Thank God Football is Back!

Ladies and gentlemen, football is BACK.  After a summer of NFL lockout drama and baseball it is now time to put the pads on and gear up for another great season of college football.  There are a lot of questions that need to be answered this season: Did Andrew Luck make a mistake coming back to Stanford? What will happen to Miami? Who will win the Heisman? Will the University of Kansas win more than 2 games? I'll lay out some predictions in this post and give you the 5 games I'll be keeping my eye on this weekend. 

First, let's do some predictions.  There are so many ridiculously talented college players this season that have a chance at the Heisman and I think the top two have to be Andrew Luck, without a doubt the best quarterback in the nation, and LaMichael James, the top running back in the nation are at the top of my list.  The rest of my list looks like this:

1. Luck
2. James
3. Landry Jones (Oklahoma).  Throwing the ball to Ryan Broyles would make any quarterback look good but Jones has all the tools to make it in the NFL once he's done not winning a National Championship under Bob Stoops at OU.  
4. Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina).  If Lattimore stays healthy the entire season, he is the one I would love see win the Heisman.  He'll get plenty of coverage since the Media likes to focus on teams located east of the Mississippi.  Since he's only a sophomore, unless he goes off this season, I think he finishes below the previously mentioned candidates and comes back next year and dominates college football.
5. Kellen Moore (Boise State). If you've been living under a rock for the past 4 years, then you do not know who Kellen Moore is.  Since, that's physically impossible I'm going to assume that anybody that reads this post has at least seen a Boise highlight.  Kellen Moore is talented, very talented.  That right there is the understatement of the century.  Saying Moore will put up incredible numbers this season is like saying Obama is black.  It's obvious.  We all know that Boise State plays in an inferior conference, even though they moved to the Mountain West, it's not the SEC...hell it's not even close to the ACC.  He'll put up Heisman numbers but will they be enough for the voters to overlook the weak schedule.

 Since the first weekend of the season is getting underway tonight I think it's obviously time to give you my national championship predictions.  The SEC has dominated the better part of the last ten years and I really don't see that changing this year.  Boise State will have an incredible season but the annual mid-major getting screwed out of the title game will inevitably happen to Boise again this December.  Wisconsin or Nebraska will be in the Rose Bowl, I can guarantee that unless one of them reaches the title game.  With the addition of Quarterback Russell Wilson, Wisconsin is the heavy favorite to win the Big 1(12)0.  Oklahoma should run the Big 12 but an early game against Florida State could trip up the Sooners in their hopes of blowing a BCS bowl game.  Oregon is the favorite in the PAC-12 and easily could make a return trip to the title game where they will, in my opinion fall to another SEC team.  Any one of these teams, plus the other 130 schools I didn't mention could be in the title game but my gut is telling me Alabama will win the title in a close game against Wisconsin (I will now peel my fingernails off with pliers).  Me saying that Wisconsin will be in the title game is like any country getting along with North Korea.  I hate the Badgers almost as much as I hate Methzoo (Missouri) but I recognize the talent they have and I think they'll be a dominant force this season. 

5 games I'll be watching this Saturday:

1. #3 Oregon vs. #4 LSU (7 pm CST, Dallas Texas ABC)- This game had a lot more hype before the season but with the recent suspensions to LSU's starting quarterback and a few others on the team this game has lost some of it's build up.  2 main reasons I will be watching this game are LaMichael James who is such a dynamic playmaker and Heisman hopeful and Coach Les Miles.  I love watching Les Miles coach a football game because it's like waiting for a ticking time bomb to go off.  You never know what the mad hatter is going to do and I, for one, cannot wait to see what Les has in store for fans this year.
2. #5 Boise St vs #19 Georgia (7 pm CST, Georgia Dome ESPN)- Really ESPN? You couldn't schedule these two games for different times? Would it have really been that difficult? This robs college football fans who would like to see three of the top 5 teams but will only be able to watch parts of one game during the commercial breaks of the other.  Unless you have the ability to dvr one or the other you're going to have to choose.  Personally, I'm just thankful I have a remote and the ability to switch back and forth.  
3. South Florida vs #16 Notre Dame (2:30 CST, South Bend NBC)- I hate Notre Dame.  I don't know what it is about them but I just do not like the Irish (the school, not the nationality because I am Irish).  Maybe it's because they won't nut up and join a conference which would really help all this conference realignment bullsh*t or the fact that they have all of their games aired on NBC.  Notre Dame hasn't been good in a while but the voters apparently love the Irish this year seeing as their ranked 16th in the nation. South Florida could pull off the "upset" but I guess the main reason I'm tuning into this game on Saturday is to see why all the hype.
4. Western Michigan vs Michigan (2:30 CST, The Big House)- Denard Robinson. The only reason I will tune into this game.  If he stays healthy for the season he could be a dark horse Heisman candidate. 
5. Minnesota vs #25 USC (2:30 CST, Southern Cal)- I know what you're thinking and no I am not drunk, I am honestly interested in this game.  The Gophers got rid of Timmy Brewster last season after he could never get his chili hotter than luke warm.  Jerry Kill is bringing excitement back to the Gophers and their fanbase deserves something because the only thing Minnesota has going for it is the hope of a WNBA title (Hold on, I have to go throw up...) Alright, now that that's out of the way I don't think USC is that good and the Gophers may be able to actually give them a game especially after ending last season on a high note beating bitter rival, Iowa.

That's all I got for this post.  I'm going to make this a weekly post and maybe by the end of the season somebody, who isn't my mom, will actually read it! Enjoy the return of football this weekend and we'll have some new things up next week in anticipation of the NFL season. 


On Monday look for the "Rock Bottom List" which will be a weekly thing recapping the 5 people that pissed us off during the previous week.  Who will be on the list? Come back Monday and find out.