Campus Confidential

BY MIKE ROSE

I love the start of college football. I look forward to that weekend more than any other in sports. So I'm pretty pumped at what I see as a very good opening weekend, with some really good matchups and intriguing games.

Thursday, Aug. 28
North Carolina State at South Carolina, 8 p.m.: The SEC keeps getting tougher and tougher. So the real question is when -- or will -- Steve Spurrier get this program to among the conference's elite? I'll be keeping a close eye on this game. N.C. State isn't bad.

Saturday, Aug. 30
Syracuse at Northwestern, noon: Some have picked Northwestern to get into a bowl this season. Greg Robinson is down to his final chance to turn the Syracuse program around. Syracuse needs this game because they have other away games at West Virginia, South Florida, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame. Four of those teams went to bowls last season, and the Irish are always tough at home. In fact, Syracuse plays five of their final seven on the road. Judging from their overall schedule, Syracuse needs this opening game.

Virginia Tech at East Carolina, noon: Let's give it up for East Carolina, which scheduled home games with Virginia Tech and West Virginia to start the season. The Pirates weren't bad last season, going 8-5. The Hokies are among the favorites to win the ACC.

Hawaii at Florida, 12:30: Florida is loaded with Heisman winner Tim Tebow back. But I'm really interested to see how Hawaii plays. Hawaii made a BCS bowl last season, losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. With head coach June Jones and quarterback Colt Brennan both gone, I'm interested to see whether last season's success carries over.

Utah at Michigan, 3:30: The Rich Rodriguez era opens in The Big House. This won't be your typical Wolverines team. The offense will be wide open, and let's just say some of the plays won't look too familiar. Most believe it will take time for the Wolverines to grasp the Rodriguez offense. I'm certain Michigan will be a dangerous team by midseason. Utah is a tough opponent to open with. The Utes went 9-4 last season, with a win in the Poinsettia Bowl. Plus, remember what happened to Michigan in last season's opener?

USC at Virginia, 3:30: Tough game for the Trojans to open with, traveling clear across the country. The Mark Sanchez era begins for USC. He'll have plenty of weapons to work with and a tremendous defense. I'm interested to see how he'll play against a solid Virginia team that finished 9-4 last season.

Michigan State at California, 8: I've blogged about this game in a previous post so I won't spend a lot of time here. I'm focusing on Michigan State quarterback Bobby Hoyer and running back Javon Ringer. They will determine how good the Spartans are this season. For Cal, which was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country last season, I'm intrigued by the quarterback saga -- will it be Nate Longshore or Kevin Riley?

Alabama at Clemson, 8: This game could end up being played in Atlanta. I'm really looking forward to this game. Clemson is the preseason favorite to win the ACC and has a loaded backfield returning. Alabama finished 7-6, beating Colorado in its bowl game to end Nick Saban's first season. You can bet the Tide fans are expecting much more this season.

Illinois at Missouri, 8:30: This is probably the game of the weekend. I've seen Missouri picked to win the Big 12 and ultimately play Ohio State for the national title. I've seen Illinois picked to finish second in the Big 10 and return to the Rose Bowl. It will match Missouri QB Chase Daniel, a Heisman contender, against Illinois QB Juice Williams. Should be a great game.

Sunday, Aug. 31
Kentucky at Louisville, 3:30: This is always a very competitive, very good game. Two thoughts -- I'd really like to see if Kentucky's program is truly headed in the right direction. The Wildcats are coming off a very nice season -- 8-5 record with a bowl win over Florida State. Plus, Kentucky knocked off eventual national champion LSU during the regular season last year. However, super quarterback Andre Woodson is gone. Louisville, which was ranked high heading into last season and had visions of a national title run, stumbled to a 6-6 record. So, has Kentucky really turned it around, and can Louisville rebound from last season? We'll see opening weekend!

Monday, Sept. 1
Fresno State at Rutgers, 4 p.m.: The Newark Star-Ledger has been reporting on secret deals the university has in place with head coach Greg Schiano. The Star-Ledger says that Schiano can break his 10-year contract and not pay $500,000 to the school if the university does not have its stadium renovation done by the 2009 season. Well, the first phase of the project, which adds 1,000 "premium" seats, is scheduled to be ready for the first game of the 2008 season. So the clock will begin ticking on Schiano's stay with Rutgers on Sept. 1. This is an interesting game. Fresno State never shys away from playing the best teams in the country. The Bulldogs have a solid program. As far as Rutgers goes, Ray Rice is gone to the NFL. So does the program Schiano has built remain relevant?

Tennessee at UCLA, 8: UCLA should be a factor in the Pac 10 this season -- along with USC, Oregon and Arizona State. I don't expect the Bruins to win the conference, but they'll be a bowl team. Also, we'll get to see the start of the Rick Neuheisel/Norm Chow era. Tennessee won't win the SEC, but the Vols are an eight- or nine-win team. Kind of like UCLA. Should be a competitive game to end a great first weekend.