FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY

What a great time to be alive!!! The weekend starts on Thursday as football season will be in full swing starting on Thursday night. I was excited that Ohio State was going to kick off the season on a Thursday night, until I realized they were sharing the night with 17 other games including 2 games I would like to see (Pitt @ Utah and USC @ Hawaii). Regardless, the first football weekend is upon us and I could not be any more excited. Here is a look at this weekends games:

Marshall visits the Shoe for the 2nd meeting between the schools and even though I do not know anything about Marshall I am nervous. Ohio State does not start well under Jim Tressel (remember Navy a season ago), and he usually doesnt help the cause by inserting the 2nd team in the first half before the game is no longer in doubt. 28.5 points is alot to cover even for the best of Tressel's teams, I can not endorse playing Ohio State as I think OSU wins 24-13.

Pittsburgh plays at Utah in what may be the weekends most intriguing game. Pitt is coming off their best in the Wannstedt era and they have a dark horse Heisman candidate in Dion Lewis. But making the cross country trip to Utah is not easy. Im going with my gut and picking Utah at home.

USC probably would be a top 5 team had the sanction hammer not hit them in the head. However, the hammer did come down and they are down on the depth. I am excited to see how this team responds under new coach Lane Kiffin. But they still have more than enough playmakers to defeat Hawaii.

Tim Tebow-less Florida takes on Miami.... of Ohio. Urban is too scared to do what the Buckeyes are going to do, play the U. Regardless look for Florida to put up ridiculous numbers against Tim Reynolds alma mater.

Purdue plays at Notre Dame. Tough to call. On one hand, you have better talent on Notre Dames sideline, but you have more victories on the other. Ill go with Purdue to start the Brian Kelly era off on the wrong foot.

UConn has built a nice football program. Going into the Big house and getting a victory isnt what it used to be, but it would be a nice feather in the cap for UConn. Michigan plans to play 3 quarterbacks (who knows the old saying - when you have 2 QBs you really have none? - well what does having 3 mean?!?!) which can not be a good sign. There defense was abismal at best last year and they lost there best defender to the NFL (Brandon Graham) and 4 of their would be starting DBs for 1 reason or another are no longer with the program. Michigan has 9 freshman on their defensive 2 deep. This reeks of a desperation. I pick UConn to win on the road.

I will pick LSU over UNC because I believe LSU has a ton of talent and I think they will really surprise the people who are doubting them. I believe they will be a top 10 team by the end of the year. And that is no disrespect to my man Butch Davis (your still my pick to win the ACC Butch!), but with eligibility issues surrounding the program I think LSU gets it done.

Oregon State travels to Dallas to play TCU (sidenote: props to Oregon State for having non conference games @ TCU and @ Boise). This game should be a great one. The Rodgers brothers for Oregon State will have trouble making plays against Gary Patterson's defense. I think Andy Dalton and the offense should roll, so Ill take TCU.

The big question of the football season - does Boise deserve to play for a national championship? Well lets see how the season plays out before we put Boise in any game because Boise is actually leaving the smurf turf and heading to Washington DC to play Virginia Tech. Boise, not known for its defense will need to show that it can pack a punch as it goes up against one of the nations strongest rushing attacks. I like Beamer Ball, I hope they get it done, but I have a feeling Boise will be ready for this game and get the win.

Thats it for now, enjoy the long weekend and good luck in your fantasy drafts!!!