The 2010 college football season is less than a day away and the non-conference match-ups highlighting the first week of the schedule loom large on the national stage. As talk of conference re-alignment continues to grab the country’s attention, the start of the 2010 season is one of the most anticipated in recent memory.
Four match-ups between teams ranked in the preseason USA Today/Coaches’ Top-25 poll mark the opening weekend of the 2010 campaign, and three of the four games will feature teams predicted by the experts to play in a BCS Bowl game in 2011:
#15 Pittsburgh at #24 (tie) Utah
Sept. 2 | 8:30 | VERSUS
Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
No. 24 (tie) Utah, one of the Mountain West Conference’s best, will host Big East Conference favorite No. 15 Pittsburgh, which is looking to dethrone two-time defending league champion Cincinnati. Panther running back Dion Lewis, who earned second-team All-America honors and was the first player since Michael Vick to be named Big East Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season in 2009, will lead Pitt. Utah, in its last season in the MWC before joining the new Pac-12, is in a race with Boise State to become the first team from a BCS non-automatic qualifying conference to earn a berth in three BCS games. The Utes are led by 2009 first-team All-MWC running back Eddie Wide and second-team All-MWC linemen and Outland Trophy candidates Caleb Schlauderaff and Zane Taylor.
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#22 Oregon State at #7 TCU
Sept. 4 | 7:45 p.m. | ESPN
Cowboys Stadium | Arlington, Texas
Mountain West Conference favorite No. 7 TCU can prove it belongs in the national conversation in its season opener against No. 22 Oregon State, showcased at Cowboys Stadium. The Horned Frogs return seven All-MWC standouts, an offense that ranked in the top five in scoring and rushing in 2009, and a defense that has led the nation in yards allowed the last two seasons. The Beavers will be looking to make a statement of their own during the early going with a pair of preseason top-10 opponents in TCU and No. 5 Boise State (Sept. 25) on the schedule in the first four weeks. All eyes in Corvallis are on the Brothers Rodgers: Heisman Trophy candidate Jacquizz Rodgers and Biletnikoff Award hopeful James Rodgers.
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#18 North Carolina vs. #16 LSU
2010 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game
Sept. 4 | 8 p.m. | ABC
Georgia Dome | Atlanta, Ga.
The No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 16 LSU Tigers will square off against each other in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in prime time fashion. This early season ACC-SEC match-up is the perfect opportunity for both teams to jump into the national spotlight. The Tar Heels, one of the favorites in the ACC Coastal, return nine starters to a defensive unit that had the nation’s sixth best defense a season ago, allowing just 269.6 yards per game, while posting 11 interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns. LSU, just three seasons removed from a BCS National Championship, can turn heads in the Southeastern Conference toward Baton Rouge. The Tigers are coming off a 9-4 record in 2009, and return four starters to the defense, and six on offense, including Manning Award candidate Jordan Jefferson at quarterback.
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#5 Boise State vs. #6 Virginia Tech
Sept. 6 | 8 p.m. | ESPN
FedEx Field | Landover, Md.
Dreams of a National Championship will be on the line when No. 5 Boise State and No. 6 Virginia Tech meet at a neutral site in the most anticipated game in college football’s opening weekend. No. 5 Boise State begins its final season in the Western Athletic Conference and in quest of its third BCS berth since 2006. The Broncos will look to WAC preseason player of the year Kellen Moore, who is 26-1 in two seasons as the starting quarterback, including last season’s 14-0 record and 17-10 bowl win over TCU. Meanwhile, expectations of an ACC title and an automatic berth in the Discover Orange Bowl reside in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies have played in three BCS Bowl games since 2005 and are the preseason pick to win the ACC title in 2010. Virginia Tech will rely on a strong rushing attack led by 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year Ryan Williams and the return of 2008 All-ACC selection Darren Evans.
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Elsewhere, No. 2 Ohio State opens its 2010 slate Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. with a home contest against Marshall, while Maryland and Navy face off at 4:00 p.m. in an in-state rivalry at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Labor Day. The Maryland-Navy and Boise State-Virginia Tech match-ups are part of a Labor Day doubleheader on ESPN.
2011 BCS Bowl “Expert” Predictions
| Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com |
Andrea Adelson
ESPN.com |
Stewart Mandel
SportsIllustrated.com |
Ralph Russo Associated Press | |
| Discover
Orange Bowl (Jan. 3, 2011) |
Virginia Tech
vs. Notre Dame |
Miami
vs. Florida |
Virginia Tech
vs. Wisconsin |
Miami
vs. Nebraska |
| Tostitos
BCS NCG (Jan. 10, 2011) |
Alabama
vs. Ohio State |
Boise State
vs. Ohio State |
Alabama
vs. Ohio State |
Florida
vs. Wisconsin |
| Rose Bowl
(Jan. 1, 2011) |
Oregon
vs. Iowa |
Oregon
vs. Iowa |
Oregon
vs. Boise State |
Oregon
vs. TCU |
| Tostitos
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 2011) |
Nebraska
vs. Pittsburgh |
Nebraska
vs. Pittsburgh |
Oklahoma
vs. Connecticut |
Oklahoma
vs. Connecticut |
| Allstate
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 4, 2011) |
Florida
vs. Texas |
Alabama
vs. TCU |
Georgia
vs. Texas |
Alabama
vs. Ohio State |
ACC Weekend Lineup
Thursday, September 2
Presbyterian at Wake Forest 6:30 p.m. ESPN3.com
Florida A&M at Miami 7:30 p.m. ESPN3.com
Saturday, September 4
Samford at Florida State 12:00 p.m. ESPNU
Weber State at Boston College 1:00 p.m. ESPN3.com
South Carolina State at Georgia Tech 1:00 p.m. ESPN3.com
North Texas at Clemson 3:30 p.m. ESPNU
Western Carolina at NC State 6:00 p.m. ESPN3.com
Richmond at Virginia 6:00 p.m. ESPN3.com
Elon at Duke 7:00 p.m. ESPN3.com
#18 North Carolina at #21 LSU^ 8:00 p.m. ABC
Monday, September 6
Navy vs. Maryland* 4:00 p.m. ESPN
#5 Boise State vs. #6 Virginia Tech+ 8:00 p.m. ESPN
^ Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.)
* M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)
+ FedEx Field (Landover, Md.)
Also of note…
The Orange Bowl Committee, ESPN, and Discover Financial Services recently announced Discover’s title sponsorship of the Discover Orange Bowl, an agreement spanning four years and five games through 2014, and will include the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship Game.
The 2011 Discover Orange Bowl, to be played on January 3 at Sun Life Stadium, will pair the Atlantic Coast Conference champion against a BCS At-Large qualifying team unless the ACC champion qualifies for the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game.