40 Acres Sports

Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach has been very vocal lately that he thinks his quarterback Graham Harrell isn’t getting a fair shake from the media or NFL scouts. He stood up for Harrell at Heisman time and is now upset that his QB went undrafted this weekend. In the process of defending Harrell he took a hilarious shot at former Aggie and future Cowboy backup Stephen McGee: “I’m happy for Stephen McGee,” Mike Leach said. “The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”

Ouch.

Cowboys fans should be excited they’re getting a quarterback who couldn’t even start for his college team, just like Dallas legend Quincy Carter. Plus, he’s a jerk:

McGee actually isn’t terrible and was done in by horrible coaching and mediocre teammates at A&M, maybe he’ll have better success with a poorly run NFL franchise. Dennis Franchione tried to make into an option QB for no reason and then current head coach Mike Sherman decided the team’s future was more important than McGee’s. With good coaching, McGee has the talent to become a decent backup in the league, hopefully he gets an attitude adjustment as well.

Source (Note: Watching Aggies and Tech fans argue on the Internet is hilarious.)

Texas fans get only one chance each spring to see their football team on television, but this year many will have to pony up for the sports package if they want to watch the annual spring game. Unlike previous years where the game was live on FSN Southwest, this Sunday’s game will air tape delayed on ESPN’s college sports network ESPNU.

The scrimmage will begin at 2:30pm and at that time will be televised on ESPN360.com. Then tune in at 8:30pm to catch the game on ESPNU. The FSN telecasts were pretty bare bones and also missed a lot of the plays, hopefully this change means better coverage because it cost me $12.

Schedule of Events

Noon – Fan Fest opens in the Red McCombs Red Zone. Enter through Gates 14 and 16 off 23rd St.
12:15 p.m. – Players walk through the Tom and Cinda Hicks North Gate
1:30 p.m. – Gates to the stadium open
2:30 p.m. – Scrimmage begins
6 p.m. – Sod sale concludes

More details.

Two of my favorite things about Sports Illustrated growing up were the weekly “Sign of the Apocalypse” and “They Said It” bits in ever issue. They were a glimpse at the weird and interesting side of sports that we didn’t get to see much before we had access to the the ubiquitous freak show we call the Internet.

In this week’s issue (with “Up For Grabs” cover) two former Texas defensive linemen were featured, just another sign of the tons of Horns now playing throughout the NFL. Defensive end Brian Orakpo had an awkward quote about he’ll fit in NFL defenses, “a versatile guy is a guy who can be very versatile.” Very well put Brian. Meanwhile, in this week’s “Sign of the Apocalypse”:

The Browns’ Shaun Rogers reportedly wants to be traded, in part because new coach Eric Mangini didn’t say hello to at the team’s practice facility in January.

I’m sure more there’s more to the Rogers/Mangini story, judging by his quick and unceremonious exit from New York he definitely appears to be a tough person to like. You don’t have to be friends with your coaches or teammates, but someone small and petty enough to intentionally walk past you without saying high doesn’t exactly earn much respect.

Over the last several days Texas football players Colt McCoy, Brian Orakpo, and Jordan Shipley have brought in several All-American honors. Orakpo in particular has brought in four such honors including a first team AP All-American award today. Check out the list of honors below:

Colt McCoy

• Second team AP All-American
• First team Football Writers (FWAA) All-American
• First team Walter Camp All-American

Brian Orakpo

• First team AP All-American
• First team Football Writers (FWAA) All-American
• First team Walter Camp All-American
• AFCA Coaches’ All-America

Jordan Shipley

• Third team AP All-American

From last week before the Heisman presentation but I missed it, Colt McCoy on the Jim Rome Show:

For the first time in a few weekends there are lots of good games for our viewing pleasure. A few have National Championship implications, and a few are just good rivalry match-ups. Of course the big one is tonight and all Texas fans will be glued to the match-up in Stillwater. Most Texas fans rooted for OU last week and they one, I think they owe us a favor now and need to lose against Okie State.

Another solid 2-1 last weekend and I am planning on going undefeated today. Let’s see what’s going on:

#22 Georgia Tech at #11 Georgia (-7.5) - 12:00 PM EST on CBS. Georgia doesn’t have a shot at going to the National Championship, but they probably don’t care much about that this Saturday as all they want to do is kill Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech, and the whole ACC for that matter, has been very up and down this season. Since Georgia Tech played so well last weekend, they are due to get blown out this weekend. Take Georgia and the easy win.

Auburn at #1 Alabama (-14.5) - 3:30 PM EST on CBS. Even Auburn had ANY semblance of a real quarterback, I would probably take them in this game. Even though this is a heated rivalry game, since Alabama already has the SEC West wrapped up, I feel they may be looking ahead to Florida. But that won’t really matter much since they will jump out early and dominate this game from the beginning. Take Alabama, but buy the half point just in case.

#4 Florida at #20 Florida State (+16.5) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. The same thing applies in this game. Florida already has the SEC East wrapped up and all anyone can talk about it their matchup against Alabama. Florida State actually has the athletes that can keep up with Florida and won’t be too surprised by their speed. Now that won’t help them win, but I do think it will help them cover. I am thinking Florida State covers this one.

Baylor at #7 Texas Tech (-23) - 3:30 PM EST. The big question in this one is whether or not Texas Tech will have a letdown game after getting drubbed in Norman. Baylor has played pretty well this season and I think this 23 points might be a tad high. Yeah Tech can score some points, but I bet a lot of them think their season is over. Baylor might even win this one. Take the Bears and the points.

#3 Oklahoma at #12 Oklahoma State (+8) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. Obviously the biggest game of the day for Texas fans. Luckily this weekend we actually get to root against OU. As much as I would like to think Oklahoma State can hang with OU, I just can’t make myself believe it. Oklahoma State does have the extra week to prepare for this one, but if OU plays up to their potential that doesn’t matter. I expect Stoops to have Oklahoma extra ready for this one and they probably plan to make another statement this weekend. Take Oklahoma and give the points, and say goodbye to our National Championship dreams.

Finally. The best source for college sports coverage on the Web Rivals.com has upgraded their video player to allow embedding of video on other websites. They’re only allowing other sites to post non-premium videos so it doesn’t look like there will be a ton of free recruit videos but their features and highlight packages are also good and much of that content available.

Some of the better recent Texas videos are below…

A video breakdown of Colt McCoy’s day versus Kansas:

Rivals Minute’s Ashley Russell discusses Will Muschamp:

Feel free to have your own opinion of what Buck Burnette’s punishment should have been and whether a mistake that destroys a team is worse than other criminal offenses, but at least don’t base it on “facts” that you made up yourself.

Read the story below from SI.com, no link because they don’t deserve it:

Crime and punishment at Texas
Bill Trocchi

Sorry if I’m late on this topic, but let me get this straight.

Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle was arrested for driving while intoxicated in the summer of 2007 and got a three-game suspension.

Texas defensive end Henry Melton was arrested for driving while intoxicated in the summer of 2007 and got a three-game suspension.

Texas defensive tackle Lamarr Houston was arrested for driving while intoxicated in September and got a one-game suspension. Here’s a link on all three arrests.

Texas center Buck Burnette posted a text message he received from a friend that contained a racial slur directed at Barack Obama on his Facebook page and was dismissed from the team.

Huh?

Ah, now I see. Look at the depth chart. Kindle, Melton and Houston all start. Burnette was a backup. Hmmmm.

Clearly, discipline needed to be handed out in all four cases. But the Facebook incident is by far the least punishable. Offensive? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Endangering the lives of others? No.

You can’t suspend a guy for one game after a DWI arrest and dismiss another for a Facebook racial slur. It is an insincere attempt to show you run such a clean and virtuous a program that you boot (backup) players when they post stupid, racially insensitive remarks on a Facebook page.

And then you hope nobody notices you start three drunk drivers on defense.

Let’s review those facts…

• Melton, Kindle, and Houston received lighter punishments because they’re starters. - Actually only Houston was a starter at the time of his arrest. Kindle was a second stringer who mainly saw time on special teams while Melton was buried on the depth chart after switching to defense from running back.
• “The Facebook incident is by far the least punishable.” - Actually, threatening the life of the President is a federal offense, but it doesn’t sound like he knew what Burnette actually said. Just today a Spring man was sentenced to 30 months in jail for threatening George W. Bush and another man faces up to 35 years in jail for threats he made on Internet message boards. Sounds pretty serious to me. The first DWI offense in Texas is punishable with up to 180 days in jail.
• Backups don’t matter so it’s okay to punish them. - With the injury this week to starting center Chris Hall the importance of backups is even more clear. Texas will be starting a true freshman at center against Kansas instead of Burnette.

I can see that he’s easily confused.

I’m not sure what fact checking Sports Illustrated does of their FanNation blog, but this article should have never gone up. Despite repeated corrections to the article being posted by commenters the original story still hasn’t been updated or corrected.

For the third time in four weeks the number one Texas Longhorns will be playing a game with the ESPN College Gameday crew on hand. Not too many people voluntarily go to Lubbock but Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso will head to West Texas to see the Horns clash with number seven Texas Tech.

Gameday airs from the campus of the biggest match-up of the week. Tune in at 10 a.m. Saturday to see Red Raiders fans in action. The last time the Gameday crew took in a Texas/Texas Tech game the Horns rolled the Red Raider 52 - 17 back in 2005 on the way to a national championship. Let’s hope we’re headed to similar outcomes both for this Saturday and the season.

Some really good match-ups this weekend, especially in the Big 12. You get to start off the day with Texas Tech playing on the road in Kansas, and then get to watch the #1 Texas Longhorns play Oklahoma State in the afternoon. Then you get to finish on the day with Penn State playing at Ohio State in the late game on ABC. Overall not a bad Saturday, not bad at all.

Now I did only go 2-2 last week, but I am still around 70% for the season. This weekend should be good.

#8 Texas Tech vs. #23 Kansas (PK) - 12:00 PM EST on ESPN. Texas Tech is 7-0 for the first time since 1976, but their undefeated is in serious jeopardy this weekend playing at Kansas. Kansas has proven they can score and Texas Tech’s defense has been looking pretty week in the last 2 weeks. The over/under in this one is around 68, which is not nearly enough for these two teams. Look for this one to be in the 80s as Kansas pulls out the victory in the end.

#6 Oklahoma State vs. #1 Texas (-12.5) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. Texas doesn’t get a break as they face another top ranked team for the 3rd straight week. I think Texas has proven they can handle the pressure of being #1 in the nation by demolishing Mizzou last weekend. Even though Texas has won 10 straight in this match-up, Oklahoma State has been a trouble spot for Texas in recent years, needing many a miracle 2nd half comeback to pull out the victory. I think this year Texas will jump out early at home and continue to apply pressure throughout the game. Give the points in this one.

#7 Georgia vs. #13 LSU (-1.5) - 3:30 PM EST on CBS. To me this one seems pretty simple. LSU has nothing at the quarterback position, and that will kill you with the SEC defenses. LSU’s defense struggled mightily against Florida’s speed, and it will probably be more of the same against Georgia. I really hate to go against LSU, but my gut tells me they don’t have a shot in this one.

#3 Penn State vs. #9 Ohio State (+2) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. This one might be the toughest on the board. You can make pretty good arguments both ways. Ohio State has been playing much better since getting blown out by USC, but Penn State has just been dominating every opponent. To me this one just comes down to offense. Ohio State struggles to score points, and Penn State averages 45 points per game. Even though this one is at OSU, take Penn State minus the points.

Last week, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and then avoided the jinx when he went out and walloped the Missouri Tigers. The NBA preview edition is out and on the one of the regional covers of the magazine is former Longhorn basketball star Kevin Durant.

No big article on Durant or the OKC Thunder but he is of course the main feature on the team preview. Another form Horn LaMarcus Aldridge is also the focus of the Blazers’ preview, but of course the overrated Greg Oden gets an eight-page story. Whoever the real star is, the experts expect another big improvement this season for Portland.

Click on the thumbnail on the left to view a larger version.

Not sure any weekend will be able to top the match-ups we saw on Saturday, but there are plenty of good games to watch tomorrow. You get to start your day off with an early SEC battle with #22 Vanderbilt playing at #10 Georgia. Then you get a nice afternoon game with #16 Kansas playing at #4 Oklahoma. After that I suggest you take a quick nap and then it will be time for #1 Texas to take on #11 Mizzou in the marquee match-up of the day. Gameday will be in Austin, as will I.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the big games. FYI, I went 3-1 last weekend against the spread (for around the 5th straight weekend). Hopefully some of you are making some money with me.

#22 Vanderbilt at #10 Georgia (-15) - 12:30 PM EST on ESPN Gameplan. How will Vanderbilt respond to their first loss of the season? I’ll tell you how, they will get destroyed by Georgia in Athens. Let’s just take a quick look at the numbers here. Georgia is averaging 440 yards in total offense and Vanderbilt is only averaging 262.5 yards. Georgia is averaging 280.8 yards passing and Vanderbilt is only averaging 102.7 yards. This has blow-out written all over it.

#16 Kansas at #4 Oklahoma (-20) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. Talk about a line jump, this game was set to open at 14 and was immediately bumped up to 20. Seems like a big number to me. Oklahoma’s best defensive player Ryan Reynolds is out for the season and their defense is fresh off allowing 438 yards to Texas. Kansas’ 7th ranked passing offense should keep them in the game. I don’t expect Kansas to win, but I think they can hang in there and not lose by 3 touchdowns.

#12 Ohio State at #20 Michigan State (+3.5) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. I guess you won’t really be able to watch this game since the OU game will be on, but this one could get interesting. Ohio State should be on high upset alert as Michigan State has been on a roll winning their last 6 games. You may know by now I am a big advocate of the run game, and that is where Michigan State excels with Javon Ringer already racking up over 1100 yards. And just so you know since Pryor took over the quarterback duties from Boeckman, the Buckeyes have had the 10th worst passing offense averaging 128 yards per game. I am liking Michigan State here, money-line.

#11 Missouri at #1 Texas (-5) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. I remember reading Hornfans last week and noticing most people seemed pretty level headed in that it would take a great game to beat OU. Now if you read Hornfans you will see a lot of people talking about how we will dominate Mizzou and how we will be all over Chase Daniel, etc, etc. This scares me a little. Missouri is a tough team and they don’t average 555 yards (383 yards passing) for nothing. And then you have the fact that Texas just gave up 5 passing touchdowns and you can see where my concern is. With all of that said I think Texas will be up for this game and ready to defend their #1 ranking. Home field advantage is the key here.

Good interview up on Dan Patrick’s site with Dan and Colt McCoy. Colt talks about beating OU, being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and of course the SI cover jinx. Click play to listen to the eight minute interview below:

This could be one of the biggest weekends of the year in terms of national title implications. Arguably the top four teams in the Big 12 are playing each other, #1 Oklahoma vs #5 Texas and #3 Missouri vs #17 Oklahoma State (I think Texas Tech is probably a little overrated). Then you have the two powerhouse teams in the SEC squaring off with #4 LSU traveling to the Swamp against #11 Florida. And if you feel like checking out the boring Big 10, you get to see #6 Penn State playing at Camp Randall Stadium against Wisconsin.

Let’s take a look at a game in each of the big conferences. Remember, I did go 3-1 last weekend against the spread (for around the 4th straight weekend).

#5 Texas at #1 Oklahoma (-6.5) - 12:00 PM EST on ABC. For a #5 team in the nation, Texas has managed to keep a relatively low profile this year. I think that has been a blessing in disguise since it has let the team grow without a lot of added pressure. Honestly if you asked me to pick this game at the beginning of the season, I would probably have said Oklahoma without even a doubt. But with the way Texas has played this season and their improvement on defense, they have a legitimate shot of coming out of this one with a victory. Both offenses have overpowering stats and high profile quarterbacks. Neither quarterback has faced any adversity, and I think that will change greatly for Sam Bradford this week. Will Mushcamp has something going here in Austin, and I think that will be the difference in the game. I don’t bet on this game, but the Texas moneyline looks good.

#17 Oklahoma State at #3 Missouri (-14) - 8:00 PM EST on ESPN2. The O/U is set at 77 in this one and features the #2 and #3 scoring offenses in the nation, so you know some points will be scored. Both teams are undefeated when scoring 40 or more points since 2001, but that should change this weekend. This is basically a matchup of one of the nations best rushing attacks (OSU) versus one of the nations best passing offenses (Mizzou). I always prefer a better running game since it moves the ball more consistently and wears down the defense. This game should come down to whoever has the ball last. OSU might now win this one, but I think they easily cover the 14.

#4 LSU at #11 Florida (-6.5) - 8:00 PM EST on CBS. Tim Tebow has not impressed me much this season. And losing to Ole Miss at home? Come on now. LSU also has big questions at the quarterback position, but they have the defense to win them games in the SEC. I think they key here is LSU was off last week so they have had extra time to prepare and get some players healthy. Don’t take the points on this one, take LSU moneyline.

#6 Penn State at Wisconsin (+6) - 8:00 PM EST on ESPN. Yawn. Two more boring Big 10 teams playing each other. Not sure who is really going to watch this game with the two games above starting at the same time. Maybe if both games are at commercial? Penn State did not fair well in their last trip to Camp Randall Stadium (remember Coach Pat’s broken leg?), but it should be a much different game this year. Penn State is better than Wisconsin in every phase of the game and will dominate this game. You know what, don’t watch this one, just take Penn State and win some money.

Watch this video of SI’s Peter King then read my rant below…

Somehow the various talking head NFL experts have somehow gotten it into their head that Kerry Collins is the solution at quarterback in Tennessee. Peter King in the linked video is just the latest example of these guys speaking as if Collins is having some great season and Vince Young is a chump. That argument isn’t sound and fails under the least bit of inspection.

Collins isn’t actually playing well. I’m not sure what games anyone is watching or box scores they’re looking at that say he is.

Until this week he was doing a MUCH better job of not turning the ball over than Vince but otherwise he’s been mediocre. Collins has completed just over 50% of his passes and is throwing for less than a touchdown per game. How is that good? His completion percentage is almost seven points lower than Vince’s was last year. Oh, and Collins’ yards per attempt this year are also lower than Vince’s in 2007.

If you take Collins’ numbers over four starts and assume he started 15 games (the number Vince played in last year) and he’d have 11.25 touchdowns and 11.25 picks over the course of the season. Is that really that much better than Young’s 9 and 17 last year? Last stat: Young’s QB rating in 2007 was 71.1 and Collins’ this year is only two points higher at 73.1.

2007 was an admittedly bad season for Vince but somehow the same numbers are good for Collins? How’s that logic work again?

So after all that… you are seriously going to tell me the Titans are going to cut their future and take a big hit on the salary cap because of VY’s bonus, so they can pay and play a 36-year old QB who isn’t very good? Give me a break. Peter King is talking out of his butt on this one.

Coach him up, get his head right, and help him understand he doesn’t have to make a huge play every time. If you cut down on INT’s and then there’s absolutely no facet of the game Collins is better than Vince. Vince was not good last year, but he has a future and a ton of potential. Let Collins be the backup or go be average somewhere else.

Conference play is in full swing this weekend with many teams getting their first real test of the season. The Big 12 now has 4 teams in the Top 10, with all of them on the road. It will be interesting to see if they can all come out unscathed. If Texas and Oklahoma both win their Big 12 openers, they will face off next week in a possible #1 versus #5 match-up.

Let’s take a look at a game in each of the big conferences. Remember, I did go 3-1 last weekend against the spread.

#13 Auburn at #19 Vanderbilt (+4) - 6:00 PM EST on ESPN. Vanderbilt is definitely one of the surprises of the season. And after last week their win against Ole Miss is looking that much better. Auburn has been anemic on offense and basically riding their defense to wins. With two weeks to prepare and home field, Vanderbilt has the advantage in this one. It will probably be close, but take Vandy to win.

#7 Texas at Colorado (+13) - 7:00 PM EST on FSN. There are a couple of things that worry me about this game. First, it is an almost night game in Boulder. The fans will be crazy (probably drunk) and it is tough to play with that thin air. Second, the last time we played Colorado we beat them 70-3 and knocked out their quarterback. I’m pretty sure Colorado is looking for a little revenge and will keep that previous game in mind. And finally, this game comes a week before the Red River Rivalry, so there is definitely a possibility that the Horns will be looking ahead. Now with all of that said, I still think Texas has too much offense for Colorado to handle. And with the improved defense I don’t see Colorado doing too much. Texas needs to jump out to a quick start to kill the hopes for the Buffaloes. If they do that they should roll.

#23 Oregon at #9 USC (O/U 57) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. Everyone wants to see how USC will respond after getting smoked by Oregon State last week. I don’t expect to see a blowout or anything against Oregon, but I do expect to see USC’s A game. Both teams can score almost at will and this will probably be the typical Pac-10 shootout. Look for each team to score in the 40s and take the over in this one.

#14 Ohio State at #18 Wisconsin (+2) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. Hardly anyone comes out of Camp Randall with a victory, with Wisconsin winning their last 16 at home and 27 of the last 28. Ohio State has now turned over the reigns to Terrelle Pryor, and with Beanie Wells back from injury their offense is heating back up. As long as their defense can do a decent job against the Badgers, Ohio State should be able to come out with the victory. Actually on second thought this game probably shouldn’t be on the “what to watch” list since it will probably be pretty boring. Just take Ohio State and cash-in in the morning.

Wow, talk about a shake-up in the national college football scene as USC goes down last night to unranked Oregon State. Now suddenly this weekend’s games take on much more importance as teams vie to grab the #1 spot. Oklahoma takes on a tough TCU team, Georgia and Alabama showdown in the SEC, and Penn St and Illinois match-up in the Big 10. This should be a great weekend for college football.

Let’s see what is going on this Saturday. Remember, I did go 3-1 last weekend against the spread.

Arkansas at #7 Texas (-27) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. When these two teams were first scheduled to meet, both were sitting at 2-0. Now things look a bit different with Texas coasting to victory against Rice and Arkansas getting blown out at home against Alabama. The Texas Longhorns are huge favorites for the 4th straight week, and deservedly so. Texas is averaging 48.7 points per game (6th in nation) and should easily score in the 50’s again at home against a weak Arkansas defense. The only potential for trouble is the Arkansas passing game against the young Texas secondary. Lucky Casey Dick is prone to making some mistakes. This one should be another easy cover with the Longhorns winning by 35.

#24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma (-18) - 7:00 PM EST on FCSA. With USC losing, Oklahoma now has the opportunity to make a statement to becoming the #1 team in the nation. There is no way Oklahoma overlooks this game since TCU has managed to beat them in Norman twice in a row. So far this season Oklahoma is destroying teams by an average margin of 35.3 points per game and this Saturday will be no different. TCU’s defense has been impressive, but I doubt they have ever seen an offense like they will face this weekend. This might be the easiest cover of the weekend with Oklahoma winning by 30+.

#8 Alabama at #3 Georgia (-7) - 7:45 PM EST on ESPN. Probably the game to watch this weekend. Alabama looks like they are going to be a legit SEC contender and Georgia is still trying to prove they belong at the top. Georgia will be wearing the cool black uniforms trying their best to look like a high school football team. If you like tough, physical football, this game is for you. Both teams boast impressive running games and stout defenses. This game will probably be one of those typical 14-10 SEC games. But in this one I think Alabama comes out the winner with their running game and offensive line. So take Alabama money-line on this one.

#22 Illinois at #12 Penn St (-16) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. I don’t normally care about or watch Big 10 match-ups, but I am interested in seeing how Penn St looks against Illinois. Penn St is scoring 52.7 points per game, and probably won’t be stopped Saturday. Take them to cover. Here is something to think about. Penn St demolished Oregon St. Oregon St dominated USC. USC killed Ohio St. I still haven’t figured out what that means about Ohio St and the Big 10, but on first thought I would lean towards the Pac-10 and Big 10 sucking.

We finally get to see Texas back in action after the game against Arkansas was postponed due to Hurricane Ike. Last week’s game of the year, USC vs. Ohio State, turned out to be a big disappointment. This week we get to see two of the premier teams in the SEC square off, LSU and Auburn, in what looks to be a knock-down-drag-out fight of two great defenses. It may be a low scoring affair, but it should still be an exciting football game.

Let’s see what is going on this Saturday. Remember, I did go 2-1 last weekend against the spread.

Miami (FL) at Texas A&M (+3) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. The best news in this game might well be the fact that Stephen McGee is injured and might not play. Jerrod Johnson has shown some promise already this season and is probably a better option than McGee. Remember last year when Miami killed Aggy on the national stage? Well you can expect more of the same this year. Aggy will start the season 0-2 at home.

Rice at #7 Texas (-29) - 7:00 PM EST on FSN. After Hurricane Ike I am sure these two teams are ready to get back on the playing field and resume some normalcy. Rice doesn’t seem as bad this year as they normally do, but they still have no shot against Texas. Rice can actually score some points, so this will another good warm-up for the Texas defense before the real schedule starts. Rice might actually be a tough cover, but I see us winning by about 35.

#18 Wake Forest at #24 Florida State (-4) - 7:00 PM EST on ESPN2. Florida St is currently #1 in the nation in overall defense, allowing only 170 yards per game, but that is a little deceiving since they have played two Football Championship Subdivision teams. Wake Forest has owned Florida State in recent years and is the only team to shut-out FSU at home in coach Bobby Bowdens’ career. FSU is the favorite in this game for a reason. They are much more talented in the skill positions and are playing at home. I think this game might be close, but FSU will end up winning by 7 and cover the spread.

#6 LSU at #10 Auburn (+2.5) - 7:45 PM EST on ESPN. By far the premier match-up of the weekend. With two of the best defenses in the country squaring off Saturday night, this has all of the makings to be a 7-6 game. If you only score 3 points against Mississippi St, something is wrong with your offense. Even though they are playing at home, Auburn has the real potential to be shut-out. LSU’s offense is nothing to write home about either, but they should be able to put something together. I see LSU winning this game 17-6.

Honestly, there really aren’t too many exciting games to watch this weekend. It’s almost like all of college football is waiting for next week’s match-up of USC and Ohio State. The game to watch this weekend has to be Miami at Florida. Florida hasn’t beat Miami in 23 years but will come into this game as huge favorites. Definitely something to watch before the Texas/UTEP game kicks off. Let’s see what else looks good this weekend.

Cincinnati at #4 Oklahoma (O/U 53) - 3:30 PM EST on ABC. After barely breaking a sweat last week against Chattanooga, I am pretty interested in seeing what Oklahoma will do against a real team in Cincinnati. Now I am not saying Cincinnati is a world beater or anything, but they have been making some real improvements in their program and are coming off of a bowl win. Oklahoma looks unstoppable, and the Bearcats run a spread offense, so this game as the potential to be a very high scoring affair. I think this game easily goes over the 53 point total, and probably more around the 70 mark.

Miami (FL) at #7 Florida (-23) - 8:00 PM EST on ESPN. Like I mentioned above Florida hasn’t beaten Miami in 23 years, so I expect Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators to be pretty jacked up for this game. But even though they are heavy favorites, you can never know what to expect in these in-state rivalry games. I don’t think Miami will pull out the victory in this one, but I think their defense can keep them in it enough to cover the 23 points they are getting.

#10 Texas at UTEP (+27) - 10:15 PM EST on ESPN2. Texas looked really impressive on offense last week and should continue that trend this weekend against UTEP. UTEP struggled in their opening match-up against Buffalo allowing 484 yards and 42 points. Hopefully this will be a good opportunity for the Texas secondary to get on track. I’m sure Will Muschamp gave them an earful after getting beat several times last week against Florida Atlantic. Even though this game is on the road, I see Texas winning by 35 and easily covering the spread.

Programming providers announced for Texas-FAU pay-per-view telecast. Find out who is airing the game in your area.

Everything is right again in the world now that the college football season kicks off the 2008 season tonight. Since most schools schedule cupcakes for the season opener, you obviously can’t expect any marquee match-ups. But you know what? I don’t care. All that matters is that I get to watch ESPN Gameday Saturday morning and follow that with 10 hours of college football. Let’s see what looks good this weekend.

(23) Wake Forest at Baylor (+12) - 8:00 PM EST (Thur) on FSN. The Big 12 starts of the season with Baylor playing a tough Wake Forest team. Former Houston coach Art Briles takes the helm for the Bears, hopefully ushering in a new era down in Waco. Unfortunately it looks like they will be overmatched by a Wake Forest team returning 2 ACC offensive rookies of the year (QB Skinner and RB Adams), along with 9 returning starters on defense that ranked 28th in the nation last year allowing only 340 yards per game. I don’t normally like to go against home underdogs, but Baylor is not known for showing up in the first game of the season, and they just don’t have the offense to keep up with Wake Forest.

Appalachian St at (7) LSU (NL) - 5:00 PM EST on ESPN. Normally I wouldn’t really care about this match-up, but there are a couple of things that interest me here. First is obviously the fact that Appalachian St beat Michigan last year in what is arguably the greatest upset in college football history. Second is the quarterback situation down at LSU. Punk kid Ryan Perrilloux finally ran out of excuses and was kicked off the team due to “not fulfilling his obligation” as an LSU athlete, according to head coach Les Miles. I can’t say that I’m not surprised. There is no line for this game, though not surprising for a Div I school playing a Div I-AA.

FAU at (11) Texas (-24) - 7:00 PM EST. Obviously this game won’t get much national attention because it is on PPV, but is a game we all need to watch. How does Colt recover from last season? Is the defense going to be improved under Will Muschamp? How ready is the incredibly young talent? These are all questions that coming into the season. The line here is sitting at right around 24, probably my least favorite number of all. Since I don’t bet on Texas (EVER), I can’t really make a prediction here.

(24) Alabama at (9) Clemson (-5) - 8:00 PM EST on ABC. The pressure starts now for Tommy Bowden and the underachieving Clemson Bulldogs, as they are the clear favorites to win the ACC this season for the first time in school history. Unfortunately they have to start their season facing a solid Alabama, who are looking to improve in their second season under head coach Nick Saban. I think Clemson has too many offensive weapons for Alabama to handle, and their defense is set to be one of the best in the nation. Even though there are a lot of doubters on Clemson, I think they squeak by on this one and cover those 5 points.

Horns basketball will get three Big Monday telecasts. Texas will make 11 national TV appearances in 2008-09 season.

Chip Brown is joining Rivals and Orangebloods. Best (only?) college football columnist is leaving the paper for the Interweb.

ESPN’s Pat Forde has his prognosticator hat on for the 2008 season and doesn’t go out on too many limbs. One of his predictions is that the Longhorns won’t reach 10 wins for the first time since 2000. Read on…

Texas’ streak of seven straight seasons with at least 10 wins will end.

The Longhorns don’t lack talent, but they drew a killer Big 12 schedule: three 2007 bowl teams from the North division (Colorado, Missouri and Kansas), and they’ll play two of those teams on the road. And in addition to facing Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, they must face trendy breakout pick Texas Tech in Lubbock. Burnt orange fans are encouraged to beat the rush and start criticizing offensive coordinator Greg Davis now.

Definitely not a ridiculous opinion. The Horns struggled mightily to get to 10 wins in 2007, lost their biggest offensive threat, and face a tougher schedule this season. In Texas’ favor they should see a big improvement on defense thanks to new coordinator Will Muschamp and those tough teams on the schedule could easily fall back to earth. If the offensive line and defense play more consistently the Horns should keep the streak going and be a lot more fun to watch.

The Texas baseball team is going for an important sweep of the Aggies right now (1pm on Sunday) live on Fox Sports Southwest. Last regular season game that could impact Big 12 tourney seeding as well as regional pairings.