Football Future-see Returns

College Football fires up Thursday night. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. It means one thing for the Right Wing:

The Return of Football Future-see
Opening Week Super-Sized Edition

Hawaii at (5) Florida:
The Warriors, coming off their best season ever, have lost their head coach, their quarterback, and their receiving corp. Now they start over in the Swamp, where Florida is looking to return to the glory of two seasons ago when they won the BCS National Title. Tebow might not be Superman, but the Hawaii defense isn’t exactly kryptonite, either. Florida wins, by a lot. Final Score: Gators 63, Warriors 17.

(24) Alabama at (9) Clemson (in Atlanta):
Pre-hyped as one of the better match-ups in week one, the Crimson Tide takes on the Tigers at neutral ground, the Georgia Dome. As an interesting aside, this game will draw more fans than each Falcons pre-season game combined. Clemson has one of the nation’s softest schedules. They’ve been hyped as a dark horse National Title contender. But Clemson has a history of choking in the spotlight. The Right Wing is calling it here. The Tigers leave week one with a loss. Clemson, go on upset alert. Final Score: Alabama 24, Clemson 21.

Georgia Southern at (1) Georgia:
For the first time in the history of history, the Dawgs start as #1 in both pre-season polls. The last time Georgia played Georgia Southern, UGA won 48-28. Look for much the same this time out. Georgia may have lost some players to injury, but GSU has suspended 8 players for this game, including their starting running back, effectively ending their hopes of winning. QB Matthew Stafford and RB Knowshon Moreno lead a Dawgs offense that hung 40 points on Florida and Auburn and Hawaii last season. I don’t see the GSU defense being any better. Final Score: UGA 51, GSU 10.

(20) Illinois at (6) Missouri:
To me, this is one of the most intriguing week one games, only because Illinois is ranked far higher than I ever thought they would be. Illinois was crushed in the Rose Bowl they last time they took the field as a team. Missouri was a bit ticked at the end of last year when Kansas went to a BCS bowl and they didn’t, even though Missouri played for a conference title, and they play in the same division as Kansas. Missouri is so much better than Illinois, though, that the Fighting Illini really will looked overmatched in this game. Final Score: Missouri 31, Illinois 13

(3) USC at Virginia:
Virginia is trying, you have to give them that. They aren’t afraid to let the big boys come into their yard. At least, they aren’t afraid yet. Just wait. USC is coming off yet another Rose Bowl victory, and is already eyeing the National Championship. They might get caught looking ahead, though, to Ohio State. Maybe, just maybe. But probably not. Final Score: USC 41, Virginia 17.

(18) Tennessee at UCLA (Monday):
Monday Night College Football. Tennessee takes SEC-style football across the country to PAC-10 land. We keep hearing the question “Who is better: the PAC-10 or the SEC?” and you can’t answer that question by pitting Tennessee against UCLA. And this question comes up every year. And all we the fan get is a match-up like Tennessee/UCLA, or USC/Arkansas. At least in week three of this season we’ll get something a bit more definitive (UGA/Arizona State). I really don’t even think this one will be close. Final Score: Tennessee 38, UCLA 16.

Appalachian State at (7) LSU:
Appalachian State pulled off the biggest upset of the year, maybe of the century, last season when they went to Michigan and shocked Big Blue. This year, they come to SEC Country, where an LSU team awaits. LSU looks to be down a bit this year, and they’ve yet to settle on a Quarterback, but it won’t matter. AppState won’t do it again. Final Score: LSU 32, Appalachian State 18.

Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech (Thursday):
There are two reasons that this game appears on this list. 1. Georgia Tech is a local team, so to be fair I have to include them every now and then. 2. Jacksonville State might not have a lot of household value as a name, but they do have a quarterback, former LSU starter Ryan Perrilloux. Georgia Tech is an enigma team this season. They’ve got a new Head Coach. They have reloaded on both sides of the ball, so there isn’t exactly a scouting report on them. JSU puts a scare into Tech. Final Score: Georgia Tech 27, Jacksonville State 25.



Formula One Update:
Did anyone else see the race last weekend? Valencia was an absolutely gorgeous track, with very fins racing occurring on it. Felipe Massa took the win, but as Robert said, it was only because he got pole position and was never really challenged. Had Lewis Hamilton been a few seconds closer, Massa would likely have screwed up in some way.

And Kimi Raikkonen nearly killed half his pit crew by jumping the gun while refueling. To the best of my knowledge, the crewmen involved weren't too badly injured.

Also, Valencia is in Spain, home of Fernando Alonso, who, as it just so happened, crashed out on the very first lap of the race.