Weekend Pickoff - Week 1

Week One is FINALLY here. Aside from Miami and Florida State, all the ACC teams venture out of conference. Some of the premiere matchups include the SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10. There are two things that keep the ACC from being an elite league - the first is the lack of legitimate national title contenders year in and year out. The second, is how poorly they have fared in out of conference games. They can take a big step towards both this weekend

South Carolina at North Carolina State

Last year's game saw the Gamecocks shutting out the Pack. Russell Wilson is healthy, and the game is in Raleigh. Here's hoping they can get off to a better start then in year's past:

NC State 21 South Carolina 17

Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech

We won't learn much from this game. We know the Jacket's offense is highly prolific, and it's question marks at defense are not likely to show here. My bet is a LOT of touches for Heismann hopeful Jonathan Dwyer and tons of yards.

GT 49 Jax St 13

Northeastern at Boston College

This figures to be a down year for the Eagles. Word in Chestnut Hill is three quarterbacks may end up seeing the field for this opener. The defense should once again be fantastic, but settling on a quarterback in Spaziani's debut is job one.

BC 31 NE 6

Baylor at Wake Forest

Don't let Baylor fool you; they may have the best quarterback in the Big 12. And that includes Colt McCoy and Heismann winner Sam Bradford. The Bears turned the ball over five times last year, and Wake doesn't play particularly well at home. Not to mention Wake lost a ton of talent to the NFL from their defense.

Wake 28 Baylor 24

Middle Tennessee at Clemson

Don't get me wrong, Clemson is a good team. But we have all learned our lesson in praising them too early. They have Georgia Tech a week from today and might be looking ahead. Not to mention Middle Tennessee DID beat Maryland a year ago.

Clemson 35 Middle Tennessee 28

The Citadel at North Carolina

Sigh, another cupcake. Again, UNC is solid, and they could easily win their first 6 games without breaking a sweat. We won't learn much here.

UNC 41 The Citadel 13

William and Mary at Virginia

Virginia is installing a new spread offense and looks to have several quarterbacks in the backfield. William and Mary isn't BAD and Richmond did almost beat the Hoos in Charlottesville last year. Wins are at a premium, UVA. Get them while you can.

UVA 28 William and Mary 14

Richmond at Duke

This one looks good on paper. Don't let Richmond fool you; they won the national championship last year for their division and have a ton of talent on their squad. Duke will be looking to make a bowl game and will need every win it can get from their out of conference schedule.

Duke 27 Richmond 16

Alabama at Virginia Tech (in Atlanta)

Now THIS is what college football is all about. Eschewing the cupcake schedule for a bowl game in September. Both Saban and Beamer know that a win would mean tons in terms of getting to Pasadena in January, but a loss isn't necessarily a dagger. Expect a lot of line of scrimmage controlling, running and smashmouth defense.

Pick to come tomorrow

Miami (FL) at #18 FSU

This game used to be the game of the year when Miami was in the Big East. It has lost a lot of luster ever since. Miami hasn't been all that good since 2003. Miami has a new offensive coordinator and FSU has some new talent on defense. I think the team that limits turnovers and can run the ball more effectively, wins. Both teams sport super solid offensive lines.

FSU 31 Miami (FL) 21