Ross’s college football guide: Week 1

The anticipation leading up to Week 1 is one of my favorite things about the college football season! Here’s my picks for what to watch this week.

August 31, 2012; 6:53 AM • by Ross Catrow

FINALLY.

Finally, after a trillion years, college football season begins this week (yesterday, actually)! Finally, new football arrives to wash away the bitter taste of embarrassing bowl losses! Finally, I have a (better) excuse to sit on the couch for twelve hours each Saturday!

The anticipation leading up to Week 1 is one of my favorite things about the college football season: right now anyone could win the national championship–anyone except for Ohio State.¹ I honestly feel like any of the top seven teams in the AP Poll (USC, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Georgia, Florida State) have a decent shot at making the title game. I know I’d love to watch any of those teams not named Alabama or LSU play each other in January.

This week Virginia Tech takes on Georgia Tech in what will most likely decide the winner of the Coastal Division in the ACC. Mike London faces his former employer as Virginia matches up with UR. And this week’s marquee game is Saturday’s matchup of Alabama and Michigan, 8:00 PM, ABC.

College football is back (finally)!

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Virginia Tech (16) vs. Georgia Tech

Monday, September 3rd; 8:00 PM; ESPN

Tech, for an unknown reason, yet again starts the season off on a Monday night against a legitimate opponent. I thought we learned our lesson against Boise State (and the subsequent JMU loss) that Monday night games were Not A Good Idea. But here we are, with an 8pm kick off on Labor Day.

I can’t decide if getting GT and their wacky spread option offense early in the season is an advantage or disadvantage. Pro: GT hasn’t had time to really get their offense running smoothly with all of their new players; Con: VT hasn’t had a lot of time to install their base defense, let alone any special twists for Georgia Tech.

Virginia vs. Richmond

Saturday, September 1st; 3:00 PM; ESPN3

UR has had three head coaches in just over a year. This year Coach Danny Rocco takes the reigns and hopes to improve on last year’s abysmal season.² Here’s the crazy thing: Coach Rocco’s nephew, Michael Rocco, is the starting quarterback for…UVA!? You can expect plenty of close up shots of Rocco family members wearing House Divided gear.

Last year Virginia won eight games for the first time since 2007. This will be London’s third season as head hoo, and while eight wins isn’t anything spectacular, it’ll take quite a while to undo the damage wrought by Al Groh. London’s got a fairly experienced team, which he’ll need with out of conference games against Penn State and TCU.

Around the nation

Games worth watching this week:

Friday, 8:00 PM, ESPN; Michigan State (13) vs. Boise State (24) — Hey college football on a Friday? Why not!
Saturday, 9:00 AM, CBS; Notre Dame vs. Navy — Navy’s won three out of the last five matchups against Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the embodiment of football evil. Bryan Kelly is not a nice person. Plus, a 9:00 AM kickoff gives you a chance to get an entire football game under your belt before lunch.
Saturday, 12:00 PM, ESPN; Ohio at Penn State — There are many reasons why this is the “marquee” noon game. Football is not one of them. Honestly, I’d rather be watching #11 WVU take on instate rival Marshall, but whatevs.
Saturday, 3:30 PM, ABC; Miami at Boston College — Miami is back! Probably! Cut this on after halftime while you’re making dinner.
Saturday, 8:00 PM, ABC; Michigan (8) vs. Alabama (2) — What I wouldn’t give to see ‘Bama take a loss the first game of the season! Don’t get your hopes up though, this could be a blowout.
Sunday, 3:30 PM, ESPN; Kentucky at Louisville (25) — The battle of schools that are in Kentucky! Hey college football on a Sunday? Why not!
Monday, 8:00 PM, ESPN; Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech (16) — Either VT or GT has represented the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship Game every year the championship game has existed.