Operation Pick Em is up and running. This week’s games and pick breakdowns are below. The percentages by each team are the percent picked by the contestants.

Tennessee 31% @ California 69%
Georgia Tech 39% @ Notre Dame 61%
Florida State 85% @ Clemson 15%
Wake Forest 0% @ Boston College 100%
Oklahoma State 15% @ Georgia 85%
Arizona 39% @ BYU 61%

Bruce Feldman - California, Notre Dame, Clemson, Boston College, Georgia, BYU
Brian Sakowski - Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, Arizona
Charlie Swager - Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, BYU
Chris Mason - Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, Arizona
John Radcliff - California, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, BYU
Jon Johnston - California, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College, Oklahoma State, BYU
Adam Nettina - California, Notre Dame, Clemson, Boston College, Georgia, BYU
Mike Rizzo - California, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, Arizona
Jim Gindin - California, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, BYU
Tony Delbusso - California, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, Arizona
Cyril Tircuit - Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Oklahoma State, BYU
Greg Gowins - California, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, Arizona
Lorena The Dodgerchick - California, Notre Dame, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia, BYU

The rules for this contest is simple, pick the correct winners to the In The Bleachers games of the week each week. There is no picking against the spread, winners only. This season we are going to spice up this contest. Instead of just the esteemed In The Bleachers experts making the picks and competing against each other, we have recruited several prominent Bloggers, a few Average Joe’s (one is female), and Bruce Feldman from ESPN.com to join in on this contest.

To the victor go the spoils. The prize for winning this contest is your choice of either one of Bruce Feldman’s books (Meat Market or Cane Mutiny). I will buy it and send it directly to you. If Bruce wins, I will buy the first runner up either book, and I will work out something for Bruce to get as the winner. So without any further wait, the biographies of the contestants of In The Bleachers First Annual Operation Pick Em Contest.

The Pro
Bruce Feldman has agreed to join us and is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He started at ESPN in 1994. He spent much of the last two years in the South working on his book, “Meat Market: Inside the Smash-mouth World of College Football Recruiting”. His first book, “Cane Mutiny: How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned the Football Establishment” made it to No. 1 among sports titles in the fall of 2004. Bruce also has his own college football blog on ESPN.com’s Insider Page.

In The Bleachers Bloggers
Brian Sakowski is the host of the In The Bleachers Podcast and a writer on the blog. Brian has played football on both the high school and collegiate levels but still does not have the straight ahead speed that Joe Paterno has when he runs down officials. He is also attracted to busty strippers, but normally does not date girls of that particular body type. Brian’s love for Penn State has gotten him in trouble for openly drinking at an Ohio State game and almost got him kicked out of the Orange Bowl for explaining to a Florida State fan that he should not flip off a group full of Nittany Lion fans when he is the sole Seminole fan.

Charlie Swager is a regular on the In The Bleachers Podcast and another writer for the blog. As we all know Charlie is a huge Mountaineers fan, but being displaced in North Carolina, the heart of ACC country does wonders for his criminal record when he burns couches on the front porch after big WVU wins. For fun Charlie likes to watch Grey’s Anatomy with his dog Izzy, only switching over to Thursday night college football on commercials.

The size of Emmitt Smith, but with twice the huggableness, Furman grad Chris Mason began his odd journey to sports bloggerism almost by accident. Knowing very little about playing football, his career consisting of nothing more than street football, he spent his formative ( i.e. college) years discussing football (or at least non-football issues) on the boards of the FOFC. After meeting Brian on the board (and seeing him in airport bathrooms), Chris begged and was granted the honor of occasionally posting his thoughts to the little known (but meekly influential) blog Smart Guys Sports. After doing everything he could to sink the blog (eventually succeeding), Chris followed Brian over to the ITB podcast two seasons ago. While a regular on the podcast, Chris does everything he can to avoid writing words on the Internet. His contributions vary from 1-AA discussion to offhanded remarks about the cup sizes of football players. Chris created a shrine to Chuck Whitehurst, successfully predicted the success of Matt Ryan, belittled the Big East, and became the first member of ITB to be violated by a pet on air. He has been quoted by Kirk Herbstreit, though Kirk will never admit it (though Chris loves the Herpes… I mean Herbies Award).

Other Notable Bloggers
John Radcliff runs the Mountainliar as well as spreads his expertise on the AOL Fanhouse site. John was the winner of last season’s ITB Bowl Bonanza and wants to continue his winning ways to this year’s pick’em game. Word has it he once got so drunk during a West Virginia game that he lit the couch on fire while he was still sitting on it. Good news is he was able to escape it unhurt.

Adam Nettina runs the blog Pitch Right, which is a blog dedicate to Navy Football. He will have a beef with one of the average joe’s because he claims the triple option trumps the run and shoot. This is where rivaries are born, and speaking of rivalries he also claims Army vs Navy is better than Ohio State vs Michigan. I agree with him on that claim.

Jon Johnston is the main site author at the Nebraska Cornhusker Blog “Corn Nation”, going by the screen name ‘corn blight’. A native Nebraskan, he’s been forced into the cult of Huskerdom since birth. He furthered his studies, graduating from the University of Nebraska in 1987 after cramming a four-year degree into seven years. Since then he has moved freely throughout the Midwest exhorting others to joint the Cult of the Big Red. In 1992, he was kidnapped by a group of Sooner fans who tried to deprogram him. He later escaped and the ordeal has only made him more resolute in his passion for Husker sports. In 2001, Johnston tried unsuccessfully to start his own religion, saying that Bob Devaney had come to him in a dream. In 2006, the started Corn Nation. This biography is not meant as an introduction, but as a warning.

Mike Rizzo has a blog called Rizzo Sports, and has a weekly television show on Family Life TV. Rizzo has a niche for doing excellent scouting within the ranks of college cheerleaders. On Saturdays you can usually find him hiding under that tent that Charlie Weis calls a sweatshirt, since he still cannot understand that he can get into the game by buying a ticket.

Jim Gindin is no stranger to the world of college football as he has written numerous pro football text sims and one college football text sim over at Solecismic Software. He has recently started his own football blog called Football Frontier. I like Jim even though he is a Wolverine fan and in that state they have a knack for adding a few seconds to the clock when the home team needs it.

Tony Delbusso is from Sportsbone.tv and it was originally created 4 years ago as an outlet for the weekly College and NFL pick predictions against the Vegas spread. Since that time those fortunate enough to take advantage of his knack for picking games reaped the rewards on the gambling scene. In addition to his weekly picks and newsletter, Sportsbone.tv has evolved into full blown project that includes its own College and NFL TV show that features news, injuries and fantasy analysis.

Average Joe’s
Cyril Tircuit was born and raised in New Orleans. Grew up as an LSU fan, but as he got older, he wanted to support a team that he had a personal connection. He started dating a woman who had just graduated from Memphis, and she moved to New Orleans to attend grad school at Tulane. Those became his favorite teams, and he only has a passing interest in LSU now. His favorite offense to watch is the run-and-shoot, but since pretty much nobody does that anymore, he tends to watch football while he’s curled up in the corner and crying his eyes out. You can find him mentioned in the Nielsen TV ratings as “that weird guy crying in the corner and watching Conference USA crap.” He firmly believes that the 2009 national champion will come from either Conference USA or the Sun Belt, and he will stand by this opinion until Week 2 of the 2009 season.

Greg Gowins works as a computer technology consultant, based in the Austin, TX area, and has clients worldwide. His love of technology is exceeded only by his love of college football. With the advent of DVRs and multi-tuner satellite dishes, he watches as many games as he can. In addition, he runs a weekly college football Top 25 poll at Front Office Football Central, as well as serves as commissioner of the FOFC-BBCF, an online, virtual simulation of college football, utilizing Bowl Bound College Football from Grey Dog Software. Greg is a Texas Longhorns fan. Hook ‘em Horns!!

Lorena The Dodgerchick is a college football n00b. She has been married for about 8 years and has a couple of kids… one of each. She was pushed… err, introduced to sports in 1994 when her husband made her… err invited her to watch the Chargers. It didn’t take long before she started playing FBPro, calling plays and drafting players. She is now playing BBCF and joined a league where she is the coach of the Air Force Falcons. Her team won the conference last year, but is a woeful 0-2 this season and she is starting to think it is her fault.

Mike Hennig is horrible and is on pace for 96 INTs.

LSU will again have offensive problems against everyone (but Notre Dame).

Erin Andrews - still hot, especially in the rain.

Flutie and James are like the Holtz and May of broadcasting.

Brian Brohm will throw for 7500 yards at his current pace. Louisville will score over 1000 points. Rutgers will not be far behind.

What I’m trying to say is, schedule a real team Big East. I mean Murray State, are they even D-2?

Oh and if you get a chance, watch NC A&T, their coach makes Chuck Weis look like Kate Moss.

Around the Big Ten there aren’t many marquee games, but a few teams have games that I have my eye on.

Northeastern at Northwestern - As you can tell from my preview of the Big Ten, I don’t think much of Northwestern this year. But I do think they will be able to handle Northeastern. Let’s not forget they still have Tyrell Sutton who was the Big Ten freshman of the year two seasons ago. He should have a 100 yard day and the Wildcats will win handily. Northwestern 30-13.

UAB at Michigan State - The Spartans are a team I am not really sure about, will they continue their losing ways from last year or will their new coach spark new life in them. UAB is no push over team, and if Michigan State wants to be bowl eligible this is a must win game. QB Brian Hoyer played well when filling in for Drew Stanton last year. I think the Spartans win a close one. Michigan State 27-23

Appalachian State at Michigan - The defending Division 1-AA champion come to the Big House to play the Wolverines. Michigan returns a lot on offense including QB Chad Henne, RB Michael Hart, and WR Mario Manningham. The Mountaineers will keep it close for the first quarter but the Wolverines’ offense will be too much for these Eeers to handle. Michigan 40-9

Youngstown State at Ohio State - The Buckeyes take on their intrastate rival Penguins in an opening season match up. Chris Wells did a fine job being the change of pace back for Pittman last season, but he will be carrying the load this season. Todd Boeckman takes over at quarterback for the departed Heisman winner Troy Smith. This is a good game for the Buckeyes to get a lot of their younger players time, and they will win this game with ease. Ohio State 49-10.

Florida International at Penn State - The Golden Panthers are the warm-up team for the Nittany Lions since they face the Irish next week. I will be interested to see how Penn State’s defensive line does since that unit is young and was marred with injuries in preseason practice. Anthony Morelli will throw for 3 TDs while Austin Scott runs for another. Penn State 47-6.

Washington State at Wisconsin - The Badgers and young RB PJ Hill Jr welcome the Cougars to Camp Randell Stadium. Tyler Donovan takes over for John Stocco at quarterback. This is the first of 3 easy out of conference games for Wisconsin. For the Cougars who won 6 games last year, this game would go a long way for them to make a bowl game. Wisconsin 33-10.

Missouri at Illinois - This is the game of the week in the Big Ten. We have two good quarterbacks going up against each other in Chase Daniels for Mizzou and Juice Williams for the Illini. The Illini are my sleeper team in the Big Ten but this will be a tough game going up against a team that many having winning the Big 12 North. I think the Tigers’ experience will help them squeak out this game. Missouri 24-19.

Iowa at Northern Illinois - The Hawkeyes really improved at the end of the season and it showed when they came real close in beating Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Iowa was a little disapointing last year and they want to show that it was a fluke. Jake Christensen takes over for Drew Tate at QB and RB Albert Young comes back. The Huskies will have to deal with life after Wolfe. Iowa wins this game early and big. Iowa 31-0.

Purdue at Toledo - Purdue is a team that can really make some waves in the Big Ten. QB Curtis Painter returns and so does two of his top targets in Greg Orton and Dorien Bryant. Overall the Boilermakers return 20 starters and it’ll show in this game. The Rockets are no push overs but Purdue has the experience to make it easy. Purdue 28-7.

Indiana State at Indiana - The Hoosiers begin their 2007 season mourning the loss of their Head Coach Terry Hoeppner. Coach Hoeppner had this team going in the right direction and I think the Hoosiers will not let their leader down. Kellen Lewis is going to be a good Big Ten QB and James Hardy is already a good WR. Indiana 22-9.

Bowling Green at Minnesota - First year Gophers coach Tim Brewster opens the 2007 campaign playing their next to last home opener in the Metrodome. Minnesota always have a good running back and this year is no exception with Amir Pinnix. The Falcons are going through a bit of a rebuilding process and the Gophers will take full advantage. Minnesota 28-13

Televisied Games for the First Week of the College Football Season:

THURSDAY (Opening Night):
Tulsa at Louisiana-Monroe, 7:00 PM - G5-14s (ESPN 2)
Buffalo at Rutgers, 7:00 PM - Altitude, MSG
Tennessee Tech at Eastern Illinois, 7:00 PM - CSTV
SE Missouri State at Cincinnati, 7:00 PM - ESPN 360
Miami-Ohio at Ball State, 7:00 PM - Comcast (Local)
Delaware at William & Mary, 7:30 PM - CN8 (Philadelphia)
Murray State at Louisville, 7:30 PM - ESPN U
LSU at Mississippi State, 8:00 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)
UNLV at Utah State, 8:00 PM - UNLV-TV
SE Louisiana at New Mexico State, 8:00 PM - Aggie Vision (New Mexico St)
Weber State at Boise State, 9:00 PM - KTVB (Boise)
Utah at Oregon State, 10:00 PM - FOX-Northwest

FRIDAY:
Navy at Temple, 7:30 PM - ESPN U
Washington at Syracuse, 8:00 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)

SATURDAY:
East Carolina at Virginia Tech, 12:00 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)
UAB at Michigan State, 12:00 PM - G5-14s (ESPN 2)
Marshall at Miami-Florida, 12:00 PM - ESPN U
Northeastern at Northwestern, 12:00 PM - Big Ten Network
FIU at Penn State, 12:00 PM - Big Ten Network
Youngstown State at Ohio State, 12:00 PM - Big Ten Network
Colorado State vs. Colorado, 12:00 PM - FOX Sports Net
Appalachian State at Michigan, 12:00 PM - Big Ten Network
Western Kentucky at Florida, 12:30 PM - Lincoln Financial Sports, DSS
Virginia at Wyoming, 2:00 PM - VS.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Miss Valley State, 2:00 PM - CSTV
Florida A&M vs. Southern U, 3:00 PM - ESPN Classic
Wake Forest at Boston College, 3:30 PM - ABC, DSS
Nevada at Nebraska, 3:30 PM - ABC, DSS
Washington State at Wisconsin, 3:30 PM - ABC, DSS
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, 3:30 PM - NBC
Western Michigan at West Virginia, 3:30 PM - ESPN-Plus, Altitude, DSS
Missouri vs. Illinois, 3:30 PM - G5-14s (ESPN 2)
UCLA at Stanford, 3:30 PM - FOX Sports Net
Ole Miss at Memphis, 3:30 PM - CSS
Iowa at Northern Illinois, 3:30 PM - ESPN U
Arizona at BYU, 5:30 PM - VS.
James Madison at North Carolina, 6:00 PM - ESPN 360
UCF at NC State, 6:00 PM - ESPN 360
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky, 6:00 PM - BBSN-Pay-per-view, DSS
Villanova at Maryland, 6:00 PM - ESPN 360
Baylor at TCU, 6:00 PM - CSTV
Oklahoma State at Georgia, 6:45 PM - G5-14s (ESPN 2)
North Texas at Oklahoma, 7:00 PM - FOX Sports Net
Western Carolina at Alabama, 7:00 PM - CTSM-Pay-per-view, DSS
Louisiana-Lafayette at South Carolina, 7:00 PM - GSM-Pay-per-view, DSS
Army vs. Akron, 7:00 PM - Altitude, DSS
Gardner-Webb at Ohio U, 7:00 PM - DSS
Purdue at Toledo, 7:00 PM - ESPNU
Presbyterian at Furman, 7:00 PM - CSS
Arkansas State at Texas, 7:00 PM - FOX Sports Net (Pay-pre-view)
Elon at South Florida, 7:00 PM - ESPN-Plus
Kansas State at Auburn, 7:45 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)
Tennessee at California, 8:00 PM - ABC
Indiana State at Indiana, 8:00 PM - Big Ten Network
Bowling Green at Minnesota, 8:00 PM - Big Ten Network
New Mexico at UTEP, 10:00 PM - CSTV
Idaho at USC, 10:15 PM - FOX Sports Net
Northern Colorado at Hawaii, 12:00 AM - KHNL

LABOR DAY/MONDAY:
Texas Tech at SMU, 4:00 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)
Florida State at Clemson, 8:00 PM - G5-9s (ESPN)

From Sports Network

The start of the college football season is only hours away and two of the ITB talking heads (Brian and Charlie) give you all the information you need to know about the upcoming football season. The first half of the show goes through the ACC, Big East, and Big 12 while the second half of the show previews the Big 10, SEC, and Pac 10. The second half of the show also has the predictions for the Heisman, BCS Bowl games, and the National Champion. To get the podcast click on the In The Bleachers Podcast link.

Remember, if you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedbuner but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. Enjoy this week’s episode of In The Bleachers and if you have any questions or comments to the show please email them to inthebleachers AT gmail DOT com.

The final BCS conference that I will predict is the Big Ten conference. The Big Ten took a big hit last season when both of their marquee teams, Ohio State and Michigan, fell flat on their face in their bowl games. This season it looks as if there are 3 or 4 teams that have a stake in claiming they will be conference champion at the end of the season.

Michigan returns a lot on offense with QB Chad Henne, RB Michael Hart, and WR Mario Manningham. The Wolverines also have a favorable schedule, not leaving Ann Arbor till the end of September. They have to fill some holes on the defense, but it is hard to dispute that they are not the front runner in the Big Ten.

Both Wisconsin and Penn State want to have a say in the matter. The Badgers return Sophomore RB PJ Hill Jr, as well as most of their defense. The Nittany Lions return most of their defense (minus defensive line), and plenty of skilled players on offense. This core group of wide receivers might be the best unit in the history of Penn State football.

Ohio State lost a lot to the draft, but with the recruiting job that Jim Tressel is doing, they have the raw talent to compete. Look for RB Chris Wells to carry the load early until the rest of the group picks up. In the middle of the pack we have Purdue, Iowa, as well as my sleeper team Illinois. Ron Zook has a lot of people fired up in Champaign, and rightfully so. Juice Williams bring excitement to a program that has been down for a few years.

1. Michigan 7-1 (11-1)
2. Penn State 7-1 (11-1)
3. Wisconsin 6-2 (10-2)
4. Ohio State 5-3 (9-4)
5. Illinois 4-4 (7-5)
6. Iowa 4-4 (8-4)
7. Purdue 4-4 (7-5)
8. Indiana 3-5 (6-6)
9. Minnesota 2-6 (5-7)
10. Northwestern 1-7 (3-9)
11. Michigan State 1-7 (3-9)

The SEC fans spent most of the offseason pounding their chests on how they are the best football conference in the country. This year that could be the case again. A case can be made for up to 6 teams to win the SEC this year, as both the East and West Divisions each have 4 teams that should go bowling.

Florida is the defending BCS champion, but they lost a lot mainly on the defensive side of the ball. If teams want to get a jump on the Gators, they have to do it early because as the year goes on the young talent that Urban Meyer recruited will only get better as the year goes on. It will be interesting to see how Tim Tebow handles the full time QB duties.

Tennessee returns their QB Erik Ainge and the Volunteers play the Gators in the SEC opener, in which the winner has the inside track at winning the SEC East. Georgia also has a lot coming back and will be a key factor in the East title. South Carolina is being heard, but with all of the controversy surrounding the team off the field, they might not be seen in the title race.

The leader in the west has to be LSU. They are ranked #2 in both polls and have tons of talent on both sides of the ball. The next two after that have to be Auburn and Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ Darren McFadden has to be one of the most exciting players in all of college football. Alabama with new head coach Nick Saban, will improve from last year but will not be a factor in this year’s race.

East
1. Tennessee 6-2 (10-2)
2. Florida 6-2 (10-2)
3. Georgia 5-3 (8-4)
4. Kentucky 3-5 (7-5)
5. South Carolina 3-5 (6-6)
6. Vanderbilt 1-7 (3-9)

West
1. LSU 7-1 (11-1)
2. Arkansas 6-2 (10-2)
3. Auburn 5-3 (9-3)
4. Alabama 4-4 (7-5)
5. Mississippi 1-7 (4-7)
6. Mississippi State 1-7 (4-7)

SEC Championship Game
LSU over Tennessee

The Big East, coming off a 5-0 bowl record, will open up the 2007 season with each of its eight teams in action this week. Sadly, the marquee matchups of the week are Syracuse and UConn, two of the team’s bottomfeeders over the past two seasons, battling fellow BCS bottomfeeders Washington and Duke. Three teams will do “battle” with sub-D1A teams, while three other Big East squads will face teams from the MAC. UConn will be the only BE team opening the season on the road, as they travel to Durham to play Duke.

Let’s take a quick look at the week 1 games:

Buffalo at Rutgers (Thurs. Night - 7:00 PM EST) — The sequel to Rutgers’ Cinderella season will begin unceremoniously, as they play the University of Buffalo–a team that won just two games in 2006. Look for the Scarlett Knights to shut down the Bulls’ offense in a big way, as Buffalo totalled just 10 points against its three BCS opponents in 2006. On the offensive side of the ball, Ray Rice will get his yards, but look for head coach Greg Schiano to air it out early, so that quarterback Mike Teel can gain some early confidence. Rutgers has talent across the board on defense and its offensive line and ground game are very good, but Teel is the big variable on the team. Rutgers 34, Buffalo 3

Southeast Missouri State at Cincinnati (Thurs. Night - 7:00 PM EST) — This should be a pretty interesting game for Big East fans and coaches. New head coach Brian Kelly will try to build on the moderate success the Bearcats enjoyed under Mark Dantonio. Dantonio left a solid defense and Kelly’s forte is offense, so it will be exciting to see how Kelly will line up on offense and whether or not Cincy has enough athletes to truly spread it out and show some improvement. The Bearcats have a big out of conference matchup against Oregon State on Sept. 6th, so they will probably try to keep it fairly vanilla against SE Missouri State. Cincinnati 28, Southeast Missouri State 10

Murray State at Louisville (Thurs. Night - 7:30 PM EST) — This nationally televised game (ESPNU — 7:30 PM EST) will give Heisman candidate Brian Brohm and new head coach Steve Kragthorpe an opportunity to showcase the new-look Cardinals. Look for Brohm to put up big numbers in the first half and spend the second half with a clipboard. My friends in Louisville tell me that they expect this to be the fastest Louisville defense ever, so keep an eye to see how they flow to the ball and whether or not they are able to create a lot of turnovers. Louisville 44, Murray State 6

Washington at Syracuse (Fri. Night - 8:00 PM EST) — The first really interesting Big East matchup of the season, not so much because it will be a great game, but it will be a great measuring stick to see how the bottom half of the Big East stacks up against a bottom half team from another BCS conference. The Huskies went just 5-7 last season, but they did beat UCLA and most of their losses were to bowl teams. Syracuse’s Greg Robinson needs to show that the Orangemen are moving forward in his third season and this game, being at the Carrier Dome, is one of the more winnable out of conference games on the schedule for the ‘Cuse (they also play @ Iowa, have Illinois at home, and play @Miami, OH). I’m going to be a Big East homer here and take the Orange to win the home, night game. Syracuse 21, Washington 17

Connecticut at Duke (Sat. - 2:00 PM EST) — Similar to the Syracuse-Washington game, this is another BCS measuring stick game for the Big East. Duke was wretched in 2006, going 0-12 with the lowpoint being a 13-0 loss to D1-AA Richmond to open the season. The Blue Devils were shut out in three of their first four games last season and were one of only two teams to lose every game (Florida International was the other). I actually think UConn will be a little better than folks think in ‘07. They appeared to be moving in the right direction prior to last season, before being completely drilled by injuries that led them to a 4-8 record in ‘06. UConn 17, Duke 7

Western Michigan at West Virginia (Sat. - 3:30 PM) — Western Michigan (8-5 in ‘06) was one of the better teams in the MAC last season, but travelling to Morgantown should prove to be a pretty big challenge for the Broncos. Like Louisville, the Mountaineers are hoping that their defense has improved enough to keep up with its high octane offense. Look for Steve Slaton and Pat White to get their work in early and then check out to watch the second half from the sidelines. West Virginia 44, Western Michigan 13

Eastern Michigan at Pittsburgh (Sat. - 6:00 PM) — Eastern Michigan (1-11) had trouble putting points on the board in 2006, so it will be tough to judge whether or not Pittsburgh has improved its defense from the past two seasons. What we know about Pittsburgh is that it will be without its four best players from ‘06 (LB H.B. Blades, QB Tyler Palko, CB Darrelle Revis to the NFL and WR Derek Kinder — injured and out for the season). However, head coach Dave Wannstedt has recruited well over the past two seasons and the time has come for some of his prized recruits to step up. Keep an eye out for converted linebacker Dorrin Dickerson, a former wideout with great agility, to make his first appearance on the defensive side of the ball. QB Billy Stull, a junior, is a veteran of coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s system, but made very limited appearances over his first two seasons. Stull’s development will play a big part in the successes and failures of the Panthers in ‘06. Pittsburgh 24, Eastern Michigan 10

Elon at South Florida (Sat. - 7:05 PM) — My how times have changed! Just ten years ago, South Florida was a D1-AA team that was playing against the big boys for a paycheck. Now, the Bulls will welcome in Elon (who may well be better than half of the D1-A schools in North Carolina this season) for a payday and a beating. Matt Grothe, USF’s exciting dual-threat quarterback will return for his sophomore season, but Bulls’ fans will be more excited to finally get to see running back Mike Ford, who enters the season and school’s highest profile recruit in its short existence. South Florida, after knocking off Louisville and West Virginia over the past two seasons, is one of more popular dark horse teams in the nation, so it will be important for them to come out early, establish their dominance, and then get their starters off the field early, so they will be healthy for their Sept. 8th matchup at Auburn. South Florida 31, Elon 3

As we discussed last week, Southern Cal running back Emmanuel Moody decided to transfer from the running back-laden Trojans. Today, Moody found a home. The Palm Beach Post reports that Moody has decided to attend the University of Florida. Due to transfer rules, he will sit out the entire 2007 season before joining the Gators on the field in 2008. Moody also considered attending UNC.