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It's been an unbelievable three years for USC but now they are back at the top of the polls to start the season and arguably have the best starting 22 in the entire country. While this game shouldn't be close there are a couple of interesting storylines as new Hawaii HC Chow was the OC at USC from ‘01-’04 and these two met in Lane Kiffin’s 1st game in ‘10. USC was very thin and beat up and did not tackle in practice the last two weeks of August in ‘10 and it showed as they never trailed but couldn’t shake UH till a td mid-4Q in the 49-36 win on the Islands. UH is 0-7 vs USC, with an avg loss by 35 ppg as the Trojans have avg’d 59 ppg the L/4 meetings. USC does have a trip to the East coast next week and then a revenge game vs Stanford. However UH has just 10 returning st’rs and is changing up its offense from the run and shoot to more of a pro style attack so it will be a learning process with a new QB and young O-line. Coming off two yrs of probation, the Trojans will want to make a statement here to open their season and do so.

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Without a doubt, the marquee game of the opening weekend. This will be the first regular season game between the two teams as the prior 3 have all come in bowls. UM won the L/gm (‘99 Orange Bowl) 35-34 as Bama missed an xp in OT. Bama did not face a dual threat QB like Denard Robinson LY and has just 5 returning st’rs from the best defense in college football. With that being said there is still no one better than the Saban/Smart combo in the country on the D side and the Tide still have my #3 rated D. UM is a veteran team with 13 returning st’rs and will have RB Toussaint for this one. The biggest matchup edge is Bama’s #1 rated OL vs a rebuilt UM DL with 1 returning st’r and on the other side Saban has raved about his DL depth all Fall camp long. UM only faced two ranked tms away from home LY and was outgained 710-434 in those but got a fortunate win in the bowl vs #17 Virginia Tech. They have faced just 2 Top 10 tms the last 3 yrs and lost those gms by a combined 85-35! While UM QB Denard is dangerous, vet Bama QB McCarron is much improved in his 2nd year as the starter and will have more than enough weapons around him (my #9 off) to secure an impressive opening win here.

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Unlike LY The defending SEC Champs Tigers start off the season with a lay-up and will want to get the bad taste of the Nat'l Title game out of their mouths. LSU is 4-0 vs NT with an avg win by 46 ppg (+278 ypg) and NT has been held without a td the L/3 being outscored 149-6. One of the key mismatches is new LSU QB Mettenberger vs a North Texas secondary that lost seven of its top 8 players from LY. While the Tigers recently lost their AA CB/PR Mathieu for the ssn, LSU can name the score and will want new QB Mettenberger to gain as much confidence as he can heading into the year with a big game vs Washington on deck

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UTEP should be fired up for this one as OU is just 5th BCS tm (reg ssn) to visit El Paso. UTEP is 0-4 w/an avg loss by 17 ppg in those games. UTEP is 0-2 vs OU (L/gm 68-0 shutout in ‘02) Sooners are 3-0 in Sun Bowls (beat Stanford 31-27 in ‘09) but this is 1st regular season gm in El Paso. UTEP was 5-7 LY and has 13 st’rs back incl QB Lamaison who is one of the best in CUSA. UTEP has a brutal schedule this year and is a stronger team than what most have forecasted. Schedule edge goes to the Sooners who only have Fla A&M and a bye on deck and will want to get their young receivers a lot of work and QB Jones will want to get off to a fast start after finishing last season horribly.

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Two offensive gurus as HC's square off as this game could set a record for amount of plays in a game as both HC’s pride themselves in getting the plays off as quick as possible. Oregon has gone 18-1 in home openers (only loss vs Indiana in ‘04) w/7 str wins by 36 ppg. ASU has a veteran QB in Aplin but just 10 returning st’rs incl just 4 on D (my #92 unit). UO will be anxious to get Mariotta some confidence and UO has avg 66.5 ppg in Sept HG’s the last 2 yrs (4 gms, closest win 49 pts). The Ducks who are a legitimate Top 5 team despite the inexperience (best D under Kelly) roll up another huge non-conf margin here as my computer projects 600+ yards for UO!

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Georgia enters the season with high expectations once again and it will be interesting to see how they handle them just one year after HC Richt was on the hot seat after a 6-7 2010 campaign and a 0-2 start to LY. UGA has won 29 str HG’s by 30 ppg vs non-conf/BCS schools (last loss in the ‘97 opener hosting SM). The Bulldogs are without 4 susp’d players and have a big SEC gm next week with their first road trip to Missouri. On the other side, Buffalo does have 15 returning st’rs and only has Morgan St and a bye on deck but are will be playing without the heart and soul on their D in LB Mack. With a veteran QB the Dawgs will give some playing time to the bkps and expect to see a lot of true frosh in this one incl RB Marshall (PS#2) and OL Theus (PS#3) as UGA rolls.

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My favorite team this year (my pick to win the Nat'l Title) the Florida St Seminoles open up their season with two FCS foes and should get off to a resounding start to the season as they will want to get the FSU offense some confidence going forward. The Racers just missed the FCS playoffs last year going 7-4 including an opening 21-9 loss to instate Louisville, despite a 19-16 FD edge. They return 13 starters including 6 for their “Hatch Attack” offense that averaged 309 pass ypg last year led by 1st tm OVC QB Casey Brockman. This will also be the debut of Ohio St transfer RB Jaamal Berry (PS#7). Still my numbers show FSU, with my #1 ranked D battening the “Hatches” and controlling the game easily.

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This is arguably the biggest home game for Vanderbilt since ESPN College GameDay was there for the Auburn game in 2008 (Vandy won 14-13) and their biggest home opener since hosting ND in '96 (only lost 14-7). VU is 4-17 all-time vs SC but is 2-3 the L5Y. VU had upsets in ‘07 and ‘08 and only lost by 4 in ‘09 but has dropped the last two 21-7 in ‘10 at home and 21-3 on the road. LY South Carolina QB Garcia threw 4 int’s keeping Vandy in the gm and Lattimore was held to under 100 yds rushing but SC dominated with a 367-77 yd edge and 17-5 FD edge. It was the fewest yds SC had given up in a gm s/’87. This year I expect much better QB play from SCar all season long and if he is indeed 100% healthy coming off the knee inj, RB Lattimore should get 25-30 carries in this one. LY Vandy caught a lot of teams “C” gms but SC will be prepared (only EC, UAB on deck) and should get a key SEC road win to start the season in front of an unusual 'hostile' Vandy crowd.

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The Hogs will be anxious to get the season started off on the right foot after an off-season filled with distractions. Their opponent, however is no stranger to facing BCS foes. In 2009 the Gamecocks only lost to Florida St 19-9, in 2010 they upset Mississippi 49-48 in 2 OT which helped them get as high as #2 in the FCS polls in 2010. Last year Kentucky did not look past them and beat JSU 38-14. This year the Gamecocks only return 11 starters including just 4 on defense but do add Clemson transfer CB Desmond Brown (PS#113). They also get back 2010 starting QB Marques Ivory (PS#144), who led the upset of Ole Miss in ‘10, but was lost for the season in the opener last year with a broken ankle. JSU comes into the season ranked #22 in the FCS knowing that another strong performance could move them up in the rankings. With that being said Arkansas welcomes back RB Davis after sitting out LY and also has the SEC's best QB in Wilson which should allow them to name the score here.

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Expectations are high in Morgantown after year one under Holgorsen saw the Mountaineers grab their 3rd BCS bowl win in six years. WV has won all 7 recent meetings in this series. LY there were 4 hrs and 22 min worth of rain delays and the gm was called with 14:36 left. In the 3Q MU settled for a 21 yd FG after a 1st&gl at the 3 to trail 20-13 but WV got a 100 yd KR td and added another td with 14:36 left on what turned out to be the final play. WV has had an entire offssn of extra work and have Heisman contender QB Smith back. Marshall has 13 ret st’rs and only has an FCS foe on deck while WV has a bye. The Mountaineers clearly have the edges all around but the Herd acquired 4 BCS trans TY incl 3 in the secondary and may match up better vs WV's attack than what many expect. With that being said, I still expect WVU to make it 8 straight in the Friends of Coal Bowl.

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The Badgers are off B2B Rose Bowl trips and are one of the favorites again with OSU/PSU not eligible to play for the B10 title in the Leaders division. Their opponent, the Panthers are no stranger to FBS opponents as they have played at least one every year since 1985. They upset Iowa St 24-13 in 2007 and came up 1 pt short vs #22 Iowa in 2009 and Iowa St last year in a game they had a 385-328 yd edge. This year UNI comes in ranked #9 in the FCS as they are a perennial top caliber team but this year do have just 10 returning starters and will likely not be as keyed up for an out of state opponent. Wisky got a scare from Cal Poly in 2008 surviving with a 1 pt win. Since then they have held nothing back outscoring their 3 FCS opponents since by a combined 173-27. Look for Wisconsin’s trend to continue as HC Bielema should have no problem convincing his team not to look passed a Top 10 FCS team.

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Outside of the Bama/Mich game this is the only other matchup in Week one involving both tms being ranked in the Top 25. Boise St is 8-1 S/’06 vs BCS schools (only loss at Wash in ‘07). Boise is one of the least exp’d tms in the NCAA with just 7 st’rs back replacing 6 NFL DC’s and of course QB Kellen Moore. MSU does have a top-notch RB corps and O-line vs a def front 7 that returns 0 st’rs. I think MSU QB Maxwell will be better than what most people think replacing 3-year st'r Cousins and this Boise tm is clearly not in the same class as the past teams of the last four years. MSU has one of the best D’s in the country with front line players at each level and will take advantage of an inexp’d Boise squad.

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With all the hype surrounding UM/Bama, this game is getting a bit overlooked nationally but still remains one of the top games of the opening weekend. Both teams come in with key players suspended as Aub is w/out LY's Frosh AA Ct'r Dismukes while CU is w/out the nation's most exciting WR in Watkins. These two met here in the 2007 Chick-fil-A bowl and Aub won in OT, 23-20. LY’s loss to Clemson snapped a 14 gm series win streak for Auburn and also the nation’s best 17 straight wins. AU led 21-7 late 2Q but all’d 4 str td drives & never recovered. Aub has a slight edge on D but CU has the offensive edge. CU does have other exp’d skill position ply’rs in QB Boyd and RB Ellington and WR Hopkins was the most impressive player on the team in spg. CU has the more exp’d QB as Auburn's Frazier will be making his first career start and AU’s D did yield over 400 ypg LY. The susp of Watkins makes this gm a toss-up so I will go with the SEC "Tigers to take this one!

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The Longhorns are my #1 Surprise team in the country (darkhorse Nat'l title contender) and are much improved compared to the last two seasons. UT has won 12 str home openers by 40 ppg and only has New Mexico on deck. WY HC Christensen has done a good job in Laramie guiding the Pokes to 2 Bowl games and has 12 returning st’rs incl QB Smith. Despite the fact both tms were 8-5 LY Texas has a top 10 offense and defense while WY is among the bottom 1/3 in both categories. TX HC Mack Brown used to destroy non-conf non-BCS foes here and I look for the young Horns to gain confidence and swagger here.

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This game is one of only five games in week one that involve conference foes. VT has the large edge of having all August to work on preparing for the GT option and we know how GT does vs quality D’s in bowls against teams with extra time to prep (avg 12.8 ppg). Two years ago GT led 14-0 and did not trail till 6:34 left. GT tied the gm at 21 but allowed a 90 yd KR td. With their bkp QB Washington, GT drove to the VT16 but was int’d in the end zone w/:08 left. LY VT trailed 26-21 late 3Q but ended the gm scoring 16 unanswered as they limited GT to just 1 yd their final 3 drives. GT has avg’d 294 rush ypg vs Bud Foster’s D L/4 yrs and VT returns just 3 st'rs on offense this year. However, one of those st'rs is potential NFL #1DC QB Logan Thomas and the Hokies always seem to plug in a RB that can produce. Playing at home and with extra prep, the Hokies grab a key ACC win.

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The last time these two met was in 2004 and SMiss pulled the upset 21-17. SM was outFD’d 26-11 & outgained 476-239 but converted 5 NU TO’s into 18 pts. NU is 18-0 in home openers and keep in mind SMiss has just 10 returning st’rs and a new HC. NU has 14 returning st’rs and has an exp’d QB in Martinez while SM’s young QB is making his first road start and it is in front of 80,000 plus. NU takes care of business at home.

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The Urban Meyer era begins and they will be fired up for his home opener where OSU is 19-0. MU is 0-4 vs OSU incl a 34-14 loss in the L/gm (‘05). OSU has not lost to an instate rival since 1921 but LY they only beat Toledo 27-22. Both teams are among the Most Improved in the NCAA this year. LY Miami played two BCS tms on the road and only lost to #21 Missouri by 11 and to Minny by 6. However, this Buckeye team: while they can’t play for a B10 Title or bowl gm TY, has plenty to play for and will want to make a statement that LY’s losing record (first s/’88) was an aberration.

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OSU HC Mike Gundy has done a tremendous job here coming off the best two seasons in school history. While the Cowboys go from an exp'd 28-year old st'g QB in Weeden to a 18-yr true frosh QB in Lunt, keep in mind the last time the OSU had to replace so much exp on offense they went 11-2 ('10). After never playing an FBS foe before the Tigers start off in grand fashion with 2 this year as they also play Florida St next week. In the past 12 years the Tigers have gone over 2 wins just twice going 3-8 in 2006 and 5-7 in 2008 with their last winning season being in 1998 (7-4). Last year Savannah St went just 1-10 being outscored by an avg 40-13 and this year return just 11 starters. If you check our FCS Power Poll you will see that Savannah St is #121 out of 122 FCS teams. For the Tigers this game is about the check they will pick up, while for OSU this is about a warm up win as they look to be able to name their own score here as my computer projects massive edges all around.

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Stanford loses QB Luck and 2 AA OL’s and while they will still be solid they are clearly down a few notches. Stanford has won 8 of the last 9 meetings as this rivalry was closer in the 90s. LY's game was a misleading final, as at the half the FD’s were close and Stanford only had 182-162 yd edge. However, on the scoreboard they led 27-3 and just wore SJSt out in the 2H. The Spartans did hold Stanford to their lowest offensive yds the entire year (373) but lost 57-3 in SU’s 2nd highest scoring gm of the yr. SJSt is an improved tm in MacIntyre’s 3rd yr but does have just 11 ret st’rs. In the first game of the Nunes era, the Cardinal should get off to a solid start.

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LY Miracle Man of Manhattan HC Snyder (my coach of the year) did it again as the Wildcats won 10 games including an incredible six games as an underdog. This year expectations are high with 14 returning st'rs incl QB Klein but the sked is much tougher. Their opp, the Bears are no stranger to FBS opponents as they have played at least one every year since 1990. After a respectable 48-24 loss to this same Kansas St in 2010 in which they were only outgained 496-447, last year they were outscored by a combined 107-14 in games vs Oregon and Arkansas being outgained by a combined 1147-462. The Bears return 14 starters and get the addition of Missouri transfer QB Ashton Glaser (PS#81) and should be more competitive than last year but stand no chance in this one.

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The Gators are my surprise pick to win the SEC East this year and have one of the best D's in the country with 10 ret'g st'rs. On the offensive side they have a new OC this year (3rd str yr) and will play both QB's in the opener. BG has pulled some big surprises in road openers knocking off Missouri, Minn, #16 Purdue and #25 Pitt in the last 11 yrs. The Gators have won 22 str Swamp openers by an avg score 48-12. Both teams are among the most improved in the country. LY Muschamp won his Sept non-conf gms by a comb 80-3 but they do have Texas A&M and Tenn in the next 2 weeks so figure to spent a lot of August preparing for those crucial SEC gms. The key may be that Florida needs to get its young QB’s full of confidence for that upcoming 2 gm road trip so they will score. The Gators have a deep defense in the heat of Florida and with talented backups may try for the shutout.

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Earlier this week it was reported that a KY Radio Station said that I predicted KY to win this game and it has amazed me the amount of coverage that this "false" report has received on social media. I think the amount of coverage plays into the fact that while it is not nationally known, this is indeed a big rivalry game that has been close as of late with five of the last 7 meetings being decided by a TD or less. Another interesting stat is the team that has rushed for the most yds has won the Governor’s Cup 16 straight times! LY UK was at home and had a 220-178 yd edge at the half but trailed 14-10. UL got a TD to lead 24-10 but UK got a td with 4:56 left to make it 24-17 and then drove to the UL18 but failed on 4&6 with :51 left. Both HC's know each other well as they both coached under Lou Holtz and they have split their two meetings (KY has won 4 of last 5 in series). Louisville is getting a lot of love this offseason as they are the BE favorite while UK HC Phillips is on the hotseat as his Wildcat squad was picked last in the SEC East. I think KY will keep it close but Louisville thanks to sensational soph QB Bridgewater makes a key play late and the Cards win by a TD for the second season in a row!