisel can put together a big upset and a Game 1 win for the Bruins, Neuheisel’s alma mater.
South Florida (No. 19) hosts Tennessee-Martin. Can you believe South Florida was actually ranked #2 nationally last year?
Oregon (No. 21) hosts Washington. Could Tyrone Willingham’s Huskies find a way to win this game and start saving his coaching job in Washington?
Penn State (No. 22) hosts AA Coastal Carolina. Wow, I wouldn’t want to be Coastal Carolina.
Wake Forest (No. 23) travels to Baylor.
Pittsburgh (No. 25) hosts Bowling Green. Once again, former NFL coach Dave Wannstedt is trying to put his alma mater, the Pittsburgh Panthers, on the map as a top contender this season.
Here are 8 more unranked teams (favorite teams first) that might as well win their first match if they hope to squat this year:
Arizona hosts Idaho.
Arkansas hosts AA Western Illinois.
The state of Boise hosts the state of AA Idaho.
Boston College travels to Kent State.
Connecticut hosts the AA Hofstra.
Kansas State hosts North Texas.
Michigan hosts Utah.
Nebraska receives western Michigan.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley