SEC Projection

Ah, the good old SEC. If you saw my column for The Corner News the other day, there shouldn’t be much suspense here.

We’ll save the fanfare for later here…

Eastern Division
Georgia         8-1     12-1
Florida         7-1     11-1
Tennessee     5-3     9-3
South Carolina 3-5     6-6
Kentucky     2-6     6-6
Vanderbilt     0-8     3-9

Western Division
Auburn       7-2     10-3
LSU           6-2     10-2
Alabama       4-4     7-5
Ole Miss     3-5     6-6
Mississippi St. 3-5     7-5
Arkansas     1-7     4-8

Pac-10 projection

I wish you could’ve seen me as I was figuring this out earlier.

I’m not crazy about any team in this conference other than a bit of sleeper love for Arizona (I’m not even all that high on USC), but virtually everyone I found myself projecting a really strong season.

I think USC will beat Ohio State on Sept. 13, especially now that Mark Sanchez is healthy. But I have a feeling they’re going to slip up in conference play as they have the last two years, and I think the best candidate for that is their Oct. 25 trip to Arizona (they have all the top teams at home).

And if you’ll notice, it’s kind of bizarre how top-heavy the conference looks this year.

USC           8-1   11-1
California       7-2     9-3
Arizona State   7-2     9-3
Oregon         7-2     9-3
Arizona         6-3   9-3
Oregon State   3-6   4-8
UCLA           3-6   4-8
Stanford       2-7   4-8
Washington     1-8   1-11
Washington St. 0-9   2-11

Big XII projection

The Big XII actually has a chance to be the best conference this year.

With teams 3-10 or so in the SEC a little in transition, the Big XII has five really good teams and four more who aren’t bad.

Oklahoma is without a doubt one of the three or four best teams in the country, and their schedule should allow them to get to the national title game virtually unscathed.

Missouri is also fantastic and also has an easy schedule.

Kansas, Texas and Texas Tech all have a good shot at 10 wins, and Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M aren’t too shabby either. Unfortunately for the Buffaloes their schedule is probably going to send them to an awful record. But sleeping on them would be a huge mistake (as Oklahoma found out last year)

North Division:
Missouri   8-1   12-1
Kansas     5-3     8-4
Nebraska   4-4     8-4
Colorado   2-6     4-8
Kansas St. 1-7   4-8
Iowa State 1-7   4-8

South Division
Oklahoma     9-0   13-0
Texas Tech   6-2   10-2
Texas         5-3   9-3
Oklahoma St.  4-4   8-4
Texas A&M   4-4   8-4
Baylor       0-8   2-10

Weekend picks

Each week I’ll pick the AP Top 25 games, plus SEC games.

Here we go:

Today:

No. 23 Wake Forest at Baylor
Who would’ve thought when they scheduled this game it’d actually mean something? Wake Forest 31, Baylor 10

N.C. State at South Carolina
Steve Spurrier gets the Gamecocks off their five-game skid. South Carolina 27, N.C. State 13

Vanderbilt at Miami (OH)
Vandy is going to be terrible this year, and the Redhawks aren’t bad, but I kind of have a feeling the Commodores start off well. Vanderbilt 14, Miami (OH) 13

Saturday:
Georgia Southern at No. 1 Georgia
This is the suspension bowl, with at least 16 sitting it out between the two teams. Georgia 45, Georgia Southern 14

Youngstown State at No. 2 Ohio State
Ohio State has been being benevolent and giving its guarantees to teams from its own state. Ohio State 34, Youngstown State 6

No. 3 Southern Cal at Virginia
Don’t be fooled by what you saw last year: The Cavaliers are going to be historically bad this year. USC 41, Virginia 7.

Chattanooga at No. 4 Oklahoma
Considering Bob Stoops’ history, I’m not sure you could set a score too high here. Oklahoma 84, Chattanooga 7.

Hawaii at No. 5 Florida
With Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes out and no June Jones to be angry at, this one will probably be a bit closer than it should be. Florida 37, Hawaii 17

No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 20 Illinois (at St. Louis)
This will be the most entertaining game of the weekend. Missouri 45, Illinois 31

Appalachian State at No. 7 LSU:
Don’t get any visions of Ann Arbor in your heads. LSU 35, Appalachian State 7

Villanova at No. 8 West Virginia
The first Bill Stewart home game should be over by halftime. West Virginia 63, Villanova 3

No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 24 Alabama (at Atlanta)
Clemson really should run away with this, but won’t because of the large coaching disparity. Clemson 21, Alabama 17

Louisiana-Monroe at No. 10 Auburn
Enjoy watching the new offense while you can Tiger fans. It’ll be off the field by halftime. Auburn 38, Louisiana-Monroe 14

Florida Atlantic at No. 11 Texas
The Owls will make this tough for a while. Texas 35, Florida Atlantic 20

Eastern Washington at No. 12 Texas Tech
Yawn. Texas Tech 73, Eastern Washington 14

Akron at No. 13 Wisconsin
The Badgers start off with a blowout. Wisconsin 42, Akron 10

Florida International at No. 14 Kansas
This will be just like when they played last year. Kansas 59, FIU 10.

Northern Arizona at No. 15 Arizona State
Rudy Carpenter shouldn’t get sacked that much here. Arizona State 56, Northern Arizona 0

Northern Iowa at No. 16 BYU
The Cougars start their BCS run with a snoozer. BYU 47, Northern Iowa 13

No. 17 Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte, N.C.)
I think the Pirates pull the upset of the weekend. East Carolina 17, Virginia Tech 13

Tennessee-Martin at No. 19 South Florida
Yawn. South Florida 38, Tennessee-Martin 7

Washington at No. 21 Oregon
The Huskies might actually have a chance since quarterback Nate Costa is out until November. But his backup is pretty good. Oregon 42, Washington 28

Coastal Carolina at No. 22 Penn State
Jay Paterno’s vaunted Spread HD offense debuts. Don’t adjust your sets. Penn State 44, Coastal Carolina 0.

Bowling Green at No. 25 Pittsburgh
Don’t be shocked to see an upset here. Pittsburgh 35, Bowling Green 30

Western Illinois at Arkansas
A long year in Fayetteville at least starts out well. Arkansas 34, Western Illinois 7

Memphis at Ole Miss
The Rebels start a comeback year with a good win. Ole Miss 28, Memphis 6

Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech
Definitely upset potential here, but Croom & The Gang make it happen. Mississippi State 21, Louisiana Tech 13

Sunday

Kentucky at Louisville
Kentucky won’t be very good at any point of the season and Louisville probably will be good by the end, but I’ve got a feeling UK makes it happen here. Kentucky 28, Louisville 27

Monday

No. 18 Tennessee at UCLA
If the Vols weren’t breaking in a new quarterback and a few other starters here it could get really ugly. It might still. Tennessee 34, UCLA 13

Big Ten projection

It’s Ohio State and everyone else here.

But with Michigan facing a down year, the interesting thing to watch will be who steps in to take their place at No. 2.

Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois all have good shots, but my money’s on the Badgers. I don’t really want to put Penn State as high as I am, but the scheduling gods were kind to the Fighting JoePas.

Ohio State   8-0   11-1 (non-conference loss to USC)
Wisconsin   7-1   10-2 (non-conference loss to Fresno State)
Penn State   6-2   10-2
Illinois       5-3     8-4 (non-conference loss to Missouri)
Michigan     4-4     7-5 (non-conference loss to Utah, but only because it’s the first game of the season and the Wolverines won’t even be sure how to line up properly yet)
Northwestern 4-4     8-4
Michigan State 3-5   6-6 (non-conference loss to California)
Indiana       2-6     6-6
Iowa         2-6     5-7 (non-conference loss to Pittsburgh)
Purdue       2-6     4-8 (non-conference losses to Oregon and Notre Dame)
Minnesota   0-8     3-9 (non-conference loss to Florida Atlantic)