Touchdowns and Teardrops.

Friday afternoon drags on. Part of me wants to write about a personal situation involving my cousin Stephanie, her son Brent Michael and her current boyfriend. I don't like the way he treats either of them, particularly Brent. I love this boy as if he were my own(he was named after me, partly) and considering how little involvement his real father has in his life I feel I have no choice but to interfere where I normally wouldn't. I can't even write anymore about it, still too angry and frustrated.

Time for distraction. Let's talk Football. College football to be more exact. Two-A-Days are just around the corner and preseason polls and predictions are flying around "like flys on a ...", well you can imagine the colloquialism. Here are my fearless predictions for the upcoming college football season.

Pre-Season Top Ten:
1) Georgia (sure they have a tough road ahead of them, but they are starting off with the most upside and consistency)
2) Ohio State (it seems like they can just sleepwalk into another BCS Championship Game appearance with a strong returning defense and weak conference)
3) Florida (Offense should be even more dynamic with Heisman-winner Tim Teabow being able to feed the ball to tailback Emmanuel Moody this year)
4) USC (an early season match-up with Ohio State is going to show if they can play up to title contention or if they are still reloading, new QB Mark Sanchez must show immediate strides)
5) Missouri (Quietly returning a strong defense to go with Heisman contender Chase Daniel on the other side of the ball, has an easy schedule in the Big 12, only needs to watch out for complacency)
6) Oklahoma (We continue with a run of Big 12 teams, they have a big strong O-Line to protect QB Sam Bradford but can they avoid the inevitable let-down game, especially if it's in January again)
7) Texas (Number One in my heart. New defensive coordinator Muschamp should shore things up on that side of the ball with more aggressive play-calling, but there are questions about whether Colt McCoy can bounce back from a so-so sophomore season and who will replace Jamaal Charles at tailback.)
8) South Florida (After breaking out last year, I think the Bulls are primed to pounce on West Virginia's loss of Rich Rodriguez and capture the mix bag that is the Big East)
9) Arizona State (Coach Erickson will prove last year was no fluke and has a very good chance to compete with USC for Pac-10 dominance)
10) Texas Tech (A sexy sleeper pick for so many this year because of the rumored gains on defense, only time will tell about that but it's certain the offense will be explosive as ever with returning QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree)

OK That's how I see things starting off. Let's get onto some predictions for the season itself.

That early match-up between USC and Ohio State at the Coliseum will be a low scoring grind-it-out victory for Ohio State, which will give them a bump to #1 (if they're not already there) but that only lasts until they face-off against the upset minded Fighting Illini in Champlain. Ron Zook and Co. wont have a shot a winning the Big Ten outright but they can play spoiler here and I expect them to have an overall decent year. Losing this late pretty much knocks Ohio State out of that 3rd consecutive BCS Championship game appearance.

USC will bounce back at first blowing past the two Oregon teams before meeting Arizona State. I think USC, in a complete opposite of the Trojan's previous match with the Buckeyes, find themselves in a shoot-out with the Sun Devils and they also find themselves on the losing end again as Sam Bradford leads Arizona State to a big victory over USC, making up for their loss to the Georgia Bulldogs back on 9/29.

Speaking of the Bulldogs, in the SEC the whole shebang will be riding on what was formerly known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Georgia versus Florida, played on neutral Jacksonville turf. I think Georgia comes into the game undefeated and unanimous #1 in the country, which is not always the best thing to have on your side when you're playing college football these days. Florida will be a formidable opponent, possibly even undefeated themselves at this point, which would put the hype into the stratosphere. Although I think it's more likely Florida drops a game early to either Miami(Fla) or Tennessee. When it comes down to it, I think Florida is still another year away from being able to win it all again. Georgia wins and Gator fans pray Teabow stays for his senior year.

After Florida, the Bulldogs have a possible letdown game against Kentucky but that's just wishful thinking. It's the week after that where I see a letdown game. Georgia faces Auburn, who I think will snatch the SEC West crown from LSU and I think Auburn pulls off a big upset against the Bulldogs before the re-match in the SEC Championship game where Georgia will get it's revenge and be put back in BCS Title contention.

As far as the Big-12, it usually starts and ends with the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas. I have to go with my heart and say Texas gets back on the winning track with a close victory over the Sooners, but I fear that a week later the Longhorns will not have enough in the tank to defend their home turf in Austin against the visiting Missouri Tigers. Those Tigers will cruise to another Big-12 North title and I'm guessing they will face off against Texas Tech in the Big-12 Championship game. I see Oklahoma avenging last year's lost to the Red Raiders, but then Tech will probably snap their 5 year losing streak to Texas and that will be enough for them to break a 3-way tie atop of the Big-12 South. I just can't see Missouri making it through the entire season unscathed so I say they fall to Texas Tech and Mike Leach captures his first Big-12 Title and improbably a BCS Championship game appearance.

Then I've got Clemson winning the ACC and USF the Big East. While in the end, I think a one-loss SEC Champion Georgia Bulldog team faces off against those Red Raiders and wins decisively. That would make 3-straight SEC teams winning the biggest prize in College football. Just wait until Texas gets our next golden-armed QB Garrett Gilbert in 2009. Then it's Big-12 Reign again!