College Football Week 1 Games To Watch

As we draw near to the start of a new college football season, we begin to look at the match-ups of opening weekend. Week 1 is always a fun week because every one's hopes of a national championship are fresh in the air.

This year, there are a handful of teams who could pull through and win the BCS title. Alabama is going for their third consecutive and fourth in the past five years.

Ohio State is coming off a perfect season  but due to NCAA sanctions, couldn't participate in a bowl game. The Buckeyes will be looking for another perfect season in Urban Meyer's second season. 

Georgia was literally yards away from playing in the national championship last year. They'll be looking to get over that hump this year with returning QB Aaron Murray and stud RB Todd Gurley. 

With that in mind, Week 1 has a few games that could shape up the college football season and the BCS race from the get-go. 

Georgia at Clemson 

August 31st 8ET on ABC

This is the premiere game of Week 1. The Bulldogs will travel east to Clemson, SC and take on one of the favorites out of the ACC. This game is extremely important for the Tigers. A home opener against a very quality SEC team, a nationally televised audience, and College Gameday will even set up there for their season opening show. It is certainly going to be a site to see come August 31st. A victory for Clemson will soar them into the higher rankings and will be in the BCS discussion right off the bat. 

Let's not forget about Georgia though. They have Aaron Murray along with Todd Gurley lined up behind him. Gurley ran for over 100 yards against the national champs just last December. No offense to Clemson, but their defense isn't in the same league as an Alabama. It will be tough for Clemson to stop this offensive attack of Georgia. 

Clemson will also need a great game from their Heisman dark horse QB Tahj Boyd. Georgia lost a handful of starters from their secondary. Tahj Boyd can take advantage of the experience throwing the ball to Sammy Watkins against this somewhat inexperienced secondary of Georgia. This game will be the must watch game of the week. 

TCU vs LSU

August 31st 9ET on ESPN

Only one hour after kickoff in Clemson, SC, there will be another crucial game kicking off at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The Cowboys Kick Off Classic between the Horned Frogs and the Bayou Bengals. 

There is an on-going QB battle between Casy Pachall and Trevone Boykin. Paschall was the starter for the first four games of 2012, but due to an off the field incident, he was suspended for the remainder of the 2012 season. Pachall had thrown for 10 touchdowns and only one interception and had TCU at a 4-0 record. Boykin stepped in and couldn't quite keep up with the numbers Pachall put up. He was able to throw for over 2,000 yards and add 15 touchdowns, but threw 10 interceptions. Pachall will have to earn his spot back over Boykin in fall practice.

TCU is entering their second season in the Big 12. They finished with a 4-5 league record in their inaugural season with the conference.This will be a virtual home game for TCU as they will be playing merely 30 minutes away from their campus. However, don't expect any shortage of LSU fans in that stadium. They travel very well. 

Gary Patterson has already caused a little controversy in the news. Although he has denied it, some reports state that he took a verbal shot at Les Miles for the way he handled the Jeremy Hill situation. Things are already heating up for this gridiron battle between two teams who have a little something to prove this season.

Both teams enter the season in the top 20, or 25 depending on what polls you look at. LSU lost much talent to the NFL Draft and is looking to reload and challenge in the SEC West. TCU is looking to bounce back after a disappointing ending to their season. This will be another game where a team can prove their legitimacy against a valuable SEC opponent.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt 
August 29th 9:15ET on ESPN
This game has the potential to provide some great football on opening night. Two teams who are on the rise after years of being at the bottom. A victory for either team here would be huge because it's a conference game...on opening night at that.

James Franklin is entering his third season as Vanderbilt head coach. He is coming off a 9-4 season and a bowl victory which previously had only happened twice in the history of the program(1955, 2008). Vanderbilt will lose some quality players on offense like QB Jordan Rogers and RB Zac Stacy. However, they have one of the best receivers in the conference, if not the entire country in Jordan Matthews. He will have to be a reliable target for new starting QB Austyn Carta-Samuels.

Ole Miss is entering their second season under Hugh Freeze and he's already turning this program around. After a couple disappointing final season of Houston Nutt, Freeze came in and led the Rebels to a 7-6 record with a bowl victory last season. Freeze has also landed a top 10 recruiting class for 2013 that includes the best player out of high school, Robert Nkemdiche.

These two teams met last season in Oxford. Despite a 403 yard passing effort by returning Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace, Vanderbilt was able to squeeze out a 27-26 victory with a last minute touchdown. Bo Wallace looks to repeat his performance this time around but with a slightly different result.

Other notable games to watch in Week 1:
Mississippi State vs Oklahoma State (Houston, TX)
Alabama vs Virginia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
North Carolina at South Carolina 

The Louisville Cardinals Case For The BCS Title

Teddy Bridgewater. Photo courtesy of www.CBSSports.com

The last seven BCS national champions have come from the Southeastern Conference. Florida (2006, 2008), LSU (2007), Auburn (2010), and most recently and frequently, Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012). Most college football fans ask the question, "who can be the next non-SEC team to reign supreme on top of the BCS?" Look no further than the Louisville Cardinals.

The Cardinals have all the ingredients to make a BCS title run in 2013. They are led by Heisman hopeful Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater is coming off a sensational sophomore season. He threw for 3,718 yards along with 27 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions. Most fans shrug off those numbers because he was playing in what most fans believe is the weakest BCS conference top to bottom. 

A true test for the sophomore quarterback would come on January 2, 2013 when he led his Louisville Cardinals into New Orleans for the 2013 Sugar Bowl against the Florida Gators. The Gators were nearly a 14 point favorite. 

The Gators were 11-1 with their only loss coming to the Georgia Bulldogs who were literally yards away from playing for and maybe even winning the BCS national championship. The Gators had a fierce defense only giving up 14.5 points a game which ranked fifth in the nation. On paper, there was no way Florida could lose this game. That's why we play the game folks.

On Florida's first play from scrimmage, Gators QB Jeff Driskel threw a pick six and never recovered. Louisville would go on to win the game 33-23 with an MVP worthy performance from Teddy Bridgewater throwing for 266 yards and two scores.

Now let's talk about 2013. The Big East no longer exist. Louisville is now apart of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Charlie Strong is entering his fourth season as head coach. Strong has already won national titles with Urban Meyer at Florida. He has his star quarterback returning. His top four targets from 2012 are returning in Damian Copeland, Eli Rogers, Jeremy Wright, and All-conference receiver DeVante Parker. Also returning for the Cardinals is nearly the entire defense. They may not have statistically been the best defense, but experience will be the key for them this season.

There is also a huge addition to this offense that could take a little pressure off of Bridgewater. His name is Michael Dyer. For those of you who don't remember Michael Dyer, he was the MVP of the 2011 BCS national championship game that included one Cam Newton. He is a little more famous for the play that essentially won them the game where he was tackled but was never down. Everyone in the building thought he was down, but Dyer kept on running down the field after he rolled over the defender without his knees touching the turf.

Louisville will undoubtedly be favorites in every game this season. If they land a 12-0 regular season, then I don't see why they shouldn't be playing for a national championship in Pasadena. I personally expect to see the Louisville Cardinals playing for the BCS title come January. Who will they play in the BCS title game? Alabama? Ohio State? Georgia? Maybe even Texas A&M if Johnny Manziel maintains his eligibility. Only time will tell. That's why we play the game.