On The Hash... Marks (THAT'S what I used to call this thing...)

Yeah, I do a college football column, but I've been gripped by wildcard fever. Which is perfect, considering the Phillies are in south FLA this weekend, and again in two weeks. I'll be at saturday evening's game, and probably a game or two later in the month. Also this week, is the beginning of the NFL season, which may not be good news for my heart and my sanity. No doubt the Eagles will drive me to an emotional extreme at some point this season, but hopefully my 2 year streak of openly weeping because of them (once from joy, once from devastation) will come to an end. Now that I've told you too much, to the top 25! *spinning Batman scene cut*




1. Auburn
2. USC (+1)
3. Texas (+4)
4. Iowa
5. Ohio St.
6. Notre Dame (-4)
7. LSU (-1)
8. Florida
9. West Virginia
10. Georgia (+2)
11. FSU (+4)
12. Miami (-2)
13. Clemson
14. Tennessee (+4)
15. Oklahoma (-3)
16. Louisville (-2)
17. Michigan
18. Arizona St. (+1)
19. TCU (+1)
20. Iowa St. (+1)
21. Nebraska (+1)
22. Oregon (NR)
23. Penn St.
24. Virginia Tech (+1)
25. Alabama (NR)

Texas really impressed me, and if they're going to have a white QB named Colt who can run I don't know what I'm going to do.

Yeah, Notre Dame won, but they were the only team in the top 5 who didn't look good, so they fell out.

FSU & Tennessee both up 4 spots with their wins, Miami back 2. Cal looked so bad I left them out altogether.

Michigan stays put because I didn't know what to do with them. They won by 20, but other than the 1st drive didn't look good on offense.

Arizona St. & Iowa St. are 2 teams I like every year. My "Bret Meyer for heisman" shirts are on their way in fact.

Everyone welcome Oregon and Alabama to the top 25. Good to have you, fellas.

Now, let's peep the heisman race...



1. Troy Smith QB Ohio St.
211.4 QBRat 297 yds 3TDs
Prediction: @Tx 12-23 235 yds 2 TDs, 8 rush 45 yds

2. Adrian Peterson RB Oklahoma
24 rush 139 yds 1 TD
1 rec 69 yds 1 TD
Prediction: vs. WASH 28 rush 185 yds 3 TDs

3. John David Booty QB USC
159.5 QBRat 261 yds 3 TDs
Prediction: Idle

4. Brady Quinn QB Notre Dame
114.9 QBRat 246 yds
7 rush 9 yds 1 TD
Prediction: vs. PSU 23-39 290 yds 2 TDs

5. Kenny Irons RB Auburn
20 rush 183 yds 1 TD
3 rec 40 yds
Prediction: @ MS St. 25 rush 150 yds 2 TDs


Honorable Mention: Erik Ainge, Colt McCoy, Steve Slaton, Jonathan Stewart, Drew Tate



Went 14-7 last week on the with the picks. Didn't do so good in the big games, but hopefully that'll improve. GO!



Virginia Tech -12 North Carolina
Good first game for Sean Glennon (15-18, 3TDs), but against Northeastern most will have good games. Tech's defense will win the game for them, and North Carolina's run defense will certainly allow Brandon Ore to put points on the board. Glennon just has to not make mistakes, and VT should win in a cakewalk. Mmm... cakewalk.

VT 28 UNC 6


Louisville -40.5 Temple
Even without Michael Bush Louisville should be able to hold their own against the Owls. Unless of course Bill Cosby has any eligability left, in which case, Temple all the way. THEO!

Louis 56 TU(or is it "UT"?) 6


Auburn -20 Mississippi St.
MSU's defense is good enough to keep it within the 20 point range, but as I've said, Auburn's my pick to win the title, and national championship teams cover the spread against teams like Mississippi St.

Aub 30 MSU 3


Once again, to speed things up, my picks for the games with no lines are West Virginia over Eastern Washington, Nebraska over Nicholls St., TCU beating UC Davis, and Miami topples FAMU.


Washington +16 Oklahoma
Oklahoma didn't look good at all gainst UAB, and Washington has an offense capable of scaring the Sooners. Going with Pac 10 teams on the road killed me last week, but as you know, I never learn.

Okla 27 Wash 17


Clemson -2.5 Boston College
Picking the away team in the closely matched ACC games is usually something I don't do, but it's a new season, and I'm not sure just how good Clemson is. Hopefully Will Proctor got settled in during the FAU game, and the Tiger's running game should be enough to get them the win.

Clem 34 BC 30


Notre Dame -7.5 Penn St.
Notre Dame's offense should come out trying to put up points by the bunches, and as long as they improve from last week the Irish should pick up the W. Penn St. looked shakey against Akron at home, which isn't a very good sign.

ND 24 PSU 14


FSU -30 Troy
Why is there still a line on this game? And the Louisville too, for that matter? Quit trying to screw with the gamblers.

FSU 45 Troy 3


Iowa -18.5 Syracuse
Iowa's offense in that dome should be quite the spectacle. Don't see 'Cuse being able to do anything to stop them, and Iowa's momentum for their upcoming upset of Ohio St. continues to grow.

Iowa 42 'Cuse 17


Florida -23 UCF
The Golden Knights have improved a lot over the last year, but still not enough to take down Florida in Gainsville. UF comes out trying to prove a point on offense by scoring... a lot.

UF 38 UCF 10


LSU -15 Arizona
FINALLY, I'm learning my lesson. I really like Mike Stoops, and Arizona, but LSU is a top team, and that damn Pac 10 is constantly screwing me.

LSU 35 Arz 14


Tennessee -20 Air force
My apologies to Knoxville, on giving themno chance last week. My bad. I'm making up for it by picking you to win against the Air Force. We're even, right?

Tenn 36 AF 12


Georgia -3 South Carolina
Georgia only won by 2 last year, with a better team, but South carolina won't be catching them by suprise this year. Should be a good ol' fashioned SEC dogfight (or dawgfight, HAHA! I'm so clever~!!!).

UGA 13 SC 7


Since I'm fading fast, let's get through 3 games in one shot here: Texas Tech (-7) over UTEP, Oregon (-4.5) over Fresno St., and Arizona St. (-14.5) over Nevada.


UPSET SPECIAL (0-1): Central Michigan +28 Michigan
After that performance against Vandy, I don't even know if the offense will put up 28 points. Again, Steve Breaston and the offensive line will be the focal point of my intrest. Hopefully the passing game can start clicking better going into the Notre Dame game. CMU is a better team than the CMU name would leave you to believe, this game mayend up being way too close.

Mich 31 CMU 17


**~**$Creek's 5-Star, No Doubt, Money-Making *dramatic music, extreme closeup* LOCK OF THE WEEK**~** (1-0): Ohio St. +2.5 Texas
Troy Smith & Co. on the Ohio St. offense will be looking for revenge from last season's loss. While I don't think it'll be a high scoring game, Troy Smith seems destined for a big game, and last week's tuneup showed he's still got momentum going from last year's Fiesta Bowl. Ted Ginn is still fast, which should come in handy. As much as I like Colt McCoy, getting thrusted into the spotlight like this in a #1 vs. #2 matchup may effect his psyche. Should be a close game, and a well played one on top of that.

tOSU 25 Texas 21