• 12:50 PM ET  07.13
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Week 3=On your couch all Sat long.  This is the best week of mostly non conference football of the year.  Probably the biggest game of the year, and a lot of nice matchups make for must see TV.  If you took my advice and took your girlfriend/wife out last weekend, you should have bought enough goodwill for her to disappear for the day, except in the capacticy of snack maker.  Here are the games that you MUST WATCH, that you SHOULD WATCH, and that you might be thinking of watching but DON'T BOTHER.  I'll be in Syracuse to watch my Nittany Lions clean house, and I'm going to be rushing back home to catch the start of the big game (I live in upstate NY)

 

MUST WATCH

Ohio State at USC    7:00 PM Sat Sept. 13th    ABC

This is it, the big early season nonconference game  between two top-5 teams with huge national championship implications.  Obviously this is an early call, but this game looks to be the most important of the year.  Winner is probably #1 afterwords.  Some people are down on Ohio State after their 2nd straight championship beatdown.  Last year was supposed to be their rebuilding year and they managed a one loss season in the mediorcre Big 10.  This year was supposed to be their big year and if they beat USC it will be.  Same could be said for USC.

SHOULD SEE 

Kansas at South Florida    7:00 Fri Sept. 12th    ESPN2

These teams both had breakout seasons last year.  South Florida will be better and Kansas will be worse making this game too close to call.  Both teams should contend for 8-10 wins and this game could help the winner make the BCS.  

Michigan at Notre Dame    2:30 Sat Sept. 13th    NBC

Notre Dame will be good enough to be fighting for a bowl berth.  Michigan will still be breaking in the new quarterback, new system, new everything.  Look for this to be a very competitive game.  Notre Dame isn't going to beat USC this year, so the next best thing for Weis to help fans forget about last year will be to beat Michigan.  

Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech    2:30 Sat Sept. 13th    ABC/ESPN

The ACC is wide open, and these are 2 of the teams expected to be in the race.  Until some of the contenders get knocked out, every ACC game between the top 6-8 teams will be a game you should watch.   

Wisconsin at Fresno State    9:30 Sat Sept. 13th ESPN2

There may never be a non BCS school in the national championship game.  If it was going to happen, you would have to have a season like last year with all the BCS teams (except one) with 2 losses, and you would have to have an undefeated non-BCS school with a couple wins against decent BCS schools, and a good conference schedule.  If that is going to happen this year, the team will be Fresno State who plays UCLA, Wisconisn, Rutgers and Nevada, Hawaii, and Boise State in conference.  This is probably Fresno State's toughest game and if they can beat Wisconsin, then they will actually have a 1 in a million shot of winning out and things breaking just right.

DON'T BOTHER
Arkansas at Texas    2:30 Sat Sept. 13th    ABC/ESPN

The Hogs are rebuiding and are probably not a bowl team this year.  Also there is no McFadden to watch.  Texas will probably break its streak of 10 win seasons this year.  This game is not as big as it would have been last year, and should turn into a Texas blowout.  

Oklahoma at Washington      6:45 Sat Sept. 13th    ESPN

Washington QB Jake Locker will be a superstar, but he is still only a sophmore and the once pround Huskies are still a year away from turning around the program.  Even in Washington this is still going to be Sonner rout.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

July 13, 2008  04:42 PM ET

I bet USC blows out Ohio State

July 13, 2008  07:13 PM ET

I would bet you are wrong. The two teams seem fairly evenly matched so home field advantage might give USC a touchdown edge. Don't think for a second the USC offense is going to run through Ohio State like they did Illinois last year.

July 13, 2008  09:30 PM ET

Georgia / South Carolina is always a huge SEC East game, which usually comes down to the wire. Just look at the past two years and David Pollack's Forced Fumble/Recovery/TD/strip a few years back. I don't mind watching some ACC but Georgia Tech isn't going to be competitive at this point yet, and VT will win the game handily. The best thing about tech was the D and Tenuta is gone so look for the blitzes and the production to be down. Also that radical triple option offense that is being assembled with patchwork players will not be ready to compete with VT. I think this is a bad call for should see TV. U should see if Georgia is worth the hype. South Carolina will be a statement and a damn good game too.

July 13, 2008  09:33 PM ET

I must admit though, that the Michigan Notre Dame game will probably be interesting. One of those teams will be able to prolong the illusion that they are an upper eschelon team, only to have it deflated in the following weeks.

July 14, 2008  05:17 PM ET

I don't think that Virginia Tech will have enough offense to blow anyone out, but that is a good point. I should have included SC/GA. I didn't because I didn't see SC being a legitamate threat for a BCS bid with their schedule (they finish with LSU, Tenn, Arkansas, at Florida, at Clemson) but I guess I shouldn't count ol ball coach out.

 
July 16, 2008  11:58 AM ET

I wanna see that UM/ND game. The USC/OSU game is a given.

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