Four team Playoff 1988-1997

It seems a college football playoff is coming. At least one of the four team variety. All over the internet, there have been pieces examining what would have happened during the BCS era under the various scenarios. That's all well and good, but many of the greatest controversies would have occurred before 1998 and the advent of the BCS. Here is a look at the 10 years pre-BCS, starting with Notre Dame's 1988 championship season using both the top four and the Big Ten proposed conference champions in the top 6 plans (when necessary). All playoff seedings are determined by the AP Poll, just because its easier to work with.

1997

Top Four

1 Michigan vs 4 Florida St.

2 Nebraska vs 3 Tennessee

Teams left out: Not much. 5 UCLA and 6 Florida both failed to win their conferences and lost two games each. 7 Washington St. was the Pac-10 champ with only one loss, but they were the only team with a beef at all.

1996

Top Four

1 Florida St. vs 4 Ohio St.

2 Arizona St. vs 3 Florida

Teams left out: 5 BYU was 13-1 from the WAC with the only loss to Pac-10 runner up Washington. Everyone else was clearly behind in the pecking order. Considering what happened during bowl season with both undefeated teams losing to the one-loss teams, this is probably the shining example of what a playoff could be.

1995

Top Four

1 Nebraska vs 4 Ohio St. or 4Tennessee (teams tied in AP Poll with exact number of points)

2 Florida vs 3 Northwestern

Conference Champs Top 6

1 Nebraska vs 4 Ohio St/Tennessee or 6 Notre Dame depending on if 9-2 Notre Dame is being treated as a conference champion

2 Florida vs 3 Northwestern

Teams left out: Not much. 10-1-1 Texas won the final SWC crown but finished 9^th in the AP Poll. Everyone else has very little claim of jumping into the playoff. The big debate would have been Ohio St. or Tennessee. I tend to side with Ohio St. that season as the Buckeyes didn't play Northwestern and likely would have beaten them.

1994

Top Four

1 Nebraska vs 4 Colorado

2 Penn St. vs 3 Miami

Conference Champs Top 6

1 Nebraska vs 5 Florida

2 Penn St. vs 3Miami

Teams left out: Under the top four scenario, the SEC would have blown its collective stack. Going into the SEC Championship, Alabama was undefeated and ranked 3^rd. They were beaten by one point by Florida (who had one loss to a top 10 Auburn team and the famous Choke at the Doak tie against Florida St.). SEC apologists would have been arguing for Florida over Colorado and the rematch against Nebraska they would be getting (sound familiar anyone). Meanwhile, Alabama fans would be complaining about the existence of the SEC Championship game knocking them out of the title race when nobody else had to play a title game (nobody else had a title game to that point). Just a mess. Also, 7 Florida St. as champs of the ACC and with a tie against Florida also would have made a claim to deserving a playoff berth.

1993

Top Four

1 Florida St. vs 4 Notre Dame

2 Nebraska vs 3 West Virginia

Teams left out: The SEC would have blown its collective stack just like 1994, but probation was really at fault as the best team was undefeated Auburn but the Tigers were on probation. Tennessee and Florida finished just behind Auburn in the polls, but Florida was the champ. And the champ had the weakest claim with two losses and a ranking of 8.

1992

Top Four

1 Miami vs 4 Texas A&M

2 Alabama vs 3 Florida St.

Teams left out: None controversial. Notre Dame was ranked 5^th but with a loss and a tie. Michigan won the Big Ten and finished undefeated, but with three ties. Of course we now know Notre Dame should have been the fourth team as the Irish pounded undefeated Texas A&M 28-3 in the Cotton Bowl.

1991

Top Four

1 Miami vs 4 Michigan

2 Washington vs 3 Florida

Teams left out: None. Florida St. and Penn St. were ranked 5 and 6 but both had two losses. They then played each other in their bowl game. All of the one-loss teams behind those two had a loss to one of the top four making this really easy.

1990

Top Four

1 Colorado vs 4 Miami

2 Georgia Tech vs 3 Texas

Teams left out: Notre Dame, Florida St., and Penn St all had the same record as Miami and were ranked behind the Hurricanes as did Pac-10 champion Washington. Of course this season was just a total debacle at the top of the country (think 2007 style upsets pretty much every week) considering this was the Colorado team that won the famous 5^th down game.

1989

Top Four

1 Colorado vs 4Notre Dame

2 Miami vs 3 Michigan

Teams left out: Another collective blowing of stacks from the SEC as tri-champions Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee were all not close despite one-loss seasons. Also, SWC champion Arkansas (remember this was before SEC realignment) was 10-1 and left out as well.

1988

Top Four

1 Notre Dame vs 4 Florida St.

2 Miami vs 3 West Virginia

Teams left out: Anyone in a conference. The top four were all independents while 5-7 were all one-loss conference champs (USC in the Pac-10, Nebraska in the Big 8 and Auburn in the SEC). None had any real claim though. USC was beaten by Notre Dame in its last game while ranked number 2 (and city rival UCLA was briefly ranked number one during the season). Nebraska was in a mostly weak Big 8 that was a year away from the rise of Colorado to give it another top team with Oklahoma on the probation down slope and Auburn won the weakest SEC in conference history.

Welcome to the Kentucky Invitational. Hope you have you're at-large bid ready if you're not UK.

SEC is up next on the conference tournament previews and there's no sense in burying the lead here. Kentucky is going to win the tournament. Hope I didn't spoil it already. For everyone else, there is still NCAA seeding and the bubble to play for.

Thursday – First Round

8 LSU vs 9 Arkansas – Arkansas has won all of one game away from home all season. It doesn't really matter who the Razorbacks are playing, I'm not picking them on a neutral court.

5 Alabama vs 12 South Carolina – A classic don't lose game and Alabama won't lose.

7 Ole Miss vs 10 Auburn – Pretty much every tournament needs to have a first round upset and this is the most likely one, especially since there really isn't much to play for unless you are one of the fools who thinks Ole Miss is still on the bubble (they aren't, their RPI just makes it appear so because Andy Kennedy is a smart scheduler).

6 Mississippi St. vs 11 Georgia – Mississippi St. lost to Georgia not long ago. They would be advised to not repeat the mistake. They won't, even if the chemistry issues around this team start flaring... again

Friday – Second Round

1 Kentucky vs 8 LSU – Anyone in this league is just a sacrifice for Kentucky. Wildcats roll.

4 Florida vs 5 Alabama – Florida is the most overrated team in all of college basketball this season. Alabama is pretty average. Makes for a good game, especially when one team is trying to avoid the 8-9 game and the other is trying to avoid the First Four. When in doubt, go with the guards in tournament play. Sadly, that means Florida.

2 Tennessee vs 10 Auburn – Tennessee desperately needs this game. Auburn will just be happy to have gotten the win needed to ensure a .500 finish at this point.

3 Vanderbilt vs 6 Mississippi St. - The Mississippi St. pinhead complex is going to show up at some point in this tournament. And is won't be at the end either. Well, maybe the Bulldogs end which will come right here against Vandy's experienced playmakers.

Saturday – Semifinals

1 Kentucky vs 4 Florida – Anyone in this league is just a sacrifice for Kentucky. Wildcats roll. Also, notice that these matchups consist entirely of teams from the old SEC East, as usual.

2 Tennessee vs 3 Vanderbilt – Tennessee may have beaten Vandy at home last Saturday, but I still think the Commodores are a better team and this game will show it.

Sunday – Final

1 Kentucky vs 3 Vanderbilt – Vandy is the only team in the SEC that can even harbor thoughts of beating Kentucky. That said, they will still be sacrificed for the 3^rd time this season, just not in as gruesome a manner as the rest of the league.

SEC Tournament Questions

Any bid-thieves?

None, at least of the auto-bid variety. Can anyone out there envision a scenario where anyone other than Kentucky or maybe fellow tourney-lock Vanderbilt wins this event? I didn't think so.

Most likely flame-out

Mississippi St. The obvious character and chemistry issues on this team could blow up at basically any time, including the first round.

How many bids for the SEC?

Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt are all going for sure. Alabama only needs to not lose to South Carolina. Beyond that, I think Tennessee and Mississippi St. fall one win short, leaving us with four SEC teams.

Reassessing the Landscape - SEC

There is one month to go in the season. That means one month until Championship Saturday. With conference seasons in full swing and some already nearing conclusions, it's time to reassess the major BCS conferences (ACC, Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, sorry Big East, you stink and Cincinnati is going to win you for the 3^rd time in 4 years) continuing today with the SEC. Previously: ACC, Pac-12

West Division (in order of current standings)

LSU (9-0, 6-0) – Les Miles now needs to keep his team focused. Despite his incredible job of outcoaching Nick Saban last week, Miles has never had a perfect season. He will need it to seal a second National Championship. Other than a possible loss of focus (and we have seen this from Miles teams, notably last season's Tennessee game and the 2007 Kentucky game), the other issue is a possible quarterback issue. Jarrett Lee looked like a deer in headlights from early on against Alabama. I even remarked on twitter that if Lee keeps ducking and throwing off his back foot he would throw a couple of picks. Exactly what he did.

Predicted Finish: 13-0, 8-0 (wins over Western Kentucly, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Georgia in SEC Championship Game)

Alabama (8-1, 5-1) – After losing the way they did, this team is ripe to be picked off by someone, but nobody on the remaining schedule has the personnel to manage it. Mississippi St. can't score enough and Auburn won't be able to stop Alabama enough. That said, this team should enjoy New Orleans this time around, something they didn't get to do the last time (2008 loss to Utah).

Predicted Finish: 11-1, 7-1 (wins over Mississippi St., Georgia Southern and Auburn)

Arkansas (8-1, 4-1) – Somehow are 8-1 and on the fringe of the National Championship race, but really need another Alabama loss. That said, there is no way they beat LSU on the road given the way we have seen them play in road games this season (let's be nice and say it hasn't been pretty).

Predicted Finish: 10-2, 6-2 (wins over Tennessee and Mississippi St., loss to LSU)

Auburn (6-3, 4-2) – Gene Chizik has done an incredible coaching job with this team, even moreso than last year. This team has a ton of talent on it, but it is really young and there are quarterback issues. How this team has gotten to six wins with the schedule it played is beyond my comprehension. It makes no sense.

Predicted Finish: 7-5, 4-4 (win over Samford, losses to Georgia and Alabama)

Mississippi St. (5-4, 1-4) – Bulldogs looked great on offense early, but we didn't know how bad Memphis as a whole and the Auburn defense really were at that point. Then came LSU and the Tigers stuffed the Bulldogs in a burlap sack, beat them over the head with a baseball and dumped them down the river. I'm not sure if the Bulldog offense has extracted themselves from the sack yet, but they are out of the river now.

Predicted Finish: 6-6, 2-6 (win over Ole Miss, losses to Alabama and Arkansas)

Ole Miss (2-7, 0-6) – If Houston Nutt ever gets another job coaching I would be shocked. His ability to destroy every positive thing about a quarterback is nearly unprecedented. Given the talent Nutt inherited (Ed Orgeron may have been a terrible coach, but he's a great recruiter), the program should not be in this shoddy state.

Predicted Finish: 2-10, 0-8 (losses to Louisiana Tech, LSU and Mississippi St.)

East Division

Georgia (7-2, 5-1) – Cruise control through the SEC's weak underbelly continues. How on Earth did Georgia draw a West schedule without Alabama, LSU or Arkansas on it. Given that and the two losses to start the season, the jury is out on the Bulldogs. A loss to Auburn this week (likely gifting the East to South Carolina in the process) would at least give us what we want to know. Otherwise, it waits until the return trip to the Georgia Dome.

Predicted Finish: 10-3, 7-1 (wins over Auburn, Kentucky and Georgia Tech, loss to LSU in CCG)

South Carolina (7-2, 5-2) – There have been all sorts of issues and bizareness, but the season ultimately comes down to one thing: WTF were these guys doing against Auburn and how the heck did they lose?

Predicted Finish: 8-4, 5-3 (win over Citadel, losses to Florida and Clemson)

Florida (5-4, 3-4) – Given what we have seen out of Jacoby Brisset and Jeff Driskel, next year's offense doesn't look encouraging. I hope Charlie Weis and Will Muschamp are targeting an elite quarterback. He might get the chance to play as a freshman.

Predicted Finish: 7-5, 4-4 (wins over South Carolina and Furman, loss to Florida St.)

Kentucky (4-5, 1-4) – Blowing out Ole Miss saved this season from spiraling into unmitigated disaster territory. That said, a bowl game looks increasingly unlikely given that Kentucky hasn't beaten Tennessee (even bad versions of Tennessee with decent Kentucky teams) since the mid-1980s.

Predicted Finish: 4-8, 1-7 (losses to Vanderbilt, Georgia and Tennessee)

Vanderbilt (4-5, 1-5) – Ditto Kentucky minus the unmitigated disaster part. Given a couple of years more and Vandy might be a legit 7-8 win team. And James Franklin will be a very rich man, coaching somewhere else. Possibly even at Maryland, where he was Coach in Waiting until bailing before being fired with the entire coaching staff just to start over from nothing.

Predicted Finish: 6-6, 3-5 (wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, loss to Wake Forest)

Tennessee (4-5, 0-5) – If it could go wrong in SEC play for Tennessee it will. For some reason, this team is cursed (blame Lane Kiffin if you like) and even when they do things right, it turns out wrong. Somehow though, they can still make a bowl game, even after they get steamrolled by Arkansas Saturday Night. They won't though because of the injuries.

Predicted Finish: 5-7, 1-7 (win over Kentucky, losses to Arkansas and Vanderbilt)

LSU-Alabama week - The SEC's Forgotten Big Game

LSU-Alabama is going to be huge. Nobody doubts that. There are other games with varying degrees of national relevance that others will be paying attention to, especially in the Big 12 (Oklahoma St.-Kansas St. and Oklahoma-Texas A&M). Yet most have, at least for now, forgotten about another game between top 10 teams that are at least on the fringe of the National Championship race.

SEC fans likely know that I am talking about the Arkansas-South Carolina game this Saturday, set to kickoff at the unfortunate time of 7:15 ET (why couldn't we get some schedule rejiggering from ESPN to fix this?). That is all of 45 minutes before the Game of the Century for this season kicks off. Too bad for those teams. Their showdown is likely to go all but unwatched, especially with Oklahoma St.-Kansas St. and Notre Dame (for all their faults as a program they are still a good draw on tv) on in the same timeslot.

Other than the obvious, why does nobody care about this game, especially considering it could decide the SEC East winner?

LSU and Alabama are perceived to be so far above everyone else that one of them losing to another SEC team is considered inconceivable – What that really means is even though this game matches the 7^th and 9^th ranked teams in the country, nobody really thinks these has a chance against their conference overlords. In Arkansas' case, they were already blown out at Alabama and will likely suffer the same fate against LSU and really there has been no evidence to contradict that belief in regards to the LSU game. As for South Carolina, they are riddled with problems at quarterback and running back and they lost at home to Auburn. Despite the high ranking, there is no way anyone believes this South Carolina team, even with its great defense, is going to score enough to beat Alabama or LSU if they reach Atlanta.

Arkansas and South Carolina both look overrated, especially in recent games – Other than smoking Auburn, Arkansas has done little to justify its high ranking other than not lose. They should have lost to both Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. They also nearly lost to Ole Miss. This is hardly the stuff of a top ten team. As for South Carolina, the offensive struggle against Tennessee was brutally ugly and the loss to Auburn wasn't too long ago. Remember that since the South Carolina-Auburn game, Auburn has been destroyed by both Arkansas and LSU and played in one of the worst major SEC games of the season against Florida. Each week that goes by, that loss seems to become more of a boat anchor on the Gamecocks resume as Auburn obviously isn't great.

There is a lack of star power on both rosters right now – Let's face it, star power sells matchups, especially in games below the top game in a given week. Because of Andrew Luck, people have cared about Stanford even when playing such middling competition as Washington and Duke. On the Arkansas roster, Tyler Wilson has been good, but hasn't really become that kind of 'IT' guy and Knile Davis injury robbed the Razorbacks of that possibility at running back. As for South Carolina, the Marcus Lattimore injury crushed their star power and, as good and hyped as Melvin Ingram and Jadaveon Clowney have been, they haven't really become stars. With no real superstars, there is no compelling reason on a players level to watch this game.

The rest of the SEC behind the top two really isn't very good at all – Let's face the facts. This year's SEC with Alabama and LSU at the top looks a lot like the 2008-9 SEC with Alabama and Florida well out in front of everyone else and little elite depth in the league behind them. That Auburn is still ranked somehow is proof of this (and the difficulty of the Tigers schedule so far) because Auburn most certainly does not pass the eye test as a top 25 team this season. Other than Auburn, and the teams in this weekend's big games, only Georgia is ranked and that could even be considered dubious given the lack of quality wins the Bulldogs have banked (Florida and Mississippi St. are the best ones). What this really means is that LSU and Alabama have elevated the league this season and they have elevated it to the point that everyone else benefits in the rankings, even when they lose to those team. That has led to overrated teams. When those overrated teams play each other, nobody really cares, even if those teams are ranked highly. Hence we have our top 10 showdown this week, that might as well not be taking place.

So should we really care about this game? Only in the context of the SEC East race. The division championship still means something and even if South Carolina is way overrated at number 9, especially without Lattimore, they still have a chance to win the division. That likely only happens if they win this week, making the game meaningful. As for Arkansas, they sit in limbo, headed to the Cotton Bowl to play Texas in all likelihood with not much else they can do other than surprise LSU and steal a BCS berth for a second consecutive season (good luck with that Hogs). So, for all of that, this game needs to be watched. I recommend getting the second tv out or set your espn3 feeds to this game. It is nowhere near the best game of the week and it really isn't of the stature a top 10 game normally is, but it still is a big game with major implications, especially in the SEC race.

Early College Football Conference Projections

Today begins way too early College Football Previews. This is short blips on three conferences. The other BCS leagues will follow next week and the Non-BCS leagues will follow after that.

Pac-12

LaMichael James of Oregon runs away from the Stanford defense.

The North appears to be Oregon against Stanford though I think Stanford is overrated. I also think Oregon St. will bounce back a bit from last season's disappointment. Even with that, it division is Oregon's to lose. Cal will also be improved, but not enough to beat Oregon at Autzen Stadium and the Washington schools are not at a point to challenge for division titles at this point in either of their rebuilding processes. Expect Oregon to win this division fairly easily.

In the South, the best team last year was Arizona and that team seems to have all sorts of issues and baggage considering they carry a five game losing streak into the season and have to go to Oklahoma St. in week two, just a few months after getting clobbered by the Cowboys in a bowl game. Considering USC is ineligible to win the division and Colorado is starting over with a new coaching staff, that leaves underachiving UCLA, pinheaded (at least on defense with loose cannon Vontaze Burfict) Arizona St. and league newcomer Utah to compete with Arizona for the title. With how wide open it is, no outcome should be surprising here. I am picking UCLA to bounce back after last season's disaster on the basis that the near biblical plague level of injuries to quarterbacks and offensive linemen has to stop at some point and when it does this year, the offense will finally look competant for the first time under Rick Neuheisel.

Conference Title Game: Oregon over UCLA

Big Ten

Former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson may be the key
Wisconsin's season, if he enrolls there to lead the Badgers.

The other expanded league offers the idiocy of the Ohio St. situation. With players suspended and the coaching staff under siege, it won't matter this seasons. Ohio St. will still win its division, though with a loss or two thrown in. The reason being that they host Wisconsin and only two out of three out of the Nebraska, Michigan St., Michigan triumvarate will be needed to win it. To the rest other than quarterbackless Wisconsin (who becomes the favorite if NC State quarterback Russell Wilson enrolls there), good luck surviving, you will need it though I expect a better season out of Penn St.

In the other division (don't ask me the name, I still can't figure out which is the Leaders and which is the Legends), Nebraska appears to be the class of the division with Michigan St. trailing behind. Iowa is a possible threat, but I don't expect the Hawkeyes to challenge for the division title even if they do exceed expectations.

Conference Title Game: Ohio St overturns a regular season loss to Nebraska to send Jim Tressel out a winner.

SEC

The key to SEC West race lies above: Alabama hosts
LSU and Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium

In the West, Auburn loses everything after winning the National Title last season. The Tigers will be lucky to even win seven games against one of the more grueling schedules in all of college football. With the champs out of the way, it comes down to Arkansas, LSU and Alabama (Mississippi St. will be good and might even determine the division champ by beating one of the top three but they won't go the minimum 2-1 against those three while also winning every other game needed to win the division). All appear loaded and all have quarterback issues to fix. The ultimate tiebreaker here will be homefield. Alabama gets both LSU and Arkansas at home to see them through.

In the East, Georgia will be the best team by the end of the season, but South Carolina will beat the Bulldogs early and make it stand up to win the division for a second straight year. Tennessee is still a year or two away from being a real contender again (not that it mattered when average Tennessee teams won the east in 2004 and 2007) and Florida is just a mess offensively right now despite the overwhelming talent level there. The Gators will ultimately be fine under new coach Will Muschamp, but before another year of suffering.

Conference Title Game: Alabama over South Carolina

College Basketball Conference Previews – SEC East

As the college football regular season ends, we are in the midst of college basketball season. Over the next few weeks up until conference play jumps into full swing in early January, I will be previewing some of the more interesting conference races. Some of these include the SEC today, Pac-10, Mountain West and Big East along with a couple of more off the radar conferences such as the Big West and Sun Belt.

Team capsules are in order of predicted finish. SEC West will follow tomorrow.

The SEC East is a much better division than the West. Nobody will dispute that and the non-conference results will prove that considering the awful starts by both Alabama and Auburn and the major wins held by Kentucky and Tennessee in the East.

Kentucky – Talent ultimately wins in basketball over the course of a season. Kentucky has the most of it and only Tennessee is really close (the Vols have their own problems looking ahead to conference play. The biggest question about the Wildcats is how the young freshman class faces adversity though they have done a good job overcoming problems so far this season despite the early losses to Connecticut and North Carolina. The other thing I will say is that Terrance Jones is a beast and if the Wildcats somehow get Enes Kanter eligible on appeal they will be a tough out come the NCAA tournament.

Tennessee – Top to bottom, Tennessee has as much talent as Kentucky, but Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris are not nearly as good as Terrance Jones at Kentucky. While I think Tennessee might be able to overcome that under normal circumstances, coach Bruce Pearl being suspended for the first eight conference games will hurt, especially in close road games. The Vols will be fine come March, but I expect a couple of odd upset losses in the first half of the conference schedule.

Vanderbilt – I have been impressed by what I have seen out of Vanderbilt thus far. They probably should have beaten Missouri last night and have a very good win over North Carolina. In particular John Jenkins has impressed me with his ability to get his own shot and while Festus Ezeli has been good, there is still room for improvement from him as he continues to learn the game. The big question I have about this team is the defense which I think is average. I don't expect the Commodores to be able to stop top shelf teams like Tennessee and Kentucky enough to win the road games against them that will be needed to break into the top two.

Georgia – Since Trey Thompkins got his legs under him after missing the first three games and losing their first two with him, Georgia has looked good. No decent team in the league relies on one player to win more than Georgia does with Thompkins. That said, Thompkins is the best player in the SEC and I fully expect him to have at least one huge game against Tennessee or Kentucky allowing his team to pull the upset and sneak into the NCAA tournament.

Florida – It seems Billy Donovan's team has regressed to its pre-National Title run status. Super-talented with chemistry issues and ten cent heads that make dumb plays down the stretch. The problem is that these guys aren't as talented as their predecessors at the beginning of the 2000s and they certainly aren't as talented as the group that won back to back national titles. Even Donovan seems perplexed as he criticized his players for not making anyone else on the team better after a surprising loss to Central Florida last week. These problems aren't going away as long as this group is still in Gainesville (it has been a problem for three years now) and while the talent on the roster still might get the Gators into the NCAA Tournament, they certainly won't make a deep run.

South Carolina – The Gamecocks are still in complete rebuilding mode. They lost their best player and point guard Devan Downey to graduation after last season and aren't expected to do anything though they seem to be much better than previously thought. So far, South Carolina has pushed Michigan St. on the road and beaten Clemson. They also have no bad losses so far (separating them from their conference mates in the West). To make the NCAA Tournament, South Carolina is going to need a signature victory or two and while SEC play will offer those opportunities with games against Tennessee and Kentucky, it would be better for the Gamecocks if they beat Ohio St. and/or Boston College before conference plays next month.

College Football Preview - Week 1 viewers guide

As a college football junkie, right now is a major time of the year. We find out when and what channels we get to watch our favorite teams play on the first three weeks of the season. Today its what games from week 1 we should be watching in each telecast window from both an SEC and Pac-10/Mountain West perspective early on.

Thursday September 2 - Opening day
Games of note
Southern Miss @ South Carolina, 6:30 CT, 4:30 PT, ESPN
Pittsburgh @ Utah, 7:30 CT, 5:30 PT, Versus
USC @ Hawaii, 10 CT, 8PT, ESPN

SEC fans should watch Southern Miss @ South Carolina then USC @ Hawaii if inclined to watch anything else. Pac-10/MWC fans should watch Pittsburgh @ Utah if able then flip to USC @ Hawaii after that game ends if USC hasn't already blown Hawaii out.