Miami (FL): I see these teams as very similar: young quarterbacks, both got better as the year went on, both have excellent defenses. I think Miami will be a little bit ahead of Florida St. when the season starts. They play them in the Orange Bowl, I like Miami.

Texas: Well, I like Ohio St. I like Troy Smith. I like their offense. I like the experience at the quarterback position. I just don't know that that defense will be up to speed at that point for that difficult game in Austin. I like Texas even though they have the quarterback youth.

Florida: I think for Chris Leak, the first time in his career that he has the same offensive system, same coordinator for two years in a row. He will play well in Knoxville like he did two years ago, and Florida will win the game.

Auburn: Well, in either one of those stadiums, in Baton Rouge or in Auburn, they’re both extremely loud places to play, and what that does is if you are an offense playing in that stadium against a fast defense, it makes it very difficult to do things at the line of scrimmage, to check out of plays, to audible. That’s why those teams have the advantage at home in that conference when they have the speed on defense. Auburn, they play eight home games in Auburn Stadium, and I think that they will win this game against LSU.

Louisville: This is a testing game for Miami, but for Louisville to win this game, they’re going to have to play physical football, not just finesse. I don’t know that they can do it. I like Miami.

Michigan: Well, one thing they are definitely still doing is recruiting. They still have a lot of talent, as much talent as anybody in the Big Ten. I think defensively they are going to be a very good football team, and they got a lot of their skill guys back. I think Michigan will be O.K. . . . I do think they’ll beat Notre Dame because I think Notre Dame will have suck a huge game against Penn St. the week before out in South Bend -- that game is getting so much hype right now, and they will beat Penn St. I believe, as much as that hurts me to say it -- but the very next week, I think Michigan will go in there and beat Notre Dame.

Southern Cal: Well I think Nebraska is definitely getting better. I think Bill Callahan has got it going in the right direction, but I like SC in this game -- too much speed.

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.

Ohio St.: We’ll you have a quarterback on the other side [Ohio St.] who can make great plays too. Troy Smith is playing great football for Ohio St. the end of last season. Coming into this season he’s got a lot of weapons on the outside, good running game, good offensive line. I think this is going to be a very high scoring game out in Iowa between these two outstanding offensive teams. . . . I think Ohio St. scores the most. I think their defense finally catches up a little bit at this point in the season, and I think they beat Iowa on the road. . . . I just can’t imagine Ohio St. losing two games in the month of September. I just think they’ll find a way to get that win after we all said they were going to lose to Texas. They won’t lose twice in September.

Texas: Well I think both teams will be playing great defense. I think that’s where it starts for both these teams. Oklahoma’s going to be very salty on defense. Texas was tenth in the nation on defense last year, could be even better this year. I don’t think the quarterback issue is the biggest story. I think which defense wins the game, is going to be the deciding factor. [listed on screen as picking Texas]

Auburn: Well the interesting thing for me to see about Florida is with Urban Meyer’s offense in the other places he’s been in, Bowling Green and Utah, year two is when things really took off for not only his quarterback, but for his offense. The numbers really took off. I’m curious to see if that is what happens with Florida’s offense this year. Now there schedule is brutal. I mean, this game at Auburn is the third game in a row where they play Alabama, LSU, and then at Auburn -- three consecutive games, may take its toll on them, but I’m very curios to see about the second year of the Florida offense with Urban Meyer. . . . Well, I like Auburn at home, not just because they are playing at home, but they have 23 seniors on the team. I think that is a big deal with college football teams [when] you’ve got those numbers of seniors, so I like Auburn over Florida.

Penn St.: I think Michigan loses the previous week at Penn St. in a night game in a prime time game.

Michigan: Well I love Drew Tate as well, but I think Michigan loses the previous week at Penn St. in a night game in a prime time game, and they will not lose two in a row. They will back, and they will beat Iowa in the Big House, despite Drew Tate and his heroics.

Louisville: I’m going to take Louisville at home because I like their offense balance. The run and pass mixture, I like Louisville at home on Thursday night.

Miami (FL): Two very physical teams. I like Miami at home in the Orange Bowl.

Auburn: We haven’t said much about Georgia. I think they are going to be very good on defense. They’ve a quarterback issue they’ve to get worked out over the course of the season. Auburn’s schedule, they play 12 straight games. I think it catches up to them here. I like Georgia in an upset at Auburn.

Southern Cal: They’ll have fancier looking uniforms, but I think USC will still win the game.

Auburn: Yeah, but the problem for [Alabama defensive coordinator] Joe Kines is some of his best players are gone to the NFL. The guys who scored those points for Auburn are back. Brandon Cox the quarterback, Kenny Irons the tail back, Courtney Taylor. I think at the end of the day, two outstanding defenses, and intense rivalry, too much offensive balance for Auburn.

Southern Cal: You know I like Cal, they have some nice looking players. If they beat Tennessee in the opener and play with some confidence, they could put up a fight against USC, but they got to prove that they can get over that hump. I still think USC is the better team.

Ohio St.: I can remember when Jim Tressel took the job at Ohio St., his first press conference, he counted down to the very minute when that next Michigan game would be, and that lit up the Ohio St. crowd, and he has been true to his word, and you know, I mean, there’s something when you play in rivalry games, if you get a little bit of a psychological edge, it makes a big difference when you step out on the field. . . . I like Ohio St. at home with Troy Smith who played great on the road last year. He’ll play even better at home this year.

Florida St.: You know it’s funny, the last time these two teams met in Gainesville Florida St. was reeling. They had lost two games in a row. Florida was kinda peaking and Florida spanked them down in The Swamp. I don’t think it will be a complete reversal this year, but I think Florida St. will survive a lot better. I think they will have a much easier schedule. Florida, I think, has the toughest schedule in the country, and their last game is in Tallahassee against Florida St. I like Florida St. in this ball game.

Southern Cal: The other thing, you talk about that speed difference, prior to that USC game, Notre Dame will have played Air Force and then Army, it will be like a complete time warp by the time they get out to LA. . . . I like USC. I think it will be a good ball game. Brady Quinn will keep them competitive and make plays against USC’s defense, but I think USC will have too much for them.