2014 Kickoff Edition

Welcome back to the blog you hate to love...Burbank Football Smack!  Lots of excitement ahead in the coming season, beginning with games having immediate championship significance this week.  Wisconsin-LSU and Georgia-Clemson will be on most of our TVs this first weekend, as we follow our perennial faves in their quest for the brand spanking new hardware, pictured at the bottom of the blog.

"Fer sure, we're scholar-athletes, eh?."

Today the Smack leads with, naturally, “Tiny Union”.   My Dutchmen earned this moniker during last winter’s NCAA ice hockey season.  If you didn’t know by now, Union defeated the bad-ass Minnesota Golden Gophers 7-4 in the title game to capture its first-ever national championship.  Along the way, much noise was made about how Union has no scholarship athletes, even in its hockey program.  As for our un-ranked gridders, the only way I can find information on the rankings of all 244 D-III programs is to pay someone $11, and frankly I’m too cheap.  So we’ll leave it at that, knowing "TU" won’t play until 9/6 anyway.

Out of the 128 FCS football programs, here are the rest of the schools we’ll follow in this, the inaugural championship tournament season…usually with at least a modicum of interest.  School name is preceded by its pre-season ranking.

#119 Air Force, facing yet another "rebuilding year" under Troy Calhoun;

#114 Army, which fired its head coach, Rich Ellerson, because of “a lack of success on the field";

#50 Navy, which takes the seemingly opposite scheduling approach as Air Force

#38 BYU, whose missionaries are actually combing the earth looking for the next strong-armed QB;

#79 Boston College, which benefits from the world's newest college football fan:  Francis, (the bishop of Rome and absolute sovereign of the Vatican City State, not the talking mule);

#15 USC, newest laughingstock of the City of Los Angeles;

#128 UMass, recycling head coach Mark Whipple from its days as an FCS powerhouse.

Here are this week’s games, Week #1 of the new, improved non-BCS version of major college football.

Union (idle; first game at Ithaca, 9/6).

Air Force (0-0) vs. Nicholls State (0-0).  Although the Colonels bring a better 2013 record into the contest, the Falcons ALWAYS play a cupcake in their opener.  In fact, the last time Air Force lost an opener was in 2006 to the Tennessee Vols.  Nicholls has played The Academy before, the last time being in 2009 when the Falcons squeezed out a 72-0 victory.  PICK:  Air Force.

Army (idle; first game vs. Buffalo 9/6)

Navy (0-0) vs. #5 The Ohio State University (0-0).  The loss of QB Braxton Miller will make little difference, as the Buckeyes are loaded anyway and have rebuilt their machine under third-year coach Urban Meyer.  PICK:  Ohio State.

BYU (0-0) at Connecticut (0-0).  QB Taysom Hill (and his combined passing and rushing 29 TDs) is back.  Another New England school noted more for its basketball than its football, the Huskies may be on the downslide after having a few decent years against less-formidable competition.  PICK:  BYU.

Boston College (0-0) at Massachusetts (0-0).  Speaking of famous for basketball instead of football, UMass is the alma mater of one Dr. J, Julius Erving.  Despite BC having slipped out of the upper echelon of major college football, the Eagles should have no problem during their short time in Amherst.  PICK:  Boston College.

#15 USC (0-0) vs. #25 Fresno State (0-0).  Have you been following this week’s headlines?  Seems that DB Josh Shaw, a transfer from Florida, sustained high ankle sprains in BOTH legs while allegedly saving a relative from drowning in a hotel pool.  Unfortunately for Shaw, recently named a defensive team captain, the LAPD are operating under a different version of the story.  This may just be sufficient fodder to spoil Steve Sarkesian’s debut as head coach.  I’ll take the Bulldogs in the revenge-upset.  PICK:  Fresno State.

The new "dream"