Akron: Penn St. -- Orange Bowl winners -- are you kidding me? 11-1 last year, co-Big Ten champs, and you know what, I’m picking Akron in this game. Thirty-two sacks last year, they led the MAC in sacks last year. Penn St. has only one returning starter on the offensive line. You watch the defense from Akron -- they’re going to get after Penn St.

Notre Dame: Believe it or not coach [Lou Holtz] -- Notre Dame. Darius Walker will have a big game, the running back for Notre Dame.

Southern Cal: I pick USC. Are you kidding me. 70-17 last year, they demolished Arkansas. Those great wide receivers for USC -- Steve Smith, Dwayne Jarrett. Let’s not forget, they had seven touchdown drives of five plays or less. Those guys from Arkansas, their heads are still on a swivel.

Florida St.: The best players and the best team wins it, and I personally think that is Florida St.

Florida St.: I’m picking Florida St. Drew Weatherford -- 18 touchdown passes, but 18 inteceptions last year. He’s matured. He was a red-shirt freshman last year. He just needs help; he needs Lorenzo Booker to step up in the running game last year. They had a terrible running attack last year, 94 yards a game. I’m going with Florida St.

Florida St.: I look at the other side of the coin, I like Florida St. because of their offense. I think their offense will be ahead of Miami's offense and Greg Carr, remember that name, 6' 6" wide receivers, is a nightmare in the red zone.

Texas: I like Texas at home, and I think the carry over of last year's National Championship will help these players. Plus when you have seven offense and seven defensive starters returning, Texas has the edge.

Florida: I'm going with Florida also.

Tennessee: I like Tennessee in this game. Tennessee last year held this offense to 16 points under John Chavis, their defenseive coordinator, and I’m still not sold on that spread option in the SEC yet.

LSU: I'm going with LSU in this game.

Auburn: I agree with Todd [Blackledge]. I believe Auburn will win this game, and the reason why is upfront. If you look at LSU, they have to replace three offensive starters on the offensive line, three defensive starters on the defensive front four, and you look at Auburn, the way Kenny Irons really picked it up last year running the football, I think he is going to hit the ground running this season.

Miami (FL): Oh, I like the way that Louisville can play physical football. Six-foot-three, 200 . . . Michael Bush in the backfield, are you kidding me? He is going to wear out that Miami defense.

Michigan: I like Michigan in this game.

Michigan: Well I think it’s Michigan. They’re going to have a tough September, but it is got to be Michigan. Michigan played them tight last year, and now Michigan is leaner, they’re meaner, they’ve all lost weight in the off season, hit the weights. They’re going to be tough to deal with this season. They believe they can go into South Bend and beat this team and Michael Hart, the running back, has been magnificent the entire spring and summer. Watch Michigan’s offense -- they will dominate Notre Dame’s defense.

Notre Dame: They [Michigan] better turn it around this year. He [Lloyd Carr] replaced both coordinators this year on offense and defense. Not only that, you go back and look at their track record, since 1999 they’ve lost at least three football games or more each and every year. They lost five games last year. Lloyd Carr has lost four out of five bowl games. Where is this program going? They better win big time this year. They better win at least ten football games. . . . I think Notre Dame wins this game. If you just look at history, Lloyd Carr and season opening road games -- 0-6 his last six. He’s going to Notre Dame, playing in a tough environment on the road. You know how this team gets tight, and Lloyd Carr teams get tight on the road against good football teams. Like Notre Dame in this game.

Southern Cal: I think the speed of USC will definitely prevail in this game.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Southern Cal: I like SC in this game because of the receivers. You look at the outside, Smith and Jarrett, that’s just too much for the Nebraska defense.

Ohio St.: [As said by Rece Davis] September 23, a little bit light on the schedule, save for the Ohio St.-Penn St. game, which all of us [Mark May, Todd Blackledge, and Rece Davis] believe that Ohio St. will survive victorious against Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lions.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Iowa: Drew Tate, we like him, we like the way he plays football that the quarterback position: very heady, very smart, very aggressive. He leads his football team, but you look at this game, Iowa schedule the way it sets up, they’ll be undefeated coming into this game 4-0. Playing against Ohio St., they match up well offensively -- powerful offensive line, well coached. You have Albert Young at the running back position over 1300 yards last year, and you’ve got a quarterback that can make plays in any circumstance. You always can count on Drew Tate to make a big play when you need him. . . . I think Iowa scores just enough to beat Ohio St. in this game, because defensively, they are going to come up with a defensive stop of Ohio St.’s offense.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Texas: Well, I think it may be an issue on Texas’ side on the quarterback issue, because if Mack Brown is alternating quarterbacks, they will not win this game, but if he’s got one quarterback and relies on the supporting cast, the wide receivers, running backs, offensive line -- Texas wins the game. [listed on screen as picking Texas]

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Southern Cal: This game will be over before halftime . . . USC is going to come out, you are going to see a different type of offense this week. They are going to capitalize on turnovers this week.

Southern Cal: I'm picking USC in this one.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Auburn: Auburn is going to defeat Florida.

Auburn: Well this [Florida] offense is no good at all if you don’t have an offensive line that can run block or pass protect. . . . At wide receiver [for Auburn], Courtney Taylor is their leading receiver, only 22 receptions coming back, and they are missing some great receivers and they are going to have to replenish those, and they will. AB, the OC, the Gulf Coast offense will survive. They’ve got a great quarterback in Brandon Cox, a terrific running back in Kenny Irons, offensive line is stable. They will find ways to move the ball down the football field. . . . I like Auburn in this game, and I like Tommy Tuberfield -- the way he coaches his teams at home. They’ve only lost one football game at home the last two seasons.

Michigan: I think Michigan is going to win this one, but it will be very clsoe.

Clemson:

Iowa: They'll beat Michigan again, at Michigan.

Iowa: I’m going to give you a couple of lofty numbers: 51 of 71, 558 yards, that is what Drew Tate has done against the Michigan Wolverine defense the last two times he’s faced them. They will have a big game in this game. Drew Tate is just spectacular running this offense. I love the way he runs around, scrambles around, makes plays out of the pocket, directs the entire offense when he is running the football. I just love the way he’s plays at quarterback. . . . I like Iowa in this game.

Georgia Tech: I like Georgia Tech in a very close game.

Missouri: I'm going with Missouri in this game.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Tennessee: I'm taking Tennessee big time.

Texas Tech: I think the upset is going to be for Texas.

West Virginia:

West Virginia: Well, it’s a huge game, I think this is the biggest game on the East Coast as far as the entire season goes. When you break this game down, I love to look for mismatches -- Louisville’s wide receiver led by Mario Urrutia, 6’3”, three other guys 6’3” or taller, Michael Bush 6’3”, 250 lbs. out of the backfield at running back. I think they will give the defense of West Virginia fits in this game just because of their size and the offense of Louisville. . . . Now, after I got done talking about Louisville’s wide receivers and mismatches, you think I go with Louisville? Wrong! West Virginia, the Mountaineers -- Steve Slayton, six touchdowns last year in this game. That West Virginia defense, that 3-3-5 confuses a lot of teams. I think West Virginia wins this game. This is the game they circled. At the beginning of the year, they put one game on their calendar, on their schedule. They put the big red circle on it. It was this game against Louisville. West Virginia finds a way to win.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Virginia Tech: This will be a very, very low scoring game, a very physical game. Two great defenses -- I think Bud Foster’s defense for Virginia Tech prevails in this game. Virginia Tech’s offense starts rolling in this game. They win a close game 10-7, because of their offense. They’ll score ten points.

Georgia: I don’t think the schedule catches up with them because it’s at home. This is a team that’s only lost one game at home the past two seasons. You look Tommy Tuberville’s been able to with his team two years ago when they were undefeated -- they’re not going to feel any pressure. I think they continue to roll, and look for Brandon Cox, the quarterback from Auburn to have one heck of a football game here.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Southern Cal: I’m going USC -- too much talent on both sides of the ball, particularly at wide receiver. You look at Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith -- too good for Oregon.

Alabama: No, this is the game. This is the game that Alabama has been looking for the entire season. Ken Darby is going to have a huge game in the game. There offensive line, I still believe that they are the best, that’s right, in the SEC -- the best offensive line, and not only that, defensive coordinator Joe Kines, he’s got a burr in his back right now, because this team scored more points against his number one team defensively last year than any team they faces,

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Southern Cal: I agree with you [Todd Blackledge]. USC’s just has the confidence against Cal. I don’t know if Cal is mentally tough enough to beat USC, particularly their wide receivers, who are just so good at USC.

Ohio St.: Well it’s like that dog you’ve had around the house for ten-twelve years. You say “sit,” you say “lay down.” That dog does it; you own that dog. That’s what Tressel is to Lloyd Carr, because he always beats the Wolverines. And he does. And he has confidence in his football team on both sides of the ball. They know that they can play Michigan no matter where they play them - at the Big House or in their own backyard -- and they can beat this team, because not only their offense, but their defense has gotten better, each and every week. Now they’re not as good as last year’s D, but they are awfully close right now. . . . I like Ohio St. to run away with this game, and it could get very ugly in the fourth quarter.

Florida St.: I like Florida St. in this game. It’s because of their defense. Mickey Andrews and his defense, young defensive football team. They are going to be much better at the end of the season.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.

Southern Cal: Well, this is going to be a game that’s gonna come down to speed. One team has it; the other team doesn’t. You look at the wide receivers for USC, you look at Tom Zbikowski in that secondary. Every time they hear the name Dwayne Jarrett, it’s like an electrical shock. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt, the entire off-season for these guys. They’re gonna face the same duo of Steve Smith and Jarrett again. They didn’t get any faster in the offseason. That’s where this game will come down to, USC with its tremendous wide receivers against the paltry Notre Dame secondary. . . . I love USC in this game, and I think this will be John David Booty’s coming out party to America. That he might be the next Heisman Trophy quarterback down the road for USC.

Southern Cal: I believe USC will run the table the rest of the season.