College Football Preview: Week 1

The College Football Preview will be an ongoing weekly series every Saturday morning (today being an exception), previewing the top games of the week and eligible players for the upcoming NFL draft.

Top Games

Sat. 7:45 pm ESPN/ESPN 3  – #24 Oregon State vs #6 TCU (Game played at Cowboys Stadium) – Speculation is running rampant about TCU this season, with many around the county thinking that they could be the first non-BCS conference school to make it to the National Championship.   TCU returns nine of its starters on offense, after losing some big names on the defensive side to last year’s NFL draft.  Meanwhile Oregon State looks to build off of last season’s success – a win against Oregon would have placed them in last season’s Rose Bowl – and with the Rodgers brothers (RB – Jacquizz and WR – James) the Beaver offense still has a ton of talent.

Sat. 8:00 pm ABC – #21 LSU vs # 18 North Carolina (Game played at Georgia Dome) – Former Browns head coach Butch Davis leads his #18th ranked Tar Heels, a team expected to compete for the ACC crown, into Georgia.  However the game will be a little more difficult than expected as a number of players will not make the trip, due to the continuing NCAA investigations against them.  LSU and coach Les Miles (also with ties to Northeast Ohio) look to improve upon the last few seasons and regain national prominence.

Mon. 8:00 pm ESPN/ESPN 3 – #3 Boise State vs #10 Virginia Tech (Game played at FedEx Field) – Everyone’s favorite Cinderella team, Boise State, travels across county to prove they are for real and deserving of a #3 ranking.  This season will also be Boise State’s swan song in the WAC, as they are moving to the Mountain West next season.  While Boise State returns a number of starters on the offensive side of the ball, Virginia Tech returns only four on their defense, which has been their calling card in recent years.  However, the Tech offense will be aided by RB’s Ryan Williams and Darren Evans (each of whom have set the ACC freshman yardage record the past two seasons).

Top Players

Hey, it’s way too early to look into this.  All kidding aside, with the exception of these games a lot of teams played a fluff Week 1 schedule and that’s not a very good way to assess talent.  This portion will be in full swing next week, rest assured.

All that being said, football is back, so enjoy it!