College Football - Week 1

Saturday marks the beginning of the 2009 College Football Season. Now, as can be accurately said, I have four teams that I follow and root for religiously:
1 - The University of Arizona (my Alma Mater)
2 - The University of Notre Dame (the team of my childhood)
3 - Pennsylvania State University (it's a family thing)
4 - Any team playing against BYU (did you expect anything different?)

So, I'll give my breakdown of each of these team's games from a fan's perspective.

Central Michigan @ Arizona
Central Michigan is not to be overlooked. A Bowl-Bound team from last year and one of the MACs better programs, the Chippewas will be ready to pull an upset over a Pac-10 team. Their case is improved by Gronk being out indefinitely and a starting QB not being named yet. But, a strong returning receiving corps, mixed with a solid O-Line and a re-tooled defense will help UA overcome their few downside and defeat a good CMU at home.

The Wildcats give the home crowd something to cheer about and beat CMU.

Nevada @ Notre Dame
The video above is from a Notre Dame pep rally last season. The band is playing Celtic Chant, a personal favorite of mine. The only song better than that is the Notre Dame Victory March, a song I expect will be heard frequently in Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. A quarterback that is finally comfortable in Charlie Weis' offense, a receiving corps that is used to their quarterback, and a defense that is a year older and wiser. I'm optimistic for 9 Irish wins this year, and their first will come at the expense of Nevada.

The Irish will 'Rise and Strike', beating Nevada by at least 21

Akron @ Penn State
Really? Do I even have to say anything about this one? No, but I will anyway. Akron is the annual sacrificial lamb for Penn State. They'll get trounced, JoePa will come out in his khaki pants that are two inches too short and fire up the students who idolize their octogenarian coach, and the classically dressed Nittany Lions will make Akron look like the MAC team they are.

PSU mauling the 'Mighty Zips' of Akron.

BYU @ Oklahoma (at Dallas Cowboys Stadium)
Here are the advantages that BYU has in this game - It's not in Norman, It's...well, that's really the only advantage that BYU has in this game. OU is the better team, top to bottom (having a Heisman Trophy winner in your locker room helps). BYU isn't a bad team, but they're not OU. It makes one wonder why a decent program would take a game of this difficulty to start the new season, especially when one loss in the Mountain West (especially a non-conference loss) will keep you out of the BCS. But, for as much credit as I may give BYU, they'll see the Sooner Schooner and the Ruff Necks too many times on Saturday.

Oklahoma big in this one. Boomer Sooner!

Thus Sayeth Your Haus