This is something that I began working on about two weeks ago and never got to finish, for several reasons. I know it’s a week or so late now, but I’m going with it anyway. Here are my thoughts on college football at mid-season.

Best Player: Cam Newton, Auburn

This could be several players, including LaMichael James, who has been spectacular at Oregon this year, but Newton gets the nod because he has been so consistent and has looked good against a good schedule. Last week Auburn played LSU, who had the 3rd ranked defense in the nation going into the game. The result? Newton completed 60% of his passes and ran for over 200 yards with 2 TDs. Newton’s agility is ridiculous for his size – it’s like a thicker version of Vince Young. The expectations were high for Newton coming in to the season, and he has more than delivered.

Best Team: Oregon

I’m biased on this one because I picked Oregon to win the national championship before the season started, so I’m giving them the nod as best team over the first half of the year. They haven’t exactly played a rigorous schedule, but the only team to really challenge them ended up losing by 21. Many college football analysts are calling for Oregon to lose to USC this week, but up until this point, they have been the best team this year.

Best Coach:  Jim Harbaugh, Stanford

The job Harbaugh has done this year at Stanford is truly impressive. Many picked the Cardinal as a fringe top-25 team, but the Cardinal have improved tremendously on the defensive side of the ball to field a better overall team than last season. Granted, it helps to have Andrew Luck at QB, but Harbaugh has completely changed the culture at Stanford. They’re tough, confident, and mean. And as long as Harbaugh stays in Palo Alto, the Cardinal will be a national player.

Surprise Team: Utah

Stanford, Oklahoma State, and Michigan State all deserve a look here, but Utah gets the nod. The Utes were expected to be good this year, but this good? Kyle Whittingham deserves some serious credit for how good this team is. The offensive play-calling is spectacular – they don’t divulge tendencies at all. You never know what’s coming. The defense is solid as always. After seeing this display, I’m beginning to wonder if the Utes should walk in the door and be Pac-12 favorites along with Oregon. Truly impressive. The schedule has been weak, but their average score so far this year is 48 – 13. Wow. The schedule gets much tougher down the stretch, but the Utes look very capable of going unbeaten.

Biggest disappointment (team): Texas

I called Texas one of the more overrated teams in the country coming into the year, but I didn’t expect this. Losing to UCLA and Iowa State at home? I never would have guessed. Mack Brown is a great coach and Texas will bounce back next season, but this year has been a real downer. It reminds me of North Carolina’s hoops team last year – tons of talent, but no cohesion. Texas is the only reason that Florida didn’t get this spot.

Surprise player: Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State

This could go to many players, including Taylor Martinez or Denard Robinson, but Blackmon has been unreal. He is putting up numbers that may end up rivaling what Michael Crabtree did at Texas Tech. Last week Blackmon went up against Prince Amukamara, one of the best CBs in the nation, and Blackmon torched him for 157 yards and 2 TDs. He already has over 1,100 yards receiving this year, with 14 TD catches to go along with it.

Disappointing player: Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh

This one isn’t even close. Lewis ran for 1,799 yards last year and was expected to be one of the five best RBs in the nation. Well, to put it mildly, he has pretty much sucked this year. Through 7 games this season, Lewis has 414 yards. He averaged 138 yards a game last year. This year he has averaged 59. Way to follow up a breakout year, Dion. He finally had 100+ yards in a game last week for the first time this season. Maybe he’ll finish strong, but  his performance in the first half was pathetic.

I'm so giddy right now.  I'm less than 24 hours away from real NBA basketball returning.  It's been a long, painful off-season trying to deal with the Celtics' loss to the hated Lakers, but finally, like a healing poultice, the NBA regular season arrives to soothe my ills and give me hope for the future. Luckily for me, 39 or so of the Celtics' games are being put on National TV, as for the first time in a few years I will not be able to afford the NBA League Pass.  Sending gold in envelopes isn't as lucrative as the infomercials on TV would have you believe.  Alas, such is life.

I don't usually do a lot of sports prognostication, but one sport where I make the occasional exception is the NBA.  Maybe I'm pompous, but I feel like I have the best grasp on the NBA of all the major sports and feel I understand the game to a point I won't make too big a fool of myself.  Without further ado, here are my 8 predictions for the upcoming NBA season.  I offer 3 bigger opinions, and 5 that only need a few words of explanation, if any.  Why did I choose 8?  That used to be the number of a player in my predictions, 'till he douched it up and changed his number. 

1.  The Miami Heat will win the NBA Championship.I don't like it.  In fact, it's kind of depressing, but the fact that the Heat paired 2 of the best 4 players in the league on the same team is makes for a scary, scary proposition for the rest of the league.  Everyone has to be aware of the fact that LeBron James carried horrible, horrible rosters to 60 win seasons, right?  The second best player on those Cavs teams was Mo Williams, who isn't even a top 10, maybe Top 15 point guard.  This is basically what he's traded:  Mo Williams for Mario Chalmers, which is a clear downgrade.  Dwayne Wade for Jamario Moon and Delonte West.  Himself for himself.  Chris Bosh for Antawn Jamison.  And I don't even know/care to look for who the Cavs and Heat Centers are.  They both sucked.  I'm not saying it will be easy.  They are weak where the Celtics and Magic are strong (PG and C), but I just don't know how you can stop Wade and Lebron from going wild on you.  The Lakers will be a challenge as well.  I just feel that unfortunately, the Heat are going to be downright unstoppable when the playoffs roll around.

2. LeBron James will win the MVP. Write it down, take a picture, I don't give a .....  Keep jumping on the Kevin Durant bandwagon people, but it won't matter in the end.  People are saying that LeBron is going to be a sidekick to Wade.  I'll believe that when I see it.  Who's going to take the big shots?  LeBron, I'm guessing, or he'll create open looks for Wade, Bosh, and Mike Miller when he returns from injury. If I were the coach, I'd play LeBron at point forward.  I think he has a great chance to average double digit assists with this lineup.  The only worry is that the media has branded LeBron and may keep him from the MVP because of LeDecision.  That would be a travesty, but I wouldn't be surprised given the idiotic nature of most sports writers.  You'll see:  LeBron James will be the best player on the best team and will once again show he is the best player of this generation hands down.  And I don't like it.

3.  The Utah Jazz will finish 2nd in the Western Conference.  Take your Oklahoma City, take your Mavs.  I don't care.  The Jazz have improved by subtraction.  As good as Boozer was, Al Jefferson will be that much better.  I see a 22-11 in his future.  The Jazz have revamped their lineup ever so subtly and what was already a good team is now on the verge of becoming a great one.  Deron Williams leads the way again and has hopefully improved ever so incrementally.  Raja Bell and CJ Miles will battle for minutes at the two, Andrei Kirilenko and rookie Gordon Hewyard will play at the 3, and Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, and Mehmet Okur should play the majority of the minutes at the 4 and 5 spots.  Add in a much improved situation at backup point guard, swapping Earl Watson for Ronnie Price, who becomes the team's third point guard, and a hopefully improved, more focused Kyrylo Fesenko, and the Jazz can play big, small, quick, any style you really need.  I'm excited to see these guys play.

4.  Blake Griffin will be the Rookie of the Year. John Wall is impressive, but Griffin's an absolute beast.

5. Jerry Sloan will be Coach of the Year. Finally.  The best part?  He won't give a damn.

6. The New York Knicks will make the playoffs. They may be an 8 seed, but I see a vast improvement in their hustle and grit.  Amar'e may have a huge year.   Oh, and my next prediction add to my belief:

7.  Carmelo Anthony will be a Knick by mid-season.  I just don't see this working out any other way.  PS, Anthony deserved his spot on Chase's All Pussy Team and will continue to do so for the rest of his life/career. 

8. Most sane people will continue to hate Kobe Bryant as a person:  Daneil Tosh sums it up nicely:

I love the Celtics.  I love them with a throbbing, beating passion that pulsates throughout my entire body.  I love them so much I'm pretty sure I could be diagnosed with a mental illness.  I would trade in half of my in-laws for season tickets to the Celtics. Okay, maybe not that much, but you get the point.  I love the Celtics! I got to thinking about my intense fondness for the Celtics recently when the NFL season got under way.  I have always been a Chicago Bears fan and have followed the team through thick and thin for roughly 20 years.  When I play Tecmo Super Bowl I have been known to go weeks at a time pounding the ball to Neal Anderson, breaking the spirit of the CPU little by little until they start cheating to keep my rushing stats down.  But I digress.  I really like the Bears, but I have to admit that my passion for them is only a fraction of what I feel for the Celtics.  Additionally, it should be noted that although I am currently working out a divorce with Baseball (baseball's getting custody of the kids), I am also a New York Mets fan.  My brother Jim instilled in me a love of these teams when I was 7 or 8 and I haven't left them since, despite the fact that I have no real reason to be a fan of these teams as I live in Utah.

Anyway, when the NFL season started I was thinking about how much I would enjoy it if the Bears won the Super Bowl.  I think I would relish it quite a bit.  But then I thought about the bitter taste that still resides in my mouth from the Celtic's narrow defeat at the hands of the hated Lakers last season.  And then I remembered how much I enjoyed the 2008 NBA Championship when the Celtics throttled the Lakers.  I mean come on, Paul Pierce gave Doc Rivers a Gatorade Shower on the parquet floor!  That has never happened in Basketball because it is ridiculous AND dangerous, but I loved every minute of it.  All of this got me thinking about what I would give to have one more Celtics title.  Just one.  How much would that be worth in terms of Bears' Super Bowl victories or Mets' World Series titles?

In other words, I want to quantify just how much more the Celtics mean to me than my other favorite teams.  So, how many Super Bowls would be worth 1 more NBA title?  I'd have to say 4.  If I knew the Bears would win 4 more titles in my lifetime, I would trade those for 1 Celtics title.   I figure at my current weight I've got 30 more years on earth, tops.  That would be a Bears title every 7.5 years.  I think that would be worth it, although it would be tough to know that the Celtics would not get another title.  Hold on. Now that I think about it, I've got to up the total to 6.  I already went 20+ years without a Celtics title and it wasn't easy.  The Dino Raja years weren't easy.  The 2007 season was not easy.  Not when the Celtics broke the consecutive losses record.  Did that keep me from watching every game over dial-up internet at 1 in the morning when they would replay the games on NBA League Pass On-Line?  No.  I suffered through every Sebastian Telfair brick and turnover.  That being said, 6 Super Bowls in 30 years would be pretty cool.

Now, as far as the Mets are concerned, I'd say 14 World Series titles or 10 consecutive Championships.  Over the last 5 years I just kind of fell out of love with Baseball, but that may be because the Mets are so damned awful.  I'd have to say that if the Mets won 10 in a row or 14 in 30 years, that would get me back.  It would have to, wouldn't it?  I posed this question to my brother Jim and he said he'd allow the Little League World Series Champions from this year to fill out the Mets' roster over the next 10 years for 1 Celtics title.  They would go 0-162 for at least 9 of those years, don't you think?  Maybe all 10.  13 year-olds simply cannot handle 95 mile-per-hour cheese.  Jim would rather see the Mets go 0-1620 over the next 10 years than have the Celtics not get one Championship.  Now that's devotion.  That's love.  I would love to see the 15 of you who still follow this blog tell me what titles you would trade of your favorite teams in the comment section.

Luckily, I won't ever have to make these trade-offs.  The Celtics will win the NBA Championship this year, and the Bears and Mets will probably never win it again.  Bring on the hoops season, baby.

Well, September is gone and we’re about to begin October with a huge weekend of college football. This week we have Florida-Bama, the Red River Shootout, and Oregon-Stanford. The national title picture will become clearer this week. Here is the AP top ten, with some thoughts about each team:

1. Alabama. Mark Ingram is the ish – no question. He is the best running back in college football bar none. He looks bigger, faster, stronger, and more decisive this year. I hope that the Heisman voters don’t rule him out automatically because he missed two games. If his performance stays at this level he deserves serious consideration as a repeat winner. The Tide squeaked out a win at Arkansas this week. The main reason to think Bama is vulnerable is their lack of pass rush. What happened? I thought Dareus was supposed to be amazing. Nick Saban’s teams are always great defensively, so I assume it won’t stay this way, but so far Alabama has only four sacks in four games. Amazing. They better find ways to pressure the QB if they want to repeat. This week’s matchup against Florida will tell us a ton about the national title picture. Good thing for Bama that Florida doesn’t have a great QB or that lack of pass rush could catch up to the Tide this week. Next: vs. 7. Florida.

2. The Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor actually does seem to be putting it all together. People have been saying he would do that for the past few years, but the ultra-talented signal caller is really showing what he can do this season. His passing has improved greatly, particularly on passes of 15+ yards. He is slinging the ball well on deep routes. The weird thing is that he looks like he’s doing it at half speed all the time. He outruns everyone when it looks like he’s jogging. Pryor had 6 TDs on Saturday, four passing, one rushing, and one receiving. Pryor is looking dominant this year, which means that we may see the Buckeyes in another BCS Title game. Next: at Illinois.

3. Boise State. Well, they did it again. Boise once again played a very good BCS opponent and won handily. Boise made several mistakes in the game and still won pretty convincingly. They held Quizz Rodgers to 46 yards rushing. They held James Rodgers to 11 yards receiving. Boise is the real deal, and they look to be in the national title conversation all year long. What interests me is what happens if Boise and Oregon go unbeaten, but Ohio State or Bama loses a game? Who gets into the title game: a one loss Ohio State, an undefeated Boise State, or an undefeated Oregon? Surely Boise fans will pull the “we beat Oregon last year” card, but will people care? Will they believe it? Anyway, I’m hoping for that to happen. Of course, Oregon might not get out of this week undefeated anyway.  Next: at New Mexico State.

4. Oregon. Oregon’s offense put up 42 points against an Arizona State defense that was among the best in the Pac-10 last year. The running game wasn’t as strong as it’s been so far this year, but they showed they can do it through the air as well, as Darron Thomas put up 250+ yards. Now the Ducks have a chance to make a statement (and get revenge) by beating a very good Stanford team this weekend in Autzen. Next. vs. 9. Stanford.

5. TCU. I love TCU. Other than Oregon, there isn’t a team in college football I would rather watch play. Andy Dalton is becoming a star (or he should be, at least - I still don't know how many people give him enough credit). The Frogs have athletes all over the field and could probably hang with anyone in the country. Their coach is turning into a bit of a BI, but what can you do? I just hope that if TCU and Boise both go unbeaten they won't end up playing each other again. A rubber match would be fun, but let's see if they can hand out more punishment to the AQ teams. Utah is probably the only team that will challenge TCU the rest of the regular season.  Next: at Colorado State.

6. Nebraska. Along with Oklahoma, Nebraska has baffled me so far this season. Taylor Martinez has proven to be a great runner at QB, but can he throw? Not if you judge by his 6-for-14 and 2 INTs effort against North Dakota State (good to see the Huskers testing themselves against a powerhouse like NDSU). The defense will keep them in games no matter what, but I still am not on the Nebraska-as-a-title-contender bandwagon. To me, being ranked at 6 is too high. Next: at Kansas State, Oct. 7.

7. Florida. Florida was one of my preseason picks to play in the national title game. Most of what I’ve seen so far has led me to feel pretty crappy about that pick. The defense is strong, as always, but the offense is still searching for some identity. It seems like the Gators are reverting back to a Chris Leak-Tim Tebow type of situation with John Brantley and Trey Burton this year. Burton played the Tebow role phenomenally well last Saturday, scoring 6 TDs. But can the Gators do it against Bama? The Florida D is one of the few that can probably slow down Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson somewhat, but can the Florida offense do enough to get a win? If they can pull it off, I'll be feeling really good about my preseason picks. Next: at 1. Alabama.

8. Oklahoma. What do we make of Oklahoma? They’ve destroyed the best team they’ve played (Florida State) and squeaked by the other three teams they’ve played (Cincy, Utah State, and Air Force). Which team shows up against Texas? The Horns have won four of five against the Sooners, but it looks like Oklahoma has the more talented team this year. Of course, they did last year too and Texas won. I expect this one to come down to Landry Jones not turning the ball over. Texas has a great secondary, so Jones’s precision passing could make the difference in this game. Good news for Oklahoma: The Texas offense is weak. Next: vs. 21. Texas.

9. Stanford. The Cardinal have been a huge surprise to me. Maybe Jim Harbaugh really is this good as a head coach? Stanford has looked tremendous so far, particularly the defense. Everyone knew Andrew Luck was going to have a big year, but the defense shutting out UCLA and keeping Notre Dame to 14 has been impressive. I keep wondering if they can keep this up. Can this defense stop Oregon this week? Last year Stanford beat the Ducks 51-42. I don’t expect Stanford to hang 51 on Oregon this year, but the way the Cardinal defense look so far, I don’t know that Oregon will hang 42 either. Next: at 4. Oregon.

10. Auburn. Auburn QB Cam Newton is living up to the hype and then some. I bet Ubran Meyer is wishing Newton was still wearing a Florida uniform right about now. Newton is one of the best dual-threat QBs in the country, right up there with Denard Robinson and Terrelle Pryor. The Auburn defense doesn’t appear to be as stout as is customary, but they may be good enough to allow this offense to keep getting enough wins to stay highly ranked. Next: vs. Louisiana-Monroe.

First of all, I need to state that I am not a Reggie Bush fan or hater. I enjoyed watching him play at USC, where he dominated college football as much as anyone I've ever seen play. Reggie "gave back" his 2005 Heisman trophy last week because he was "not in compliance" with NCAA regulations during that season. Bush gave the trophy back because it likely would have been taken away from him anyway.

This entire thing is unprecedented in college football. The NCAA has dropped the hammer before, taking away victories from Florida State's football program and final four appearances from Michigan and UMass in basketball. I appreciate that the NCAA tries to hold people accountable for things, and having some way to punish Reggie for his dishonesty is nice, but the current USC players had nothing to do with this crap and they won't get the opportunity to play in a bowl game for two years because of what Bush did. So I can see that taking away Bush's trophy would be a punishment fit for the crime, but here is the NCAA trying to hold Bush to a standard of honesty and integrity that is just ridiculous.

Seriously, where does the NCAA get off drawing a line in sports? I've been wondering about this kind of thing ever since steroids have taken over baseball. Should we now take away Roger Clemens's Cy Young awards because he took roids? How about Barry Bonds having to give back his MVP awards? Maybe Andre Agassi should forfeit his grand slam titles because he admitted to being deceitful on ATP administered drug tests. All of these actions would be ridiculous because they include responsibility and accountability. I'm tired of both of those things.

The more I follow sports the more I'm beginning to learn that cheating is synonymous with winning. I mean, really, why does anyone even fight it anymore? Let's just allow athletes to use drugs, pop steroids, take benefits from boosters, and use blood doping to gain an advantage. Not to mention, banging at least a dozen women behind your wife's back while you're dominating your sport. Yet we continue to attempt to put these atheletes on a moral pedestal. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Kobe Bryant cheated on their wives. Pete Rose bet on baseball. A-Rod and Barry Bonds used steroids and have hit hundreds of home runs. Mike Vick arranged dog fights. Oh, but Reggie Bush drove a nice car while in college. Integrity is no longer a part of sports and we, collectively, need to get over it.

Bush should not have given back his Heisman trophy, nor should it have been taken away from him. We're all getting used to a time and culture where athletes break rules, so why bother to try and regulate things like this anymore? Let's grow with the times. If you're going to demand that Reggie give back his Heisman for driving a car that will help him have a better opportunity to be like Tiger, why not have OJ Simpson return his trophy for, you know, killing someone? Or is it because the Juice at least had the decency to wait until he was no longer a student at USC before he started murdering people?

Let Reggie keep his trophy. He earned it on the field. Quit pretending that he committed some unpardonable sin that means his accomplishments on the field are null and void. As a whole, we don't care what people do off the field or court because athletes never meet our expectations there. Let's stop punishing them for failing to live up to our inflated ideas of them being honest, decent, and upright people. Where do we get off expecting such things anyway? Let Reggie keep his trophy and the Escalade that he can now buy with his own money.

First off, I am a graduate of the University of Utah.  I've been a Utah fan my whole conscious life.  That being said, I have no hatred for BYU.  I don't refer to them as the Team Down South, or TDS, or cheer when they lose or anything like that, not that there is anything wrong with that.  That kind of action makes the rivalry more fun.  Now, I clearly want Utah to beat BYU and beat them into the bleeding ground every time they play, but overall, I like BYU and cheer for them to do well.  Maybe I'm a sports bigamist.  I guess I would fit in with the BYU fans in that way.  (Polygamy zing!)

That being said, and despite my usual rooting for BYU, I have to admit that I was amused by the BYU game this weekend.  I was able to DVR the Utah and BYU games, which ran at the same time, and switch between them so that I didn't have to watch commercials.  All week long, I heard on the radio about how BYU was a "special" place and that they could make a 2 quarterback system work.  No one else has ever been able to do it in the history of college football, mind you, but since BYU is such a "special" (Freshman QB Jake Heaps' words, not mine) place, we were assured by BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall that the Y could pull it off.

Frankly, Bronco and the BYU staff were wrong.  The QB's both looked awful, as did the entire BYU team.  The worst part is that they looked like a team completely without an identity on both sides of the ball.  Air Force simply ran over, around, and past BYU in every facet of the game.  I haven't seen a team rush for 400 yards since I last played Tecmo Super Bowl.  The BYU defense got manhandled by smaller, more determined men. The hope for BYU fans has to be that the team takes this loss and responds to it the way that Utah took getting beaten down 27-0 by UNLV on September 22, 2007:  By going 33-4 over it's last 37 games.  By manning up and being more physical and more determined.

BYU can go a few ways from here as I see it.  First, and in my opinion best, they  can call this year what it clearly is:a rebuilding year. Play Heaps, take your lumps and aim for perfection in the future.  The conference is weak enough that BYU should still have a winning season and go to a bowl game with Heaps at the helm.  If that's not the route they choose, they could go with Riley Nelson and turn into more of a spread option team.  Every time they ran the option on Saturday they got big yards.  Nelson can run and so can Di Luigi, so why not play to their best player's strengths?  Then, the pass could be used as more of a diversion and Nelson would not have to lob ducks all over the field all game.  Unfortunately, what they will probably do is the final, and worst option:  Keep doing it the way they are doing it now, not name a permanent QB, not gain an identity, probably go 8-4 or 7-5 and lose in the Emerald Bowl, and set Heaps back a year and lower his confidence.

The call is Mendenhall's, and he seems just arrogant and stubborn enought to try to teach those of us who dare question him that he is the man with the vistion for BYU's program.  Maybe I'm wrong, after all, as Bronco once said, "The level of criticism usually matches the level of education."  Since I only graduated from lowly Utah, that must be the problem, right?  Well, I have a thought for Bronco:  The level of stubborness on the QB issue will match the level of damage done to the BYU program in the short and long run.

So the first week of college football is in the books. I planned to write more in the past week but my 5-year-old is struggling with night terrors and I've been running on fumes for days... It's funny that I say that like any of you actually follow this site. Anyway, here is my college football power rankings after week one.

1. Alabama. The Tide looked as good as could be expected. They played a weak team, but they looked dominant without their best player on each side of the ball. The embarrassment of riches they have at tailback is ridiculous. 25 straight redular season wins is mighty impressive. It will be interesting to see if Penn State can give Bama a game, especially with a freshman quarterback. Next: vs. Penn State

2. Boise State. It was good to see Boise State live up to the hype. Boise flat-out amazes me. They thrive as the underdog, they thrive as the favorite. They went into what was essentially a road game and beat a legitimate top-10 team in Virginia Tech. Kellen Moore is as cool as it gets. The way he methodically drove his team down the field at the end of the game was impressive. The hostile environment clearly didn't affect him. I, for one, would like to see Boise in the national title game if they run the table and look dominant doing it, though people will piss and moan about their schedule all year. Next: vs. Wyoming (Sept. 18)

3. The Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor looked terrific and the Buckeyes looked dominant. If they continue to look like this they'll pass Boise on the list. They face a tough test this week against Miami. Next: vs. Miami

4. TCU. The Horned Frogs have so much team speed it's ridiculous. They didn't look great against Oregon State, but they looked good enough and they got the job done. Next: vs. Tennessee Tech

5. Oregon. The Ducks were one of my preseason picks to get to the national title game and they didn't do anything to disappoint on Saturday, destroying New Mexico 72-0. The ridiculous thing about it is that they called off the dogs in the second half. Next to Alabama, Oregon has the best set of tailbacks in the nation. How Darron Thomas handles adversity could determine if this team can run the table. Next: at Tennessee

6. Iowa. Everyone was gushing about the North Carolina defense in the preseason, and rightfully so, but the Iowa defensive line is the best in college football. They held a crappy opponent to 65 yards rushing and 157 total yards. Next: vs. Iowa State

7. Miami. The Canes looked tremendous in week 1, making this week's game at Ohio State very enticing. Can Jacory Harris keep from turning the ball over? If so, the Canes could upset the Buckeyes and vault into the top 5. Next: at Ohio State

8. Oklahoma. The Sooners didn't look great against Utah State, but they got the job done and didn't lose their best player in the opener. This week's matchup should give us a better idea about how good Oklahoma really is. Next: vs. Florida State

9. Florida. Obviously the Gators didn't look great, but they'll bounce back. Urban Meyer teams don't have bad seasons, and this won't be the first. The Gators have way too much talent to not play much better than in week 1. Next: vs. South Florida

10. Texas. I think Texas is being ranked way too high by most of the pollsters. They always have talent and are likely to win ten games every year, but I just don't get it about the Horns this year. Next: vs. Wyoming

11. Wisconsin. The Badgers only led UNLV by 3 at the half but wore them down in the second half. Wisconsin may have the best offensive line in college football, which paved the way for 278 rushing yards. The Wisconsin o-line vs. Iowa d-line matchup later this year is going to be tremendous. I wasn't too impressed with the Wisconsin defense this past week, but they are low on experience and should get better as the season progresses. Next: vs. San Jose State

12. Virginia Tech. It's tough to dock a team too much for losing to a top-3 team, but the Hokies just miss the top 10 after losing their third straight season opener. Va Tech had their chances to win the game and should have put it away late. The Hokies still appear to be the class of the ACC and will likely be playing in a BCS game come New Year's. Next: vs. James Madison

13. Nebraska. If Taylor Martinez continues to play the way he did against W. Kentucky, expect the Huskers to move up this list very quickly. The defense wasn't great, but they'll be fine. The defense better be ready for Washington later this month. Next: vs. Idaho

14. Georgia. The Dawgs looked pretty good on defense in week one against a crappy team, but it's a good sign for a unit that struggled last season. They'll face a much tougher test this week, but the offense looked very good even without A.J. Green and Washaun Ealey. If both play this week, the offense will be even more dangerous. Next: at South Carolina

15. Utah. I'm not doubting Kyle Whittingham and the Utes. Early in his career his teams got up for the big games but struggled against some of the weaker teams. Not anymore: now they get up for everyone. Don't expect a letdown this week from the Utes. Next: vs. UNLV

The college football season opens this weekend and while there is only one real blockbuster game, there are several solid matchups happening this week. In looking at the best conference in the nation - the SEC - I notice that they all really scheduled up by playing this difficult lineup: Southern Mississippi, Miami (Ohio), Louisiana-Lafayette, Jacksonville State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee Tech, San Jose State, Memphis, and Arkansas State. At least LSU is playing a good game against North Carolina. Otherwise, for a league that is always flapping their gums about being dominant, it'll be a while before we get to see it this season. Enough about that. Here are some games I'm excited about this weekend.

Pittsburgh at Utah. Utah’s defensive line is going to be very solid this year, but can they stop Dion Lewis? Pitt is breaking in three new interior linemen, but Lewis could probably get positive yards with me and a couple of friends blocking for him. I keep hearing that the Utes have some ridiculous blitz packages prepared for this game, so they may have the Pitt offensive line looking silly. The last time these teams played the Utes beat the piss out of the Panthers in the Fiesta Bowl. Pitt brings a pretty lofty ranking into this game, and Wannstedt’s teams never seem to reach expectations (last year being an exception). Can they beat Kyle Whittingham and the Utes, considering that Whittingham is 7-2 against teams from BCS leagues in the past three years? Don’t be surprised to see Utah win at home. They always get up for big games.

Oregon State vs TCU. This game could have BCS implications. Oregon State has the chance to really put down the non-AQ teams this year because they get TCU this week and Boise State later in the season. The last time Oregon State played a non-AQ team they lost to BYU 44-20; this is the same BYU team that lost at home to TCU 38-7. Not that comparing scores will get you anywhere, but that’s quite the difference. TCU will look to exploit their speed advantage. How often can you say that the non-AQ team is much faster than the BCS squad? Not too often, but the speed difference in this game will be very evident. Oregon State better hope that Quizz Rodgers can control the clock on the ground, or else they’ll be in for a long game.

LSU vs North Carolina. Everyone is on North Carolina’s jockstrap this year. I can hardly find anything on ESPN about college football without someone having an orgasm over the Tar Heels defense. Will they live up to the hype? Obviously the talent is there. Can they score enough points? The offense was pretty futile last season, so they better step it up if they expect to have a better showing this season. LSU has been a bit down the past two years, but they are still extremely talented and definitely have the horses to win this game. And for what it’s worth, as good as the Carolina defense is, they don’t have the best defensive player in this game. That would be Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU.

Washington at BYU. Can Jake Locker redeem himself? After his controversial unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (see the pic of him tossing the ball) that led to a BYU blocked extra point to seal the victory two years ago, will Locker come out on fire and light up the Cougars? Will Jake Heaps, a Washington native who was the #1 QB in high school last year, play well with the pressure of going against his hometown team? BYU is traditionally very tough at home, but both of their losses last year came in blowouts at home. Washington has sucked on the road the past few years, having lost 11 straight. BYU lost a ton of starters, but has a lot of young talent. Washington’s offense returns almost in tact, but the defense is a major question. All of the unknowns make this a very intriguing game.

UConn at Michigan. This game interests me bigtime. UConn is severely underrated nationally. Their linebacking corps is one of the best in the nation and they sport an underappreciated offense. Michigan is looking to break out under Rich Rodriguez. His teams have always improved very quickly - and it looked to be the same after a 4-0 start last year - but so far things haven’t gone his way in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines boast a fair amount of talent, but can they put it together and get a win against the Huskies? The Wolverines have lost to Purdue, Utah, Toledo, Illinois, Northwestern, and Appalachian State in the past few years. All at home. Maybe UConn will add their name to that list.

Boise State vs Virginia Tech. This is clearly the game of the weekend. For the first time in years, the questions about Va Tech are on defense. The offense should be extremely explosive, so if the defense is as tough as it usually is, the Hokies could be a national title contender. Boise State carries the BCS title game hopes of the underdog on its shoulders. Can they win their biggest game of the year? Over the years I have continually doubted Boise State, only to see them come up big. Last year I picked Oregon to beat them in week 1. Wrong. I picked TCU to beat them in the Fiesta Bowl. Wrong. I thought they’d lose to Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Oregon State in the past few years. Wrong on all counts. I’m not betting against them this time. Now they’re going to lose for sure...

No introduction necessary. Here are the top 10 WRs in college football for 2010:

10. Titus Young, Boise State
79 rec, 1041 yards, 13.2 ypc, 10 TD
I could put either Young or his teammate Austin Pettis in this slot. I went with Young because he is the more dynamic player and he fits the Boise offense well (Pettis is definitely the better pro prospect). Young runs great routes and catches everything thrown his way. His numbers would be even more impressive if he wasn’t sharing the spotlight with Pettis, but he still put up huge numbers last season. Expect more of the same this year. 

9. DeVier Posey, The Ohio State
60 rec, 828 yards, 13.8 ypc, 8 TD
Posey put up good numbers last year with a quarterback (Terrelle Pryor) who struggled to deliver the ball. Posey is extremely strong and often outfights corners for jump balls. If Pryor comes on this year the way so many expect, Posey should have a huge year as Ohio State contends for a national title.

8. Armon Binns, Cincinnati
61 rec, 888 yards, 14.6 ypc, 11 TD
Binns was prolific in Brian Kelly’s offense last year as the second option. What will he do as the first option? His numbers may be insane this year, depending on how Cincinnati does under new head coach Butch Jones, who typically operates a run-first offense. Binns will have some pressure taken off of him by Vidal Hazelton, a USC transfer who will line up as the other starting wideout.

7. James Rodgers, Oregon State
91 rec, 1034 yards, 11.4 ypc, 9 TD
James doesn’t get quite the recognition that his brother Quizz gets, but James is pretty amazing in his own right. The fact that a guy who comes in at 5-7, 188 is even on this list is impressive. Rodgers has great hands, runs great routes, is a good blocker for a WR, and he gets a lot of yards after the catch. He’s also a dangerous return man for the Beavers. What keeps Rodgers down is that he isn’t consistent: he had four games of over 100 yards, but had four games of under 50 yards.

6. Vincent Brown, San Diego State
45 rec, 778 yards, 17.3 ypc, 6 TD
Surprised to see someone from San Diego State this high? Don’t be: Vincent Brown is insane. If he played for a better team everyone would know who he is. Check out his stats. He put those numbers up in six games last year. Six freaking games! His QB, Ryan Lindley, is improving like crazy, so Brown will likely put up gigantic numbers this year. Brown put up 84 yards in one game last year, but had over 120 yards in every other game. He’s ridiculous, and you’d be wise to check him out this season (assuming you get The Mtn, the sorriest sports channel around). He’d be ranked higher on this list in most years, but WR is loaded this season, so here he settles for the 6 spot. 

5. Julio Jones, Alabama
43 rec, 596 yards, 13.9 ypc, 4 TD
Jones came to Alabama with ridiculous hype. He has prototypical size (6-4, 211) and speed (reportedly runs a 4.4 40), but he just hasn’t put up the numbers you would expect for someone with his skills. Some of that can be attributed to the Alabama offense, with its plethora of stud running backs, but Jones should still put up bigger numbers than he has. He also seems to be somewhat injury prone, in that he seems to always have nagging injuries and has to take plays off. Jones could have a monster season this season though if he stays healthy. Jones is almost a lock as a first-round NFL pick.

4. Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh
57 rec, 1111 yards, 19.5 ypc, 8 TD
Another WR who was hyped like crazy coming out of high school, Baldwin began to really show his skills last season. What might be most impressive about his stats from last season is that he did that for a Pittsburgh team that mostly focuses on the run and had an average QB. Baldwin is huge (6-5, 230) and will go up and catch just about anything thrown his way. He could put up monstrous numbers this season if the Pittsburgh QB (presumably Sunseri) can deliver the ball anywhere near Baldwin. He may be the best deep threat in the nation, as evidenced by his absurd yards per catch.

3. Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma
89 rec, 1120 yards, 12.6 ypc, 15 TD
Broyles is like James Rodgers in that he is undersized, but he just makes plays. Broyles is as shifty as any wide receiver in the nation, has great hands, and is not afraid to go across the middle and take a hit. His speed and athleticism allow him to dominate opponents. Broyles put up impressive numbers while dealing with a shoulder injury and breaking in a new QB because of the injury to Sam Bradford. I don’t know that Broyles will do much in the NFL, but he’s a great college WR.

1. A.J. Green, Georgia
53 rec, 808 yards, 15.2 ypc, 6 TD
Green is flat-out the best receiver in college football. His hands are unbelievable. He is fast and runs great routes. In short, he does everything well. He is absolutely unstoppable in the red zone and will likely be the top WR taken in the NFL draft. The downside to Green is that he has had some nagging injuries in the past, and this season he’ll be catching passes from a QB that has never taken a snap in a college football game. Still, Green is the best at his position in college football, good QB or not.