Week One

What a great first weekend of college football. For me, it could not have gone any better, Ole Miss losses to Jacksonville State in a great game then Mississippi State comes out and exceeds my expectations by demolishing Memphis, 49-7! Watching Ole Miss lose was absolutely great, and made twice as sweet with the whole Masoli situation.

The top 3 teams in the Mountain West certainly made a great showing, but the bottom part of that conference looked really bad (New Mexico 0 Oregon 72). Unfortunately Michigan and Notre Dame won so we have to hear that crap all week. But the foundation has been laid for another great college football season.

I was ok on my predictions, I was 11-1 in the SEC and 4-2 on the national games.

Here are my SEC Power Rankings after Week 1:

1. Alabama - Took care of business, no need to move them. I know they will get all the pub this week playing Penn State, but that pub should go to the USC/UGA game or MSU/AUB game.

2. Arkansas - The Hogs move up one spot because I had to move the Gators down. They did what they were supposed to this week.

3. Florida - They looked inept on offense, Pouncey looked like a JV high school football center in that game. I'm sure they'll correct and they better quick because South Florida is a lot better than Miami (OH).

4. Auburn - Cam Newton looks like the real deal. Auburn fans might not think so, but Thursday night vs. Mississippi State is going to be a showdown.

5. South Carolina - I was very impressed with South Carolina this week, they made me feel much better about me picking them to win the East. Huge, absolutely huge game vs. UGA on Saturday (a game no one nationally will talk about this weekend).

6. Georgia - Aaron Murrey looked good and Georgia looks like a force this year. The question this week is will Ealey and A.J. Green play vs. South Carolina?

7. Mississippi State - I don't feel like having State this high is being a homer at all because the way they played they deserve it. They dominated Memphis and Tyler Russell looks like he's ready to play a major role...big game vs. Auburn this week.

8. LSU - The Tigers were more like cats in the 2nd half vs. UNC. Les Miles does less with more talent than any coach in America. I've moved them down 2 spots, and they might struggle against Vandy this week, what is this team?

9. Kentucky - The game against Louisville turned out about like I thought it would. Locke and Cobb are huge and Hartline has really improved. They've got a good team.

10. Tennessee - Much to my suprised the Vols rolled UT-Martin. I know it's a I-AA school but you've really got to be playing well to beat a team 50-0. We'll see what they've really got this week against Oregon.

11. Vanderbilt - Vandy should be commended for how tough they played Northwestern, a good Big 10 team. They got robbed on a terrible late hit call on the last play of the game that would've gotten them the ball back, but they move up from 12th to 11th here.

12. Ole Miss - If you lose to a I-AA school, you land here. They got what they deserve in my opinion...trying to circumvent the system getting Masoli on the team. We'll see how they bounce back this week at Tulane.

My National Top 5:
1. Alabama
2. Boise State
3. Nebraska
4. Miami (FL)
5. TCU

I think Boise State proved they are legit again this year beating Virginia Tech on the road. Hopefully people can put the discussion about whether they belong in the National Championship Game on the shelf until December, we'll see how good VA Tech's season turns out to be. Week 2 looks like a great one, tons of great games and I'll preview that on Friday once I get a few days under my belt to look at the matchups.

I am really looking forward to the game on Thursday night between Mississippi State and Auburn. Not only is it a family rivalry for me with myself, my wife, and my father going to State and my two brothers and mother going to Auburn, but I think State has a great chance to beat Auburn and turn 2010 into a great season. It will be interesting to see what Cam Newton brings to Auburn against an SEC defense. I think State is going to hit Newton in the mouth early and often and see how he responds. He's never seen a defense like he's going to see Thursday, and the crowd should be hostile. I think Auburn will still rattle off some big plays but I also think State will match that. Hopefully State will be able to pound the ball against Auburn's D-line and play keep-away during the 2nd half. Both defenses will have something to prove, Auburn because they gave up 26 points to Arkansas State and because MSU scored 49 last week; and State's D because Auburn had a great offense last year and it looks even better this season. So I think the defenses come to play and it's probably a little lower scoring than most would think. I'm calling for the upset, 27-24 Bullogs.

JB