Code Orange

Here we are…Week 1.  What are some games to watch in the opening weekend?

Thursday, August 28

Vanderbilt at Miami (OH) - 7:30 PM

Not exactly a game of high powered teams, but both of these teams have shown glimpses of glory every now and then, and this first game will be a good look to see whether either of these teams are going to try to have a good season this year, or remain in the sludge of mediocricy.

North Carolina State at South Carolina - 8:00 PM

This is sort of like the game above, except with better teams.  Will either of these teams be for real in 2008?  This is the first chance they get for showing whether they will…or wont.

Saturday, August 30th

Virginia Tech at East Carolina - 12:00 PM

Virginia Tech had problems with East Carolina last year, though there were obviously reasons why their mind might have been on other things last year.   East Carolina is hoping to build on last year, while Virginia Tech is hoping to establish early that they are the team to beat in the ACC.

Syracuse at Northwestern - 12:00 PM

Will Greg Robinson’s fate be determined in the first week of the season?

Utah at Michigan - 3:30 PM

Michigan learned from last year and won’t start off the season with a loss to a FCS team.  Instead, they may start the season with a loss to a non-BCS FBS team.  Michigan better lot look past Utah.

USC at Virginia - 3:30 PM

How good is Virginia?  They’ll have a very good measuring stick in USC.  If they can even just hang with USC, they may send a signal to the ACC that they’ll challenge for the conference title.

Delaware at Maryland - 3:45 PM

Delaware is going to have a Michigan Miracle of their own this year.  Remember, Delaware played Appalachian State in the FCS National Championship game last year.

Appalachian State at LSU - 5:00 PM

Speakign of Appalachian State, you better bet LSU won’t look past them, especially since ASU played them to a 24-0 in 2005, which is much better than many FBS or even fellow SEC teams.  Appalachian State actually outrushed LSU in that game.  Oh yeah, and that was before Armanti Edwards.

Now, I highly doubt that Appalachian State will be able to pull the shocker two years in a row, but it may certainly be an interesting game to watch.

Alabama at Clemson - 8:00 PM

This matchup is perhaps the highlight of the weekend, with both teams having high hopes for this year and definitly wanting to start the season off with a win.

Illinois at Missouri - 8:30 PM

However, a close competitor for best weekend matchup is this game.  This should give us a look to see whether either or both of these teams will be for real again this year.

Monday, September 1st

Fresno State at Rutgers - 4:00 PM

Both of these teams have some hopes this year.  Fresno State hopes to finally win the WAC again, after playing bridesmaid for several years, while Rutgers wants to show that last year was a fluke.

Tennessee at UCLA - 8:00 PM

Both of these teams hope try to show that they have more potential to win their conferences than President Bush (who will be giving his speech at the Republican Convention at the same time) has of having his getting McCain elected President.