southern cal......auburn really seems to be the "chic pick" for a national title run this year. no doubt the tigers are gonna be pretty freakin good with that backfield. but southern cal shouldnt miss a beat, even sans carson on offense and polamalu on defense. by no means am i saying those two will be easily replaced. they wont. but southern cal was and is really deep last year and this year. usc seems to have high expectations damn near every year, but this time its for good reason. i just think the points will be very vital in this game. it may not be wise to back a pac-10 team out east for their first weekend, but usc is one of the few pac-10 teams that are able to adapt and play sec-style football. another positive is that auburn will be running the ball at one of the premier defensive lines in the nation. usc lost some players to graduation in the secondary, but i dont see that as auburns strength and i dont think the tigers will exploit that. usc should get it done.
florida state......sometimes i basically throw all the numbers aside and simply back a coach to get it done in a certain spot. it worked very well when i backed "the ol' ball coach" at florida during the late 90's and up until he left for the nation's capital. and im gonna do it here with bobby. everyone is talking all kinds of sh1t about both the florida state program and bowden as "best years are behind him" coach. i really think florida state is gonna lay it to a rebuilding carolina team who has major holes on defense. the fsu offense is probably not gonna be a fine-tuned machine because they have to build some chemistry, but the fsu defense should really cause problems for the heels. while the defense last year wasnt a typical fsu-defense, they do return basically the entire unit intact (10 starters). really kind of an intuition play. betting on fsu to make a statement to virginia and nc state that the acc title still goes through tallahassee.
clemson......tigers really need a good win early on in the season (remember they were freakin pounded in the tangerine bowl last year) and theyre taking points from a georgia team that has a ton of issues to start the season. the bulldogs are laying points, but have myriad suspensions, a completely new offensive line, and just 3 offensive starters back. clemson's offense could move the ball against a georgia defense that is gonna be shorthanded in the secondary. tigers catching richt's boys at the right time in my opinion. clemson can score. whether or not theyll stop anyone remains to be seen, but with georgia having a lot of roster turnover, especially on offense, i think the tigers will pull the mini-upset.
western michigan.....for the last few years, both western michigan and miami have really represented the mac well in early season non-conference games vs. power conference opponents. and this year should be no different. wmu has a damn nice defense that returns a ton of guys and that alone is enough to make them a live dog vs a spartan team starting the smith era. wmu has played in hostile environments before and performed well. msu could really play inspired football for their new coach, but i still think its gonna take them a few weeks to get settled in, especially with the whole smoker thing still an issue. broncos should really play them tough.
