First Saturday - What I'm Watching

Sure football officially kicked off on Thursday, and sure there was June Jones' first game at SMU on Friday night as well as a few other lesser games, but this is the first Saturday of the season. The games are actually much more exciting than what we get next weekend with September 13th being the big OOC day to get ready for. Here are the games I'll be keeping an eye on (all times Eastern with straight-up picks in red):

MORNING
Appalachian State at LSU, 5:00 PM, ESPN - The match-up of defending national champs gets moved up 6 hours thanks to concerns about Hurricane Gustav. LSU takes care of business infront of the smallest crowd in over a decade when less than 60k show up to Tiger Stadium.

Hawaii at Florida, 12:30 PM, Gameplan - This would have been a lot more fun last season, especially when June Jones was running his mouth about Colt Brennan being better than Tim Heisman Tebow. With Jones now at SMU and Brennan in the NFL, this might still get ugly for Hawaii but at least it won't be personal from Urban Meyer's standpoint.


AFTERNOON
USC at Virginia, 3:30 PM, ABC - USC has questions on offense but should be more than solid on defense. Look for them to win, but not to cover. The Trojans get a week off after this to prepare for Ohio State and a BCS Title Game elimination game

Utah at Michigan, 3:30 PM, ABC - It has become the trendy pick this week, but I'm still going to take it. Look for Utah to come in and get the Rich Rodriguez era off to a bad start in Ann Arbor.

EVENING
Alabama vs. Clemson, 8:00 PM, ABC - One of the premiere OOC matchups of the season is being played in Atlanta, GA, on Saturday. Clemson is at the top of the ACC and the only real contender for that conference for getting any respect back. The ACC NEEDS this game, while Alabama still feels like they are a year away from competing with LSU and Auburn for the SEC West. Clemson has the pressure of the entire conference, combined with the fact that they always seem to crumble when the pressure is the greatest, then add in Nick Saban and I feel like Alabama pulls this one out.

Michigan State at Cal, 8:00 PM, ABC - The Big10 will get its chance to shine in two weeks when another school travels to California, but this would be a signature win that the conference could hang its hat on in addition to Ohio State vs USC come bowl time. Michigan State was good last season, but could have been very good if a few breaks had gone its way. This year look for them to become a player in the Big10 and actually be the top program in the state of Michigan...at least for this year.

Illinois vs. Missouri, 8:30 PM, ESPN - These should have both been BCS teams last year, but because of the rule that only 2 teams from a conference can gets invites Missouri was relegated to the Cotton Bowl where they spanked a hapless Arkansas squad with nothing to play for. Last year Missouri won this game by forcing turnovers and getting up early. Look for an even bigger win as Illinois just won't have anyone to replace Mendenhall quite yet. Chase Daniel or Juice Williams will see their Heisman hopes dashed this weekend while the other will jump to the spotlight, at least until Beanie Wells goes against USC and Stafford/Moreno vs Tebow.

Washington at Oregon, 10:00 PM, FSN - This won't receive anywhere near the hype of Alabama/Clemson or Illinois/Missoui, but I am very interested to see Jake Locker in his second year under center for Ty Willingham. Also of note will be the Denis Dixon-less era starting for Oregon. Justin Roper takes over for Oregon after Dixon left for the NFL and after Sophomore Nate Costa had to have surgery to repair a torn ACL that surgeons found while repairing a torn meniscus in his knee. Oregon just won't have the firepower early to play with Washington, even in Autzen stadium. Or I might just be a huge Locker homer.

FINALLY!

The 2008-2009 season is FINALLY here as a slate of games kickoff tonight before opening weekend starts this Saturday. Tonight's games include:

Vanderbilt at Miami University, 7:00 PM, ESPNU
Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech, 7:30 PM, ESPN 360
Charleston Southern at Miami, 7:30 PM, ESPN 360
NC State at South Carolina, 8:00 PM, ESPN
Wake Forest at Baylor, 8:00 PM, FSN
Oregon State at Stanford, 9:00 PM, ESPN2
Troy at Middle Tennessee State, 7:30 PM, Gameplan

I personally will be at the Georgia Tech vs Jacksonville State game seeing two interesting previews. It is Ryan Perrilloux's first game for the Gamecocks after being dismissed from defending national champion LSU's squad in the spring, while Paul Johnson brings his spread option attack to the Yellow Jackets from the Naval Academy. I've been a Paul Johnson fan for a number of years so this should be exciting. Perrilloux will be the best offensive player on the field for either team, but will have to face one of the better defensive lines in the country. It should be interesting early as GT is sure to put the ball on the ground a few times, but in the end I think the Jackets will just be too much.

Also look for a few interesting games involving lower tier BCS teams that will mean a lot to the ACC. First is the NC State/South Carolina game. Spurrier has had some decent teams in his first two years, but this should be his best. NC State is still a few years away from competeing in the ACC. I wonder how much Tom O'Brien is still kicking himself for leaving BC. Also important for the ACC's image is Wake Forest traveling to Waco, TX, to play Baylor. The Demon Deacons should win in a walk, but if Baylor pulls this upset it could be devastating to the entire conference for the ACC. Clemson would have to hope for the entire rest of the country to have two losses for an undefeated Tiger team to get into the BCSCG.