Week One - Here we go!

And we're back. I'm vowing to at least finish the regular season above .500 going into the final week. That way I can make silly picks on par with an Appy State over LSU this week. Granted, that pick is no more defensible than my normal ones . . . right.

Since the season is just starting, there are no idiot of the week nominees quite yet. Though on a side note, I am watching Drumline for the second time in two nights. It makes me wonder how I couldn't go to a school with a football program (or at the very least, a proper marching band - sorry Colonial Brass). Oh, that's right. I went to GW where 30% of the student body are white Jews from NY/NJ and have no rhythm and another 30% are too busy sitting in the library all week. I would have given anything to see the drum section of the Colonial Brass take on the Xavier band at the 50 yard line. Oh, that's right. We don't have a football field in downtown DC. Also, its nice to see what Nick Cannon's career was like before he decided to flush it all away with a giant MARIAH tattoo on his back. I'm getting married in May, and I'm pretty sure I'm not getting LAUREN tattooed anywhere on my body. Congrats on finding someone as crazy as you are, Mimi.

Lets go to the picks

MISSOURI -8.5 Illinois

Why not start things off with what could be the biggest game of the week? Mizzou features one of the top WRs in the country in Jeremy Maclin, and not one, but TWO guys named Chase (QB Chase Daniel, and TE Chase Coffman)!

Illinois has Juice Williams at QB, and I'm not dumb enough to make jokes about football players named Juice.

Illinois is also the home of Senator Barack Obama who evidently is running for president. Who knew? From what I hear, he can give a pretty good speech and rally people around him. He's no Ted Kennedy, but really, few are. Hey, Ron Zook, maybe you can book him for the pre-game on Saturday night.

Can Mizzou build on the success of last season? Was their #4 ranking a fluke? Is this Illinois team closer to the 9-4 record of 2007, or the 2 win seasons of 05 and 06? Did I really make an OJ and Obama reference in the same paragraph? The answer to these questions will all be a lot more clear on Sunday morning.

Can Missouri win this game? YES THEY CAN! Can they cover the spread? YES THEY CAN! Have I used enough Obama gimmicks in this pick? YES I HAVE! Its just too bad Hillary didn't get the nod this week - I would have had to pick the Tennessee game. Seriously, did she steal Bruce Pearl's wardrobe?

I'll take the Tigers to cover the spread.

TX A&M -19 Arkansas State

The Aggies rode on the shoulders of Jorvorskie Lane during the last two years, to the tune of 35 TDs and 1500+ yards rushing. His presence is a big question mark on Saturday as A&M takes on the always dangerous Red Wolves of Arkansas State.

Okay, seriously? I don't even believe I wrote that. This is one of those opening games of the season that teams schedule to A) make sure their offense is fine tuned, or B) they don't mind opening the season on the road and they could use a nice paycheck from a bigger program. As lopsided as this game looks on paper, Arkansas State did stay close with Texas in last season's opener, and they do return QB Corey Leonard. Unfortunately for the Red Wolves, Leonard had nearly a 1:1 TD to INT ratio last season, and the Aggies aren't a team that you can make too many mistakes on. Granted, its week one, so who really knows?
I think A&M should have no trouble covering the spread.

VA Tech -9.5 ECU

The Pirates return the favor of last year's opener by hosting the Hokies to start the season, though I'm sure this year won't bring quite the same emotion to the game. ECU comes into this game riding an explosive performance by RB Chad Johnson in the upset of Boise State in last year's Hawaii Bowl, and the Pirates have serious thoughts about returning to the post-season in search of two straight bowl wins. VA Tech meanwhile has clarified their questions at QB, but who will Sean Glennon throw to? Many are also wondering which Branden Ore we'll see this season. The one who torched opponents for 16 TDs and 1300+ all-purpose yards in 2006, or the one who had 9TDs and only broke 100 yards rushing once in 2007.

Personally, I think this season will be a good one for VA Tech. With the memory of an on-campus tragedy no longer hanging directly over their heads, I think they'll be able to make a lot of noise not only in the ACC, but on the national scene as well. Unfortunately for the Hokies, this ECU team will be running down strong C-USA opponents all season. While I think VA Tech will ultimately win this one, I'll take ECU with the points for stupid decision number one of the year.

FLORIDA -34.5 Hawaii

This is not one of the 6 games that Hawaii will win this year. Tim Tebow is too good, the Gators are too strong on defense, and the combo of a new head coach and QB for the Warriors is a bad match against a team looking to prove it is worthy of BCS title consideration.

Hawaii QB Brent Rausch said that when he called his parents to tell them he won the starting job after transferring from The College of the Desert (Go Roadrunners!), "My family found out before I did. My pops was crying. My mom was crying." Sadly for the Rausch family, I think there will be a lot of that this weekend. I'm going with the Gators to cover.

RUTGERS -5 Fresno State

I don't live there anymore, so I no longer have to defend NJ. In fact, if St. John's had a football team . . . Wait they DO have a football team? And they're NATIONALLY RANKED?

Sorry I had to get second source confirmation on that. Turns out there's another St. John's in Minnesota. Phew.

Anyway - Rutgers has a new look to it this season, and I'm not just talking about the stadium. RB and Times Square Billboard favorite Ray Rice has gone to the NFL, and the Scarlet Knights are replacing him with Mason Robinson or Kordell Young, who combined for 20 carries last season. That should be nice.

On the other hand, Fresno State has a QB that can match Mike Teel in Tom Brandstater, an offensive line that can easily man-handle Rutgers' young DL, and a TE in Bear Pascoe (his name is BEAR for crissakes!) that was one of the best run blockers in the country. Couple all of that with the fact that the Bulldogs have a phenomenal RB in Ryan Matthews, and I don't think things look so great for the Scarlet Knights on Monday. I'll take Fresno State with the points. So much for staying loyal to the Garden State. Sorry, guys.

That's it for now. Until next week . . .

Welcome Back

The days of summer are coming to an end; Rich Rodriguez is scraping the Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Mountaineers! sticker off of his pickup truck, and LSU has last year’s Michigan-Appalachian State game on repeat just to remind them what can happen if you’re not prepared. All of this can only mean one thing – COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS UPON IS!!

Welcome to the 2008-2009 Lee’s Picks season preview. While I’m not going to give an in-depth analysis of the no-huddle offense or the reasons that Penn State can return to glory, I will give you some insight on five teams that I figure to make headlines this season.

1. USC – Picked by many pundits to win the National Championship this year, Pete Carroll’s squad has had its fair share of injuries already. Last week, QB Mark “Dirty” Sanchez dislocated his knee during warm-ups, OL Jeff Byers is just getting over a bout of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, RB Joe McKnight closed his hand in a door after staying back at the dorm instead of joining the team to see the Dark Knight, and a bout of jock itch has plagued the team (or as the LA Times writes, “many Trojans have struggled with a skin irritation in the groin area.”). USC officials were quick to clarify the ailment, describing it as chafing and saying the discomfort has been caused by a combination of factors: a new kind of compression shorts; sweat; and, at least in some cases, players failing to wear undergarments beneath the aforementioned shorts. I’m glad I don’t work in the communications department at USC. I can only imagine how that discussion went with reporters.

As far as their chances on the field, I never know with these Pete Carroll teams. In addition to a tough in-conference schedule, the Trojans play at Virginia and Arizona, at home against Ohio State, and then a late season home game against Notre Dame (stop laughing, the Irish could go .500 this year. I’m serious, it isn’t funny). If USC can make it through the season with no more than one loss and beat the Buckeyes in Pasadena, I’m predicting a trip to Dolphin Stadium for the BCS National Championship game in January.

2. OKLAHOMA – I think the Sooners have a very good shot to stay in the top 5 all year. Why? Here are some facts you may not know:

· FACT – OU does not play #7 Missouri in the regular season in 2008. However, the Longhorns play both of the top teams in the “New and Improved” Big XII North (Missouri and Kansas). Somehow this is a good thing for Oklahoma. I tried figuring out the scheduling implications, but halfway through, I blacked out.

· FACT – The Sooners return one of the best WR/KR/Latin Hearthrobs in the Big XII in Joachin “Enrique” Iglesias. Let him be your hero.

· FACT –Sophomore and starting QB Sam Bradford can legally buy alcohol for the rest of the team after he turns 21 at midnight before OU’s matchup with Texas A&M. I’m pretty sure this will make him the oldest sophomore in the country, though that’s really nothing new in Norman.

The Sooners also have an easier non-conference schedule than other top teams (FCS/D-IAA UT-Chattanooga followed by three unranked teams in Cinci, Washington, and TCU) giving them a bit of an edge when it comes closer to the tough Big XII games, including back-to-back weeks against Texas and Kansas. Although OU has the luxury of a conference championship to give them a late-season boost, unless they’re perfect going into that game, I think it will be tough to make a case for their shot at the BCS title. I see them in the Fiesta Bowl again, with a better outcome this time.

3. FLORIDA – Working our way east, the Gators capped off a disappointing season with a six point loss to Michigan in the Citrus Bowl followed by QB and Heisman award winner Tim Tebow turning down a spot on the Playboy All-American team due to his religious views. In doing so, Tim becomes the first Gator to take the moral high road since . . . give me a minute, I’ll think of someone . . . nope, still nothing . . . moving on . . .

I’ll give Florida a good shot at winning the SEC East this year. With a non-conference schedule featuring a rebuilding Hawaii (see below), Miami, and the always-dangerous Citadel. Even FSU isn’t slated to be much improved from their 5-7 finish last year. As long as Tebow can manage to stay healthy (and effectively split his time with Cameron Newton without a significant drop-off) Florida should be able to go 10-2 without any trouble, and compete with Georgia for top spot in the SEC East.

4. HAWAII – Ok, I am an unabashed Warriors fan. I loved watching, writing about, and beating the Colt Brennan drum until my fingers bled. This season, there is a bit of a quarterback controversy in the Aloha State. With Brennan gone and Tyler Graunke taking time off for personal reasons, the Warriors have six quarterbacks on the roster, non of whom have started a game at Hawaii. My gut feeling is that Steele Jantz will get more than a few snaps under center. In true Lee analysis fashion, I have no data to back this up other than the fact that his name is Steele. Seriously, how can you be a QB at Hawaii and not have a kick-ass name? Timmy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang, Colt Brennan, Steele Jantz – all kick-ass names. Sorry, Brent Rausch. You may be pegged to start the year for first-year head coach Greg McMackin, but to succeed at Hawaii, you need to have an awesome name. Just ask Dan Robinson how well he did in 1998. See, boring names = 0-12 seasons.

All that aside, I’m excited to see more of a ground attack from the Warriors this season, in the hopes that it will produce headlines featuring RB Daniel Libre (Libre Breaks Free, Lucha Libre) as well as offensive linemen Keith AhSoon, Aaron Kia and freshman Tui`Atua Tuiasosopo. Really, Brent Rausch, you could learn a lot from these guys. As far as their record? Who cares - all of their games start too late for me to watch live, and ESPN doesn't televise the marquee match ups like Hawaii-Louisiana Tech at 12:05 AM. I'm old and my bedtime is well before midnight. Just for the heck of it I'll say they go 6-7, which is being kind.

5. NOTRE DAME – What can I say about the Irish that hasn’t already been hashed and rehashed to death? Here are a few things I’m sure of for the 2008-09 season:

1. Notre Dame will not lose to two service academies this year. They’re only playing Navy.

2. Only one team (Michigan) out of the first eight that the Irish face had a record over .500 las season. This doesn’t guarantee a 7-1 record going into Chestnut Hill on November 8^th, but it doesn’t hurt their chances of being at least 4-4, surpassing their 07-08 win total.

3. Freshman QB Dayne Crist could be a factor for the Irish immediately. I’m not sold on Jimmy Clausen, and frankly I don’t think that Charlie Weis is either. Crist was the #2 ranked high school QB in the nation last year, and is the most talked about incoming Irish player not named Montana. Should Clausen put up similar numbers to start the season (2 INTs and 0 TDs in his first 4 games, two 100+ yard passing games in his first 7), Crist will get more than a few shots at leading the Irish. And he won’t disappoint.

Will Notre Dame be bowl bound at the end of the year? I don’t think so. I do think they’ll improve on their 3-9 campaign, and will probably score an offensive touchdown in their first game of the season (thanks San Diego State!). However, for the Irish to be bowl eligible, they’ll have to start the season going 4-3 at worst, and then hope to steal a win from either #25 Pittsburgh, or on the road at BC or Navy. If Notre Dame enters the USC game with a 5-6 record, no amount of kelly green jerseys or Jeweled Shillelaghs will help them finish even on the year.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned because this season promises to be more exciting than ever since I learned how to hyperlink and may even bring back the famed Half-Jewish Sports picks of the week (if I can figure out this podcast thing).