Week 1 Preview

The college football season is so close. And it's not a moment too soon. If I have to watch another replay on CBS Sports or ESPNU or ESPN Classic or any other channel that has been running college football replays for the past 2 months, I might just go crazy. I can close my eyes and give you the play by play of the Air Force v. Wyoming game from last season. That's never a good thing.

Here's a little preview of week 1 to satisfy your college football craving until Thursday.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 Games to Watch

Here are 5 games that everyone must see this week. I don't care if you have to order these on pay per view or head to your local watering hole. Just make sure you're either in front of the TV or in the stands at one of these games.

1. Georgia @ Oklahoma St. - The two power conferences will be represented in this game. Georgia returns a ton of players from last year's 10 win squad. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, none of those players are named Knowshon Moreno or Matthew Stafford. This game will go a long way in telling how much Oklahoma St. has improved defensively. We all know they can play offense in Stillwater. Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter get to show their deadly trio for the first time this season.

2. Alabama @ Virginia Tech - For the second straight season, Bama opens up it's season against a top ten ACC team. Hopefully, for the Hokies, the outcome will be a little bit different. Last year the Crimson Tide routed Clemson en route to an almost perfect season. The loss sent Clemson on a downward spiral that would them their head coach. Va Tech comes into the game without tailback Darren Evans. Speedster Ryan Williams should fill in just fine, but he was face a tough test against Bama's stout defense. The Tide will be breaking in Greg McElroy at QB. It would be a good sign for their offense if he starts off fast against a very good Hokie secondary.

3. Oregon @ Boise St. - Last season's win at Oregon propelled Boise St. to another tremendously overlooked great season. This year, the Broncos get Oregon at home. Both teams look better now than they did last season. For my money, this may be the most entertaining game of week 1. Kellen Moore of Boise St. will look to solidify his spot among the game's top quarterbacks. On the other side, LaGarrette Blount will be looking to add his name to the ranks of top running backs in the country.

4. BYU @ Oklahoma - Another big time BCS v. Non-BCS match-up in week 1. Oklahoma semi-struggled vs. TCU last season. The Horned Frog's D may be a bit better than BYU's. However, BYU's offense is leap year's better than TCU's. That's not good news for OU's defense. This is the premiere QB match-up of week 1 as the defending Heisman winner, Sam Bradford will face off against the savvy Max Hall of BYU.

5. Miami(FL) @ Florida St. - I don't care how far these teams have fallen in recent years. There's nothing like Miami v. FSU to start the season. Both teams will be sporting improved defenses and re-vamped offenses, so it's hard to know what to expect from this game.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 Players to Watch

Fantasy football is starting to catch on pretty heavily in college football. The fact that you can actually play with real player names makes the game a little bit better. Here are five players that I would play this week if they were on your roster.


1. Andre Anderson Tulane RB - Anderson quietly became one of the nation's top running backs last season. The Green Wave face Tulsa this week.

2. Evan Royster Penn St. RB - The Nittany Lions face Akron this week. The Zips are bad enough to give up a ton of yards to Royster, but they're decent enough to keep the game quasi close. That would keep Royster in the game long enough to rack up some stats.

3. Damien Williams USC WR - Williams was already going to have a big season for the Trojans this season. Richard Johnson's recent injury has made Williams' role all the more important. The only question is how well will Matt Barkley play in his first game as SC's starting QB.

4. Juice Williams Illinois QB - Just look up Williams' stats against Mizzou last season. You'll see why he should be started this week.

5. Colt McCoy Texas QB - McCoy will have the best opportunity to put up dual threat numbers this week. The Longhorns take on Louisiana-Monroe in week 1.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heisman Watch

I will no longer feature an entire post to the Heisman watch this season. That became a bit too tedious. Instead, I will put my two cents into the Heisman discussion into my weekly previews. Here's the first edition.

1. Tim Tebow Florida QB
2. Colt McCoy Texas QB
3. Sam Bradford Oklahoma QB
4. Dez Bryant Oklahoma St. WR
5. Jahvid Best California RB

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My TV Schedule

I hope yours is similar....

Thursday

7:00 pm ESPN South Carolina @ North Carolina St.

7:30 pm ESPNU North Texas @ Ball St.

8:00 pm CBS Sports Central Washington @ Minnesota-Duluth

10:00 pm ESPN Oregon @ Boise St.

Friday

8:00 pm ESPN Tulsa @ Tulane

Saturday

12:00 pm WTTA Western Kentucky @ Tennessee

12:00 pm ESPN Navy @ Ohio St.

12:00 pm ESPN2 Minnesota @ Syracuse

12:00 pm BHSN Liberty @ West Virginia

12:00 pm ESPNU Kentucky @ Miami(OH)

3:30 pm NBC Nevada @ Notre Dame

3:30 pm ABC Georgia @ Oklahoma St.

3:30 pm ESPN Missouri @ Illinois

3:30 pm ESPN2 Western Michigan @ Michigan

3:30 pm SUN San Jose St. @ USC

3:30 pm ESPNU Jackson St. @ Mississippi St.

7:00 pm ESPN BYU vs. Oklahoma

7:00 pm SUN Charleston Southern @ Florida

7:00 pm BHSN Wofford @ South Florida

7:00 pm ESPNU Louisiana Tech @ Auburn

8:00 pm ABC Alabama vs. Virginia Tech

9:00 pm CBS Sports Buffalo @ UTEP

10:00 pm ESPN2 Maryland @ California

10:30 pm ESPN LSU @ Washington

10:30 pm ESPNU Texas Southern @ Prairie View A&M

Sunday

3:30 pm ESPN Ole Miss @ Memphis

7:00 pm FSN Colorado St. @ Colorado

Monday

4:00 pm ESPN Cincinnati @ Rutgers

8:00 pm ESPN Miami(FL) @ Florida St.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimate Fantasy League Week 1

With the coming of the new college football season comes the all important first ever week of CFB 365's ultimate fantasy league. I've already outlined the details of this league in a previous post. Here is week 1's schedule.

Florida v. Auburn
Georgia @ West Virginia
Tennessee @ Alabama
South Carolina @ Washington St.
Clemson @ Wake Forest
Georgia Tech v. Ole Miss
Mississippi St. v. Kentucky
LSU @ Texas
Colorado v. Colorado St.
Kansas @ TCU
Kansas St. @ Wisconsin
Nebraska v. Arkansas
Missouri v. Illinois
Oklahoma @ California
Oklahoma St. @ Oregon
Texas A&M v. Texas Tech
Washington @ BYU
Oregon St. @ Arizona St.
Stanford v. Duke
Boise St. v. UCLA
USC v. San Diego St.
Arizona @ Virginia
Ohio St. v. Michigan St.
Northwestern @ Minnesota
Purdue v. Notre Dame
Iowa @ Iowa St.
Michigan v. Indiana
Maryland v. NC State
South Florida @ UCF
East Carolina @ Virginia Tech
Miami @ Florida St.
North Carolina v. Louisville
Connecticut v. Houston
Syracuse @ Penn St.
Rutgers @ Pitt
Boston College v. Vanderbilt
Army v. Cincinnati
Navy @ Troy
Air Force v. Wyoming
Southern Miss @ UNLV
Baylor v. Louisiana Tech
Utah v. Tulsa