Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

It has been 238 long days since last season’s Bowl Championship Series title game.

Tonight is the night…College Football kicks off with an already pivotal game between Oregon and Boise State. If the Broncos win, they’re set to run the table and we’ll all have an Autumn of Misery with the pro-Boise crowd wrongfully complaining that the Broncos deserve a shot at the national championship. Go Ducks.

The earlier game features on of my surprise teams for 2009- the North Carolina State Wolfpack. They’re a darkhorse, but I would not be surprised to see this team win the ACC. Other surprise teams: Arkansas, Illinois, USF, and Houston.

Two teams I’m forecasting to disappoint are Oklahoma and Alabama. They have talent but both teams have to rebuild their offensive lines and I’m picking each to finish third in their brutally tough divisions.

Michigan’s woes will continue, and they’ll finish eighth in the Big Ten.

Ole Miss has had an odd offseason, going from everyone’s darling in February to being labeled as overrated all summer. Fact is, Ole Miss is really good, and they could go 11 -1, beat Florida in the SEC title game, and play for the national title- they’re that good.

The other media darling is Georgia Tech. They’re overrated.

Here’s my preseason Top 25:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Southern Cal
4. Mississippi
5. Penn State
6. Oklahoma State
7. LSU
8. Oklahoma
9. Georgia
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. California
13. Ohio State
14. Nebraska
15. Clemson
16. Iowa
17. North Carolina
18. TCU
19. Oregon
20. Pittsburgh
21. Illinois
22. Boise State
23. Miami
24. Arkansas
25. Georgia Tech

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

Great start by the Wolfpack.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

LeGarrette Blount is an absolute punk. I hope that guy is done for the season. What an embarassing night for Oregon.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

I came away from the Oregon/Boise game wondering how either of those teams managed to be nationally ranked. Oregon was just putrid in all phases of the game (and is now going to be missing their star running back if there's any justice in the world), while Boise committed a season's worth of unassisted fumbles in one game.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

I agree that Oregon looked bad. They simply weren't ready to play in any phase of the game (and they weren't ready to handle defeat, either). It will be interesting to see how they deal with this. Will they suck it up and learn, or spiral out of control?

Boise looked very strong. First-game fumbles mean little to me. They dominated on both sides of the ball; only their special teams were lacking.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

Would it be possible to link direct to this discussion from the Extra Points page? Personally, I scan all Extra Points for "new comment" alerts, and I passed this one up after the first time I read it.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

Score another one for the Mountain West. I know everyone will say Bradford was injured, but he doesn't play defense and BYU came up with the big drive with the game on the line. It keeps getting harder to claim the Mountain West is inferior to the BCS conferences.

Re: Week 1 Open Discussion Thread

Yes, if the Mountain West could just play with the big boys like Oklahoma or Alabama, maybe they would get some respect. Or not, BCS RULES!

Early weeks of the season...

Maybe this type of post doesn't belong in this exact section, but here it goes anyway: does anyone else think the opening week or two of the football season allows for some advantageous betting opportunities? In theory because no one, including the odds makers, really knows what to expect from the teams. I’m guessing the odds makers are just basing their lines off of last year’s statistics. What do you think?