September has it all. Big Time Matchups. Non-conference, early season games that will make or break a National Title run.
On paper, 2008 has some of the best scheduled non-conference games in years!
Enthralled by the political Super Bowl coverage this week, the kickoff snuck up on me despite my excitement for the start of the 2008 College Football Season. Voting yesterday in the Florida Primary didn't help. The Rays and my obsession with seeing games at the Trop this season has also taken sooo much of my attention. And work.
Geez, let's talk football already.
Perhaps the most surprising (to me anyway) non-conference schedule goes to Baylor University of the Big 12. Baylor starts the season Aug. 30 against ACC foe Wake Forest. A couple of weeks later, Pac 10 team Washington State comes to town on Sept 13.
Although it probably didn't look all that intimidating when originally scheduled, the Bears then venture to the Northeast to meet Big East upstart UConn. I am convinced that Baylor may go through 2008 without winning a single game.
Of course, since no one outside those programs will be watching those games we'll move on to the matchup we thought we would see this bowl season...
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Sept. 13 Ohio State at Southern California
This has all the makings o####reat game, but so we thought with the USC/Nebraska matchup at the beginning of the 2007 season. I'm holding out hope that this one will live up to the expectations... ehhh USC 44 OSU 17
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Aug. 30 Hawaii at Florida
This might have been a better game LAST year. Brennan will be long gone, as will any hope of Hawaii running the table next year. Still, kudos to Hawaii for stepping up to the SEC. Florida has scheduled the most impressive non-conference games of all SEC title hopefuls with Miami and Florida State also on tap. Florida 55 Hawaii 13
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Aug. 30 Missouri vs. Illinois
These recruiting rivals have long fought over St. Louis prospects, now Mizzou will have an added incentive to beat the Illini yet again... Both have BCS expectations swirling around campus. Mizzou would also like to punish one of two BCS bowl teams beaten by Mizzou last year... this is one of very few true tests this year for Mizzou. If the Tigers are to make a run, it all starts this weekend. You know who I am picking.
Sept. 6 Auburn at West Virginia
Finally, West Virginia steps up and plays someone outside their comfort zone. The Mountaineers play SEC schizo Auburn. Which Auburn team will show up? Kudos to West Virginia for scheduling both SEC and Big 12 schools in the same year. Auburn 24 WVU 10
Sept. 13 Texas vs. Arkansas
There is something about this game that always brings out the best in both teams. Although they are in different conferences these teams remain rivals, plus this is one of many games that will test the perennial overrated Longhorns in 2008. UT 34 Arkansas 31
Sept. 13 Nebraska vs. VA Tech
This could be the game that signals the return of the Blackshirts... ok, ok, stop laughing. VA Tech 31 Nebraska 7
Sept. 20 Arizona State vs. Georgia
This is one of the most intriguing non-conference matups of the year. Is Arizona State poised to make a legitimate run next year at the Pac 10? Is Georgia ready to beat Florida AND LSU in the same year and win the SEC? Which team is ready to make a run for the BCS title? This is going to be good... or is it... Does ASU really have a chance? Georgia 28 ASU 27
Sept. 13 Kansas at South Florida
This could be the best game of the weekend. I repeat, this could be the best game of the weekend. The same weekend that features OSU/USC, Texas/Arkansas, and Miami/Texas A&M. Intriguing, with conference title hopes for each team already being thrown around in Tampa and Lawrence. As much as I HATE the Jayhawks, something tells me I may be glad to live in Tampa Bay and get to see this one in person. USF 33 KU 31
****Repost from Last Year on my old blog: community.foxsports.com/blogs/brianblack******
Two summers ago, Tim Tebow took a 2 week vacation to the Virgin Islands. Now, they're just called "The Islands."
Life doesn't give Tim Tebow lemons. Life asks him which fruit he wants.
Tim Tebow was once sleeping on his stomach when he got morning wood and struck oil.
Tim Tebow's tears cure cancer...too bad Tim Tebow has never cried.
When Tim Tebow wants popcorn, he stares at Iowa.
When someone says, "Nobody's perfect," Tim Tebow takes it as a personal insult.
When Tim Tebow walks on water his feet don't get wet.
Before Tebow, Urban was Rural.
Did I ever tell you about the time Tebow was a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune? It was his turn so he spun the wheel. Of course, Tim being Tim, he spun it so hard that it came of its moorings, decapitated Pat Sajak and slammed through the wall into the set of the Price is Right. Tim walked through the hole in the wall and Bob Barker proceeded to lecture him on spaying and neutering his pets. Well, Tim had enough of that and picked up Bob and compressed him between his palms until he was small enough to fit on the Plinko board. And I'll be damned if he didn't win $10000 and a new Cadillac.
They say Gene Roddenbery got the idea for Star Trek from listening to Tebow talk in his sleep.
When Tim Tebow does a push-up, he isn't lifting himself up; rather he's pushing the Earth down.
When the Boogieman goes to bed at night he looks under the bed for Tim Tebow.
What color is Tebow's blood? Trick question. Tebow doesn't bleed.
Tim Tebow is so good that they should get rid of postage stamps and replace them with 1-by-1.5-inch official UF team photos of Tim Tebow. This way, people will be much more motivated to pay their bills by mail instead of online. Which will free up valuable internet server space for people to perform non-stop Google Image searches for 'Tim Tebow.' This will also eliminate more trees, which are a tangible threat to Tim Tebow’s unrivaled goodness.
Tim Tebow is so good that his name should be randomly inserted into verses of The Star-Spangled Banner.This will be done at different, randomly-chosen times in the song so as to keep everyone on their toes and ensure that they do not take Tim Tebow's presence for granted. For example, a verse could go like this: O Tim, can you Tebow, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we Tim at the Tebow's last gleaming. OR: O say, can you Tim, by the dawn’s early Tebow, ?What so Tebow we Tim at the Tebow's Tim Tebow, OR: And the rockets’ red Tebow, Tim Tebows bursting in air, Gave Tim through the Tebow that Tim was still Tebow. Why should this be done? This should be done not only because this is what is right. This should be done because this is what our Founding Tebows had in mind when they formed this great Tebow. This should be done to celebrate the embodiment of all that is loveable in America. Of all that is wholesome. Of all that is pure. Of all that is good. Of all that is Tebow.
Tim Tebow uses ribbed condoms inside out, so he gets the pleasure.
When Tim Tebow has sex with a man, it is not because he is ####, but because he has run out of women.
Tim Tebow once threw a pass so hard that the football broke the speed of light, went back in time, and hit Amelia Earhart's plane while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.
Tim Tebow doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
Tim Tebow is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Tim Tebow.
To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer. Tim Tebow smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.
There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Tim Tebow .
Tim Tebow once lined up to kick the winning field goal of a high school football game. When the football went flat, he persuaded the referees to let him kick the field goal with a 3 month old child. Tim Tebow kicked the baby 60 yards through the uprights and then proceeded to #### every girl in the stadium.
The original theme song to the Transformers was actually "Tim Tebow --more than meets the eye, Tim Tebow --robot in disguise"
The chief export of Tim Tebow is pain.
Tim Tebow is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right arms.
While attending the school that invented Gatorade, Tim Tebow had the idea to sell his urine as a canned beverage. We know this beverage as Red Bull.
If paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, what beats all 3 at the same time? Answer: Tim Tebow.
If you can see Tim Tebow, he can see you. If you can't see Tim Tebow, he just scored another touchdown.
On the 7th day, God rested.... Tim Tebow took over.
Although it is not common knowledge, there are actually three sides to the Force: the light side, the dark side, and Tim Tebow.
Scientists used to believe that diamond was the world's hardest substance. But then they met Tim Tebow.
Tim Tebow drinks napalm to quell his heartburn.
Tim Tebow's throwing arm is so powerful, it can be seen from outer space by the naked eye.
Tim Tebow doesn't believe in Germany.
If you want a list of Tim Tebow's enemies, just check the extinct species list.
Tim Tebow has never blinked in his entire life. Never.
Tim Tebow once shot an enemy plane down with his finger, by yelling, "####!"
If Superman and The Flash were to race to the edge of space you know who would win? Tim Tebow.
Ironically, Tim Tebow's hidden talent is invisibility.
Tim Tebow eats Transformers toys in vehicle mode and ####s them out transformed into a robot.
Tim Tebow owns the greatest poker face of all-time. It helped him win the 1983 world series of poker despite him holding just a joker, a 2 of clubs, a 7 of ####s, and a green number 4 from Uno and a monopoly 'get out of jail free' card.
Tim Tebow invented water.
Tim Tebow went looking for a bar but couldn't find one. He walked to a vacant lot and sat there. Sure enough within an hour an a half someone constructed a bar around him. He then ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Tim Tebow yelled over the roar of the flames, "always leave things the way you found em!"
One time while sparring with Wolverine, Tim Tebow accidentally lost his left testicle. You might be familiar with it to this very day by its technical term: Jupiter.
Contrary to popular belief, Tim Tebow , not the box jellyfish of northern Australia, is the most venomous creature on earth. Within 3 minutes of being bitten, a human being experiences the following symptoms: fever, blurred vision, beard rash, tightness of the jeans, and the feeling of being repeatedly beaten in the National Championship game.
Tim Tebow is Luke Skywalker's real father.
Tim Tebow does not use spell check. If he happens to misspell a word, Oxford will simply change the actual spelling of it.
Before science was invented it was once believed that autumn occurred when Tim Tebow threw his first pass next to every tree in existence.
In the original pilot for Star Trek Next Generation, Tim Tebow can be seen powering the USS Enterprise warp drive with his big toe.
Tim Tebow is so good that whenever networks broadcast a Florida Gators game, they should digitally insert a halo over Tim Tebow's head that follows him live on every play. This way, when Tim Tebow lets off on a glorious run, we will see him. When Tim lets off a beautiful pass from the heavens of Tebow, we will see him. And we won’t just see him, we will see him for what he is – the majestic pony prince of all 117 college football provinces. If this means sacrificing the yellow first down marker, so be it. Would you rather have CBS count ten yards for you, or would you rather have CBS illuminate Tim Tebow’s inherent goodness for you? I thought so.
I have been blogging here for so long, I forgot my old password and had to set up a new blog this year. BOO!
Anyway, my old space was at community.fox sports.com/bl ogs/brianblac k in case you think you've heard the trash talk before... It's the same this year as it was last year... Mizzou is #1!!!!!!! Go Cowboys! Go Rays!
www.myspace.c om/revbrianbl ack
Perhaps the most surprising (to me anyway) non-conference schedule goes to Baylor University of the Big 12. Baylor starts the season Aug. 30 against ACC foe Wake Forest. A couple of weeks later, Pac 10 team Washington State comes to town
on Sept 13.
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