In any case, Boise's still an outsider, and while I'm impressed right now, wins against Nevada and Fresno later aren't going to do anything for me. TCU's a good team too, by the way, and I don't mean to ignore them, but a win over Oregon State is nothing which now brings me to the rest of the contenders which still have games to play this season (I declare Boise's season a cakewalk from this point on, TCU's only slightly more difficult).
Contenders:
Most of this will be sorted out in weeks to come, therefore I reserve the right to alter my opinion of teams after any given game. That said, here's how I see it hours before the start of week two.
The winner of Ohio State-Miami is on the inside track to the NC. Both the ACC and Big 10 have good teams (and opportunities for quality wins) but are top heavy, so compiling a solid record should be of little difficulty. I could see Ohio State falling to Wisconsin or Iowa, but if they win any other game by less than a touchdown I would be very surprised. Miami, likewise, should have a tough game with Va Tech and maybe Florida State, but have the talent to take the ACC unblemished. That early season quality win should give a bump to either team if they're neck and neck with another contender.
Alabama. They're the defending champs, the SEC is WEAK this year compared to the last 4 years. If they don't go undefeated it will be because of complacency. They'll be the most talented team on the field in every game they play this year.
The Winner of Oklahoma-Texas. Neither team was impressive in the first game of the season, but both are loaded. The problem is QB play. Landry Jones is a scrub and Gilbert is replacing possibly the best QB of all time in college football, in his own words. If either figures it out before costing his team a game, consider that team the front-runner to play Alabama for the title.
It's likely that another team will make a run and declare themselves a contender during conference play. And if we have a 2007 - nobody wants to be #1 - repeat, it's wide open. Parity abounds, I'm sure ESPN told you that already.
Pretenders:
Oregon (or any other PAC 10 team for that matter): I know you saw Oregon's video game score of 72-0 and were instantly smitten with their chances. To quote (mock) Lee Corso: Foggeddaboutit. I was playing New Mexico the other day with a couple of geriatric receivers whose hearts weren't in it and we still put up 50. Teams will do that to New Mexico. Now this doesn't mean Oregon isn't a great team. Chances are that they'll win the Pac 10, and that is still an achievement even if USC sucks when they're not allowed to pay their players. But Oregon won't get there unscathed, and that's just not good enough as I'll take a one loss Ohio State/Iowa/Texas/Oklahoma/Alabama/Florida over Oregon any day. Not to mention, who's going to let Oregon play for an NC with one loss when Boise is sitting there undefeated with a better signature win. Oregon is -12 at Tennessee, but don't be surprised if it's a win by a TD or less.
Nebraska: When ESPN told me that (insert name here) was filling in for Suh and might be better than him, I decided I wasn't going to take this team seriously until the Big 12 championship game, or maybe until they join the Big 10 (or so). You take the BEST PLAYER in all of college football off of a team that only notably ALMOST beat a team that got rolled in the NC, and expect me to consider them a contender? See you next year, Nebraska.
Iowa: This is a good football team. No question about it, their defense is top 10 (again). But I don't have faith in them ever staying healthy enough to win the Big 10 again. First it's every running back they try to use, then the quarterback "colt mccoys"*. This year it'll probably be something even stranger like the kicker twisting his ankle and the team only needing a field goal to beat Wisconsin and coming up short.
*Colt Mccoying = injuring oneself during the biggest game/moment of your career.
Florida: Miami (OH) football is so bad that fans there wait for hockey season rather than watching their football team stink up the field. Florida was outplayed by Miami (OH), who are, by the way, picked to finish at the bottom of the MAC conference. MAC upsets are so 5 years ago, so I don't have much faith in this Florida team after watching that performance. Tim Tebow was a verifiable stud on the football field (and a huge douche off of it), you can't replace him and think you're going to continue with the same success.
Things I'm watching today:
Nadal v Youzhny because I can't stomach to watch Georgia v South Carolina and Nadal's amazing season/career needs a US Open championship to feel truly special. Here's one step closer.
Prediction - Nadal straight sets. 6-4, 7-5, 6-2
Ohio State v Miami because it's the most interesting game on TV today and I'm excited to see which super recruit-turned-adequate QB comes away with the win.
Prediction - Ohio State pulls away late 30-21
Alabama v Penn State or at least until it becomes ugly. I've been known to underestimate freshman QBs (Colt Mccoy), but I'm usually right for at least the first few weeks of the season.
Prediction - Close for a half, Alabama 28-10.
-Jabari
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