Campus Confidential

It's logical we start with Pat White's comments about playing baseball at West Virginia.

The Heisman hopeful quarterback has been an ambassador for the University. He stepped up to say his quarterbacks coach, Bill Stewart, should replace Rich Rodriguez. Eventually, that's the move the athletic department made.

Stewart had told White he should try to play baseball and joked with reporters at Big East Media Day that White didn't because he couldn't hit a curveball. White later told Adam Zagoria of SportsNet New York the following:

"In my knowledge of West Virginia baseball, there's not been many players of my race on his team. [Coach Greg Van Zant's] not too high on it. Every player I've talked to doesn't like him. He's not a well-liked coach, but I guess he has tenure so they never got rid of him. They're not successful at all."

Those are some heavy words and a heavy accusation for someone who is a stranger to controversy. West Virginia has no black players listed on the 2008 roster, according to the athletics Web site, but West Virginia isn't the most diverse of states. Van Zant has been at West Virginia for 15 seasons, but that doesn't discredit White's statement.

This is a very sticky situation for West Virginia, which is gearing up for a pivotal season. The development of this in the coming days and weeks should be interesting. Will White say anymore? Will Van Zant respond?

White will have to face the media daily in just a few days, so we'll see.

As a side note, White had a successful prep career in Alabama before heading to Morgantown. In fact, he chose college over a $400,000 contract offered after being selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft by the Angels. In 2007 he was selected by the same club in the 27th round. This year the Reds picked him in the 49th round.

Sour grapes in the Orange state?

Jim Leavitt was fired up at media day and Greg Auman down at the St. Pete Times got it on tape.

First Leavitt took a stab at Rich Rodriguez, saying West Virginia became far less beatable when RR went to Michigan.

"[Stewart is] probably better than Rodriguez. I'm worried about him. We beat Rodriguez. We haven't gotten this guy. This guy worries me. I wish Rich would have stayed. But he didn't, so we'll have to go play Michigan now."

Then he moved on to the ACC's raid of the Big East.

"In the history of college football, one of the great stories is what Mike Tranghese did during that whole period of time ... the ability to hold and in some ways strengthen the Big East, while the other three schools seem to have watered down, I have to be honest with you, on the national scene."

While he's completely accurate about Tranghese, he's a little off in the second half of that statement.

Boston College was ranked as high as No. 2 this season -- that's pretty prominent on the national scene. The future of Boston College isn't really clear, which has to be troublesome, but to say they watered down might be a stretch. Will they waterdown soon? It's possible.

Virginia Tech has played in two BCS games and have appeared in two of the three ACC title games. I would argue there's been no watering down.

What he should have said is "Miami and the ACC have been watered down more than a rice patty since the conference tried to shut us down four years ago."

Leavitt has a good ball club and has a lot to be excited about. But he should probably ease up on the jabs and figure out how he's going to win a pretty stacked conference with his team.

The breakdown

According to the media, here's how it will end up:

1. West Virginia (22) 189
2. USF (1) 149
3. Pittsburgh (1) 128
4. Rutgers 110
5. Cincinnati 98
6. Connecticut 97
7. Louisville 69
8. Syracuse 24

There will be plenty more about the Big East to come.

--AA

Butch Davis and North Carolina received a pleasant surprise this week.

Quinton Coples, a mammoth defensive end, has qualified from Hargrave Military Academy and will be participating in fall practice.

Hargrave coach Robert Prunty told Sports Illustrated that Coples reminds him of Julius Peppers -- All-Pro defensive end who was a two-sport star at North Carolina.

Coples, 6'7 245-pounds, will anchor a defensive line for possibly three years with the slimmed down defensive tackle Marvin Austin -- who was on many lists as the No. 1 prep player in last year's class. You have to like your chances with Coples and Austin.

As far as this year, expect Coples to be in the defensive end mix with the aforementioned Austin. Those two, along with E.J. Wilson give Davis one of the more formidable defensive lines in the ACC.

Davis won just four games in his first year, but was on the verge of something big. The talent he's bringing to Chapel Hill is going to be a force soon.

-AA

By Adam Abramson

Jason Gwaltney is again part of the West Virginia football team.

The former North Babylon running back is back in Morgantown with another chance to see the field for the Mountaineers in the future.

Gwaltney's return to West Virginia comes after a tumultuous two-year stretch that saw him bouncing between Morgantown and Long Island.

Even though he's at WVU again, the third time around won't necessarily be a charm. New head coach Bill Stewart has told Gwaltney he must spend this year in the classroom and on the scout team before he can see the field. He will use a redshirt this season, leaving him with one year of football eligibility for the 2009 season.

"He's back with the team, he's on campus. He's just not eligible," said Stewart, who was quarterbacks coach when Gwaltney first came to West Virginia. "As long as he goes to class, does what he's supposed to do, as long as he crosses his Ts and dots his Is, he's part of the family."

As a freshman in 2005 he had 45 carries for 186 yards and three touchdowns before a knee injury. Trouble in the classroom abruptly kept him from the field and he left school.

Former head coach Rich Rodriguez was prepared to give him another chance following the 2006-2007 season after he re-enrolled as a student, but a June arrest for underage consumption of alcohol, speeding and failure to produce an operator's license again landed him in hot water.

Gwaltney has since spent time at Nassau Community College where he attained enough credits to head back to West Virginia where he’s been in summer school, according to his high school coach Terry Manning.

“He’s been great with the speed work, agility. He really got into it. He’s not into the power lifting anymore. He’s phenomenal specimen,” Manning said of Gwaltney’s training. “I hope [he knows what’s at stake]. There’s been a lot of conversations over the years about going to class and doing the right thing … I’m hoping the light in him went on and he understands what’s ahead of him.”

Manning said Gwaltney is under his high school playing weight of 238 by nearly 10 pounds.

"I know he's matured. I know he knows this is his last opportunity," Stewart said. "I'm a guy that sees the glass as half full instead of half empty."

Gwaltney is the only two-time winner of Newsday’s Hansen Award, given to Suffolk's top high school football player since 1960. His senior season was marked by 2,880 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns.

"He's a tremendous football talent. He has a great future ahead of him," Stewart said.

Calls to a number listed for Gwaltney went unanswered.

No, Adam and I aren't ready to reveal how we have the conferences ranked for this season. That will take some time.

Be patient.

But we'd like to hear what you think. Below is a list of the 11 FBS conferences, in alphabetical order. Let us know how you would rank the conferences.

We'll reveal our list in the next week or so:

ACC
Big East
Big 10
Big 12
Conference USA
Pac-10
SEC
WAC
Mountain West
Mid-American
Sun Belt

-- MR

The rankings are out, and I'm not talking about the preseason polls.

I'm talking about Princeton Review's ranking of the nation's top party schools.

Atop the list is Florida. This shouldn't be really surpirsing. The recent football and basketball titles are plenty reason to celebrate. And what's that they say? "It's great to be a Flor-ida Gator."

The fellows over at The Final Score have the rest of the Top 20. My fellow Hokies didn't funnel enough beverages to make the list, but Mike's friends did...Something he's already fistpumped about.

--AA

It's long been said that speed kills.

I believe it does, but so do insanely huge guys.

Percy Harvin now has both.

Harvin had a lot of time to pass in the offseason after surgery on a very problematic heel. Considering he couldn't improve his already deadly speed, Harvin took to the weights and impressed everyone in Gainesville by transforming himself from the waist up.

The Percy Harvin on the left is a trail-blazing senior in two and a half years ago at Landstown High in Virginia Beach who put up 33 touchdowns, five of which were runs of 80-yards or more (14 of 50 or more).

The Harvin on the right is a national champion all-purpose devastator for the Florida Gators. In two years he's been tabbed an All-American, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Championship Game MVP and All-SEC first and second team. He's also incredibly bulked.

The work he put in while he couldn't run is obvious. The picture of him to the right is almost exactly one year ago. You can see he's in good shape, but he's not looking like he's ready for the world's strongest man contest.

I've heard some interesting things about Harvin's future, and I'll just say I wouldn't be surpised if he's staying in the weight room extra hours in preparation for a certain annual April event that'd he's eligible for in 2009...

Either way, the Gators are pretty much in everyone's preseason Top 5 and Harvin is a big reason why. And with the progress he's shown, he's poised for another huge year -- as long as that heel is mending the way everyone has claimed it has.

--AA

I finally had the chance to sit down and play NCAA 2009.

And the hour I spent was a waste of time. I want a refund for my hour. I deserve a 25-hour day today.

The dynasty mode is out of control. In the hour I wasted I made it through Week 2 of the first season. It's become too much.

I miss the days of NCAA 2003. We used to rack up 60-year dynasties like they were going to expire. We created prospects, made Louisiana Tech the most successful program in college football history, only to leave and do the same at Southern Methodist. There was no making phone calls, no mid-season recruiting, no hard sell pitches. You would offer Ben Farenelli from Brentwood, NY, get him on campus, cut the redshirt junior on your roster who's done nothing in three years and hope he's a 93 overall in a few seasons.

Sure, the graphics are unbelievable. However, the gameplay has also become overwhelming. My head hurts just thinking about mastering all of the controls. It's actually pretty incredible what has been put together by EA and the designers, but I'm ticked about the dynasty mode, so everything else will suffer.

Maybe when I can rough up the University of Virginia 77-0 without blinking, my thoughts will change. But until I can actually get through a season in one day, I'm live in the past with 2003.

--AA

Back from a world without Internet. I had a lot of catching up to do, but I think we'll start with some polls.

According to the media, here is how the conference standings will look come bowl season:

Pac 10
1. USC (38 first-place votes), 389 total points
2. Arizona State, 330
3. Oregon, 295
4. Cal (1), 274**
5. UCLA, 204
6. Oregon State, 192
7. Arizona, 185
8. Washington, 139
9. Stanford, 76
10. Washington State, 61
**Jeff Tedford is not a member of the media.

Atlantic Coast
Atlantic Division
Clemson (59) 383**
Wake Forest (5) 304
Florida State (1) 265
Boston College 154
Maryland 147
N.C. State 112

Coastal Division
Virginia Tech (58) 383
North Carolina (4) 288
Miami (1) 253
Georgia Tech (1) 195
Virginia (1) 161
Duke 85
**Picked to win conference

Big 12
North
1. Missouri (51) 306
2. Kansas 234
3. Nebraska 183
4. Colorado 181
5. Kansas State 108
6. Iowa State 59

South
1. Oklahoma (49) 304
2. Texas (2) 230
3. Texas Tech 227
4. Oklahoma State 140
5. Texas A&M 118
6. Baylor 52

Southeastern
Eastern Div.
1. Florida (45) 98**
2. Georgia (23) 121
3. Tennessee (2) 222
4. South Carolina 266
5. Kentucky 356
6. Vanderbilt 407

Western Div.
1. Auburn (48) 99
2. LSU (21) 120
3. Alabama 228
4. Mississippi State 299
5. Ole Miss (1) 338
6. Arkansas 386
**Picked to win conference

The Big Ten's poll is nowhere to be found. They're above that, perhaps? Do they think very little of the men that cover the conference? However, I was able to gather, and as Mike reported, that Ohio State is picked to win the conference, Wisconsin second and Illinois third. I also read that Michigan State is ranked ahead of Michigan. I'll assume that Penn State was picked fourth, making Michigan sixth at best.

The Big East media day is tomorrow. So I'll be sure to provide the pundits' preseason poll.

--AA

Again, no surprise here. USC was picked by the media to win the Pac 10 for the seventh straight season. The Trojans should also be in the national title hunt.

Here's the rundown :

1. USC (389)
2. Arizona State (330)
3. Oregon (295)
4. California (274)
5. UCLA (204)
6. Oregon State (192)
7. Arizona (185)
8. Washington (139)
9. Stanford (76)
10. Washington State (61)

USC received 38 of 39 first-place votes. California got the other first-place vote.

-- MR

Yes, the SEC media festivities extend over three days. It began on Wednesday.

Anyhow, here's the SEC coaches preseason all-conference teams.

Note that Florida's Tim Tebow -- the Heisman Trophy winner -- was not a unanimous selection. I'm certain Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford got some first-team votes.

But Georgia sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno was a unanimous selection. Moreno is a Heisman sleeper, in my opinion, this season.

-- MR

The Big 10 held its media day today in Chicago.

Ohio State was picked to win the conference -- no surprise there since many, many people have the Buckeyes as the nation's preseason No. 1.

Wisconsin was picked to finish second and Illinois third.

Sorry. That's all the Big 10 releases.

I'm going to guess Penn State or Michigan was picked to finish fourth. Penn State gets both Illinois (Sept. 27, 8 p.m.) and Michigan (Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.) at home. Those will be big games in terms of which teams land in Jan. 1 bowls. The first- or second-place team would probably go to a Rose Bowl. It's not a stretch to have two Big 10 teams in BCS games. In 2005, Penn State played in the Orange Bowl and Ohio State in the Fiesta. However, an undefeated or one-loss Big 10 team could go to the national championship game in Arizona. Anyhow, the point is that the third- and fourth-place teams will be fighting for the Capital One and Outback Bowls.

The Big 10 preseason offensive player of the year: Chris "Beanie" Wells, Ohio State's fabulous running back.

The Big 10 preseason defensive player of the year: James Laurinaitis, Ohio State's star senior linebacker.

I can't argue with any of these picks. But as we saw last season, anything can happen once the season starts.

-- MR

BY MIKE ROSE

So I've been trying to figure out who my five Heisman contenders will be heading into the season. I'll release my top five as we get closer to the season, as Adam and I start to post our season preview lists and rankings.

Anyhow, I'm down to my top 10. I'll cut it to five in about three weeks or so. Check it out and let me know who your top five Heisman contenders are.

NOTE: I reserve the right to change my top 10. But these are the players I'm pretty comfortable with.

Tim Tebow, Jr. QB, Florida
Chase Daniel, Sr., QB, MIssouri
Chris Wells, Jr., RB, Ohio State
Pat White, Sr. QB, West Virginia
Knowshon Moreno, So., RB, Georgia
Percy Harvin, Jr., WR, Florida
Michael Crabtree, So., WR, Texas Tech
Sam Bradford, So., QB, Oklahoma
P.J. Hill, Jr., RB, Wisconson
Graham Harrell, Sr., QB, Texas Tech

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.

Well, the Newark Star-Ledger -- with reporters Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman leading the way -- is at again.

Today's story on Rutgers and head footbal coach Greg Schiano has information about another secret deal the school made with Schiano.

According to the Star-Ledger report, Schiano must pay $500,000 to the school if he breaks his 10-year contract and leaves following the 2009 season. But an addendum to that contract says that Schiano does not have to pay if the school cannot finish a major renovation to the stadium by 2009.

This is getting ugly.

The Star-Ledger reported that State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) wants an investigation. She refers to this deal and another secret deal -- reported by the Star-Ledger on Monday -- that pays Schiano an additional $250,000 on top of his normal contract as a "covert operation."

-- MR

The ACC had its media day on Monday. Virginia Tech is the favorite in the Coastal Division. But it's Tommy Bowden's Clemson team that is the favorite in the Atlantic Division.

Clemson was picked to win the conference title.

Speaking of Bowdens, ESPN.com has a short, but interesting story on Bobby, who doesn't sound like he's too eager to retire. Maybe that's what the start of a new season does.

-- MR

The Newark Star-Ledger has a great story today -- reported by Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman -- about Rutgers coach Greg Schiano and his deal with the school.

According to the Star-Ledger, when Schiano agreed to the terms that pay him $2 million annually, he also signed a side agreement to get an additional $250,000 through "indirect payments."

Interesting stuff. Give it a look.

-- MR

Our friends over in The Final Score blog beat us to the punch on the story about Central Florida coach George O'Leary.

Here's what Chicago Norm of The Final Score had to say:

George O'Leary is refusing to talk to the Orlando Sentinel until it "corrects" a story about the death of one of UCF's players.

Back in March, UCF running back Ereck Plancher died after conditioning drills and the Sentinel's story, supported by comments from four unnamed players in attendance, cast O'Leary's conduct in a very unfavorable light. It was later learned that Plancher had the sickle-cell trait.

There's also a link in The Final Score post to The Orlando Sentinel story.

Two very odd things -- O'Leary is not just keeping quiet around Sentinel reporters. If a Sentinel reporter is present, O'Leary also won't speak to the other reporters. Also, as Chicago Norm points out, O'Leary is worried about accuracy? Isn't this the guy who lied on his resume when he was going for the Notre Dame head coaching job? Notre Dame eventually fired him.

-- MR

BY MIKE ROSE

I'm slacking. I know.

But we should do something on the latest induction class to the College Football Hall of Fame. Penn State's Joe Paterno and former Boston College quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie headlined the class of 20.

Other inductees included: Mount Union quarterback Jim Ballard; Oklahoma center Tom Brahaney; Michigan defensive back Dave Brown; Clemson linebacker Jeff Davis; Texas defensive back Johnnie Johnson; Ohio State quarterback Rex Kern; North Alabama linebacker Ronald McKinnon; Texas A&I defensive end John Randle; Oregon running back Ahmad Rashad; McMurry halfback Brad Rowland; Indiana running back Anthony Thompson; Houston defensive tackle Wilson Whitley; Dartmouth linebacker Reggie Williams; Southern California linebacker Richard Wood and Notre Dame nose tackle Chris Zorich.

The event was held in South Bend, Ind.

Of course, Paterno and Flutie had some fun.

According to the story from the Associated Press, Paterno couldn't help but take a playful shot at Flutie. Here are some of the quotes, via AP.

"We made Flutie. I told him that 10 times," Paterno said at a news conference. "He came to our place and nobody knew who he was and he ended up throwing for 400 yards.

"But we beat 'em," Paterno added with a smile.

According to the AP story, Penn State beat Boston College three out of four times during the Flutie era. In his junior year Flutie passed for 380 yards in a 27-17 victory. As a sophomore, Flutie threw for 520 yards in a 52-17 loss and as a senior he threw for 447 yards in a 37-30 loss.

The AP story also said that Flutie saw his first action as a college player against the Nittany Lions, getting into the game in the fourth quarter during his freshman season.

"I remember walking out on the field and thinking to myself, 'I'll able to tell my grandkids someday that I played in front of 85,000 people at Penn State against Joe Paterno,' " he said.

How times have changed. Beaver Stadium now holds over 107,000.

The start of college football is what, five weeks away? You want rankings, lists, predictions .... analysis!

We know. It's coming. But not this week.

Adam is off surfing some waves. When he gets back we're going to huddle and come up with our plan of attack. We'll start trotting out some stuff next week.

Stay tuned.

-- MR

BY MIKE ROSE

Hi all. I did get a chance to play the new NCAA Football 09 over the weekend. I played it very briefly so this will be a short post and I'll try to do a more thorough report a little later after I've played it more. But my first impressions:

-- The rosters are pretty accurate. Not perfect (at least for the team I played with), but very good. There's one player I know is starting this season on the offensive line for Penn St. (Stefen Wisniewski), but he's not in the starting lineup in the game. I can, of course, insert him into the starting lineup, but I didn't see him on the roster during my quick glance. I'll check again the next time I play. Also, Penn State linebacker Sean Lee, who was injured months ago and will miss this season, shows up in the starting lineup (of course I'd rather have Lee in the starting lineup). Meanwhile, Jerome Hayes, who is recovering from a torn ACL, is in the starting lineup. I'm not sure he'll end up being a starter. Little things like that I spotted. Nothing major.

-- The biggest difference between NCAA 09 and Madden is the college atmosphere. The fans and mascots are definitely prominent in NCAA 09. You can also celebrate with the players.

-- I've only played in one stadium thus far -- Beaver Stadium. It's fairly authentic, but when you look through the tunnel (during an extra point) there is some sort of building visible. Beaver Stadium doesn't really have any buildings visible from the one tunnel that looks out from the end zone. The other tunnel (where the visiting team enters the field) comes out from a corner.

-- I've started a season in the 'Dynasty' mode. There's an updated top 25, the weekly Heisman candidates, etc. You can play a season with a team's 2008 schedule or make your own.

-- The playbook is all college. I found my favorite play to be the option.

-- I thought the graphics were good. I'm still playing around with the camera angles.

-- I own a Wii so I'm guessing the graphics may be a little better on Xbox or PlayStation. The Wii graphics don't look as good as what I'm seeing on www.ncaafootball09.com. Oh well. I was able to get my Mii into the game.

BY MIKE ROSE

I always love those big non-conference games early in the season, well before the conference schedules get going.

With the way college football is these days and with how strong each conference is, those big early-season games don't mean too much in terms of the BCS title game (remember last season?). But it's always fun when one powerhouse beats another powerhouse and we have a "BCS frontrunner."

I am a firm believer that the elite teams should play at least two tough non-conference games. It wasn't too long ago that I abandoned that thinking. It always frustrated me when one team had two losses because they didn't play a cupcake schedule, yet could not get into the BCS title game. While one of the teams in the BCS title game with a perfect record played a bunch of pushovers in non-conference games.

So I'm always curious and decided to start glancing over schedules. I thought of what my top 5 teams might look like heading into the season and decided to give you the lowdown.

1. Ohio State
Non-conference schedule: vs. Youngstown State (Aug. 30), vs. Ohio (Sept. 6), at USC (Sept. 13), vs. Troy (Sept. 20).
The skinny: The Buckeyes play Youngstown State because that's where Jim Tressel comes from and it's a nice payday for his old school. Ohio is good, but the Buckeyes should roll at home. Kudos for playing USC in Los Angeles. I think that will be a classic. Troy is an easy win. I have no problem with Youngstown State and Ohio on the schedule. USC is a great non-conference game and Ohio State gets points for that one. Interestingly, three of the four teams had winning records last season (Ohio finished 6-6).

2. Georgia
Non-conference schedule: vs. Georgia Southern (Aug. 30), vs. Central Michigan (Sept. 6), at Arizona State (Sept. 20), vs. Georgia Tech (Nov. 29).
The skinny: All four teams had winning records last season. Georgia So. and Central Michigan should be easy wins in Athens. Georgia Tech is on the schedule each season and is usually a tough game since it's a rivalry. The Arizona State game is intriguing. The game is in the desert, and it's right in the middle of the SEC season. Georgia plays at South Carolina on Sept. 13 and then goes to Arizona State. Alabama is next at home Sept. 27. That's some gutsy scheduling by the Bulldogs.

3. Oklahoma
Non-conference games: vs. Chattanooga (Aug. 30), vs. Cincinnati (Sept. 6), at Washington (Sept. 13), vs. TCU (Sept. 27).
The skinny: Chattanooga and Washington were awful last season. But Cincinnati ended up in the top 20 to finish the season, won 10 games and its bowl game last season. That could be a tough one in Norman. The Sooners wisely took a bye week after the trip to Washington. Good thing because TCU is usually good.

4. Florida
Non-conference games: vs. Hawaii (Aug. 30), vs. Miami, Fla. (Sept. 6), vs. Citadel (Nov. 22), at Florida State (Nov. 29).
The skinny: The Gators won't be chomping on a lot of cupcakes this season. Hawaii had a memorable season in 2007, with a trip a BCS bowl (Sugar). But Hawaii lost coach June Jones and quarterback Colt Brennan. Still, that's not an easy game for Florida. Then the Gators get Miami the next week. Randy Shannon is on the verge of turning things around with the Hurricanes. Another good early-season test for Florida. The Citadel is an easy one, but the Florida State game to end the regular season is always emotional and always a fierce game. Add in the always tough SEC schedule and Florida really has a tough, tough schedule.

5. USC
Non-conference games: at Virginia (Aug. 30), vs. Ohio State (Sept. 13), vs. Notre Dame (Nov. 29).
The skinny: Starting off at Virginia is a tough one. The Cavaliers won nine games last season. But USC was very wise to take its bye week before the Ohio State game, which follows. As stated above, this will be a classic. It's going to be like the Texas-Ohio State game in 2005. Texas won that game against the Buckeyes and used the momentum to capture the national title, beating USC. Notre Dame will be much improved this season.

BY MIKE ROSE

I've always loved what college basketball does. Take one conference and play games against another conference (think Big 10-ACC Challenge).

What better way to get some idea regarding which conference is really the best. The ACC has dominated the basketball series with the Big 10.

Which takes us to football. The Big 10 has taken its lumps around the country over the past few seasons when it comes to talk over which conference it truly the best. Is it the SEC? Or the Big 12? Or how about the Pac 10? Maybe the ACC? What about the Big 10.

Let's not get crazy here. The Big 10 is an elite conference. I mean, Ohio State has played for the national title two seasons in a row -- getting beaten twice by SEC teams (LSU last season and Florida two seasons ago).

I wish college football could have some sort of conference vs. conference showdown. We get some of it during bowl season when conferences like the Big 10 and SEC are contractually matched up in certain games (Capital One, Outback, etc.).

Glancing over the early portion of this upcoming season's schedule, we do have something close to a conference challenge. The Big 10 and Pac 10 will play against either other in four games early in the year.

Check this out:

Michigan State at California, Aug. 30, 8 p.m.: Intriguing game. Both teams went 7-6 last season. Both teams seemed to be very Jekyll and Hyde last season. Toss up in this opener. I think whichever quarterback comes out strong -- Bobby Hoyer of Michigan State or Nate Longshore/Kevin Riley of Cal -- wins.

Oregon State at Penn State, Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m.: Oregon State will be very young this season with only 10 returning starters. Still, the Beavers are always dangerous. Penn State has been picked anywhere from second to seventh in the Big 10 predictions I've seen. If Daryll Clark can run the spread offense like Michael Robinson did in 2005, the Nittany Lions could be very good. Since it's early in the season and there will be nearly 110,000 in raucous Beaver Stadium, I'll give PSU the slight nod.

Oregon at Purdue, Sept. 13, 3:30 p.m.: I still have images of Oregon and its spread offense -- led by quarterback Dennis Dixon -- running wild in The Big House. Purdue can score with Curtis Painter, but that Ducks offense scares me.

Ohio State at USC, Sept. 13, 8 p.m.: Wow. Christmas in September. This is definitely the game I'm most looking forward to seeing this season. The Buckeyes return just about all of their top players -- quarterback Todd Boeckman, running back Beanie Wells, wide receiver Brian Robiske, linebacker James Laurinaitis, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. USC has only 13 starters back, but seven are on defense, including linebackers Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga. Still, Mark Sanchez must lead an offense with only four starters back and a very new offensive line. But Vidal Hazleton will soon be a star at wide receiver and there is stud in waiting at tailback (whether it's Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, C.J. Gable or Broderick Green). Since I expect USC to be better later in the season and I believe Ohio State wants to make a statement after losing two National Championship games, I'm going with the Buckeyes.

Just wanted to keep on top of the potential 2009 ACC-SEC kickoff game in Atlanta.

Virginia Tech is still gung-ho. Alabama has some contractual obligations with previously scheduled games it would have to work out, so nothing is a done deal. Schools like Auburn and Tennessee have been mentioned, but there's little substance to that.

This is definitely a wait-and-see. Nick Saban has, and wants to continue to play marquee out of conference games. I expect him to be all for this game.

Keep staying tuned.

So, as you could tell from today's posts, I'm back.

I was sick in a bad way and in bed for a solid two weeks (still managed a weekend trip to Vegas, probably not smart).

But, we're back in full swing, just 45 days away from the start of the season.

The real reason I'm writing this post is to introduce Mike Rose, my cohort starting today. Mike is the only other college football fan in this office. We talk Xs and Os, VT-Penn State smack talk and everything else imaginable every day. The man needs a voice.

Mike, welcome to CC.

Former beat colleague Kyle Tucker broke this story in the Virginian Pilot yesterday.

In short, it says there is a planned Chick-Fil-A college football kickoff game set for 2009 that will square off Virginia Tech and Alabama. Pretty big time game to start the season.

However, it's not easy.

Then Ian Rappaport published this on al.com. Apparently Alabama is saying VT jumped the gun.

The rumblings I'm hearing are this game is a go. If Alabama wants in, then they can accept. If not, expect someone like Tennessee, Auburn or another big-name SEC school to step up to the plate.

It's a great opportunity for both schools. Lots of exposure. VT could build inroads in an area where they pretty much never recruit. And the SEC, who can recruit everywhere, would get tons of exposure in Virginia -- a state that could produce up to 70 Division I-A (FBS) prospects this year.

Stay tuned.

Here are some big Week 1 games this year: Alabama vs. Clemson in Atlanta (this year's version of the proposed 2009 game), Michigan State at Cal, Appalachain State at LSU (new quarterback in Baton Rouge...we'll see) and Southern Cal at Virginia.

By the way, those games are 45 days away...