OTHER PICKS
Arkansas 38, Louisiana Tech 19Florida 45, UMass 14Kentucky 24, Southern Miss 21Miss. State 35, So. Alabama 10West Virginia 24, Missouri 17Texas A&M 28, UCLA 24Louisville 63, Charlotte 10N.C. State 37, William & Mary 15Stanford 34, Kansas State 23Oklahoma 29, Houston 26Ohio St. 41, Bowling Green 24Michigan 48, Hawaii 3Miami 42, Florida A&M 7MTSU 51, Alabama A&M 16Memphis 34, SE Missouri 13Notre Dame 27, Texas 20
The greatest opening weekend of Southeastern Conference football in at least a generation is finally upon us.
There are tantalizing neutral-site matchups such as Alabama-Southern Cal, Georgia-North Carolina, LSU-Wisconsin and Ole Miss-Florida State, and there are some intriguing campus showdowns as well, most notably Auburn hosting Clemson and Texas A&M hosting UCLA. The abundance of must-see games could leave couch potatoes resembling the gluttony victim in "Seven," and it could saddle multiple SEC coaches with 0-1 records.
"This is a great opportunity for us to go represent our conference and our university to play a great team like Florida State," Ole Miss coach High Freeze said Wednesday of the Labor Day showdown with the Seminoles in Orlando, Fla. "They're as talented as the teams we play in this league. To play in an event like this on a Monday night, when all eyes will be on you, is something to get excited about.
"It's a great opportunity, but I firmly believe that no season is made by one game, win or lose."
It's mostly been wins for the SEC since neutral-site openers were reintroduced to the sport with the 2008 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta, where Alabama opened Nick Saban's second season with a 34-10 thumping of Clemson. SEC teams are 8-2 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, 4-0 in the Advocare Classic held in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, and 2-1 in the Texas Kickoff in Houston.
The SEC swept all three last year, with Auburn defeating Louisville in Atlanta, Alabama beating Wisconsin in Arlington and Texas A&M topping Arizona State in Houston.
"You're playing quality opponents, and you sincerely hope that you raise your level of play," said LSU coach Les Miles, whose Tigers are opening a season for the first time at historic Lambeau Field. "Then you want to take that high level into the rest of the season and continue to improve from an elevated spot. There is risk and reward, certainly, but playing a very tough opener puts you in better position for some of the tougher games that will come down the road."
Every SEC school is now required to play at least one opponent from another Power Five conference (the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12), and on the horizon are home-and-home series just as attractive as these neutral-site pairings. Texas A&M has a home-and-home with UCLA that starts Saturday, and the Aggies are scheduled to play Clemson in 2018 and '19.
"These games have given fans some games that we didn't have years ago," Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. "The fans had become disappointed with the opening weekends with the exception of a handful of games. These matchups have created a buzz, and they can give you an early bowl-type atmosphere for your fans.
"It's just good for the game."
Yes. Yes it is. Let's kick them off, shall we?
Pasquali's Pix:
- Shorter at UTC: The Mocs are starting a quarterback not named Huesman or Coleman for the first time since early in the Scrappy Moore era. Mocs 56, Hawks 7.
- Appalachian State at Tennessee: Not that we've been listening to Butch Jones too much this offseason, but how exciting will it be to watch the individuals on Team 120 perform in the throw game? Volunteers 37, Mountaineers 14.
- South Carolina at Vanderbilt: The winner of this one wins the SEC East. Scratch that. Leads the SEC East. Commodores 20, Gamecocks 17.
- Georgia Tech vs. Boston College: The Yellow Jackets and their triple-option offense face Boston College's vaunted run defense down in Dublin, Ga. Or is it over in Dublin, Ireland? Yellow Jackets 17, Eagles 10.
- LSU vs. Wisconsin: Either Leonard Fournette vaults to the top of the Heisman Trophy race, or Miles vaults to the top of hot-seat chatter. Tigers 31, Badgers 16.
- Georgia vs. North Carolina: Every time the Tar Heels seem appealing in this game, the image of Nick Chubb facing UNC's rushing defense pops into mind. Bulldogs 31, Tar Heels 24.
- Alabama vs. Southern Cal: The Lane Kiffin Bowl, like so many games this season, will be dictated by the veteran Crimson Tide defense. Crimson Tide 30, Trojans 17.
- Clemson at Auburn: Auburn fans have new oak trees to blanket in toilet paper, just not this weekend. Clemson 34, Auburn 17.
- Ole Miss vs. Florida State: Florida State's strength coach recently was busted for driving after too many 12-ounce curls, while the Rebels have been looking for any topic to discuss other than an NCAA investigation. Seminoles 33, Rebels 24.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.