NCAA Football: Week 1 Predictions

My game predictions for week 1 in college football. I found this great website which made things a whole lot easier when it comes to picking the games. You guys can just copy and paste and then highlight the winners. Here's the link. The winners are balded and italicized. Notable games I chose are: No. 13 Georgia at No. 9 Oklahoma State Nevada at No. 23 Notre Dame No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech* Maryland at No. 12 California No. 8 Mississippi at Memphis Miami (FL) at No. 18 Florida State WEEK 1
Thursday, September 3
TIME	MATCHUP
7:00 p.m.	Troy at Bowling Green
7:00 p.m.	Villanova at Temple
7:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Kent State
7:30 p.m.	North Texas at Ball State
8:00 p.m.	North Dakota State at Iowa State
8:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky at Indiana
9:00 p.m.	Utah State at No. 19 Utah
10:15 p.m.	No. 16 Oregon at No. 14 Boise State
Friday, September 4
TIME	MATCHUP
8:00 p.m.	Tulsa at Tulane
Saturday, September 5
TIME	MATCHUP
1:05 a.m.	Central Arkansas at Hawaii
12:00 p.m.	Navy at No. 6 Ohio State
12:00 p.m.	Akron at No. 9 Penn State
12:00 p.m.	Towson at Northwestern
12:00 p.m.	Montana State at Michigan State
12:00 p.m.	Appalachian State at East Carolina
12:00 p.m.	Minnesota at Syracuse
12:00 p.m.	Kentucky at Miami (OH)
12:00 p.m.	Liberty at West Virginia
12:00 p.m.	Toledo at Purdue
12:05 p.m.	Northern Iowa at No. 22 Iowa
12:21 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Tennessee
1:00 p.m.	Jacksonville State at No. 15 Georgia Tech
1:00 p.m.	Youngstown State at Pittsburgh
2:00 p.m.	Northeastern at Boston College
2:00 p.m.	Nicholls State at Air Force
2:30 p.m.	Portland State at Oregon State
3:00 p.m.	Weber State at Wyoming
3:30 p.m.	San Jose State at No. 4 USC
3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Georgia at No. 9 Oklahoma State
3:30 p.m.	Nevada at No. 23 Notre Dame
3:30 p.m.	Western Michigan at Michigan
3:30 p.m.	Baylor at Wake Forest
3:30 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State
3:40 p.m.	Missouri vs. Illinois*
4:00 p.m.	Rice at UAB
4:30 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Marshall
6:00 p.m.	Citadel at No. 21 North Carolina
6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee State at Clemson
6:00 p.m.	William & Mary at Virginia
6:00 p.m.	Stanford at Washington State
7:00 p.m.	Charleston Southern at No. 1 Florida
7:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at No. 2 Texas
7:00 p.m.	No. 20 Brigham Young vs. No. 3 Oklahoma*
7:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 24 Nebraska
7:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado at No. 25 Kansas
7:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech at Auburn
7:00 p.m.	Missouri State at Arkansas
7:00 p.m.	Wofford at South Florida
7:00 p.m.	Richmond at Duke
7:00 p.m.	Connecticut at Ohio
7:00 p.m.	New Mexico at Texas A&M
7:00 p.m.	Northwestern State at Houston
7:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois at Wisconsin
7:00 p.m.	Southern University at Louisiana-Lafayette
7:00 p.m.	Army at Eastern Michigan
7:00 p.m.	Alcorn State at Southern Miss
7:00 p.m.	North Dakota at Texas Tech
7:05 p.m.	Mississippi Valley State at Arkansas State
7:10 p.m.	Massachusetts at Kansas State
7:30 p.m.	San Diego State at UCLA
7:30 p.m.	Indiana State at Louisville
7:30 p.m.	Western Carolina at Vanderbilt
7:30 p.m.	Samford at UCF
8:00 p.m.	No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech*
8:00 p.m.	Idaho at New Mexico State
8:00 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin at Southern Methodist
9:00 p.m.	Central Michigan at Arizona
9:00 p.m.	Buffalo at UTEP
10:00 p.m.	Maryland at No. 12 California
10:00 p.m.	Idaho State at Arizona State
10:00 p.m.	UC Davis at Fresno State
10:00 p.m.	Sacramento State at UNLV
10:30 p.m.	No. 11 LSU at Washington
Sunday, September 6
TIME	MATCHUP
3:30 p.m.	No. 8 Mississippi at Memphis
7:00 p.m.	Colorado State at Colorado
Monday, September 7
TIME	MATCHUP
4:00 p.m.	Cincinnati at Rutgers
8:00 p.m.	Miami (FL) at No. 18 Florida State

Samardzija Will Pitch on Wednesday for His First Major League Start

With Big Z out with an injury, Jeff Samardzija a.k.a The Shark will finally make his long awaited debut as a starter for the Chicago Cubs. To think of it, Shark is probably the most successful player to come out of the 2005/2006 football team. Although you could argue for Carlson who is being tabbed as "White Jesus" in Seattle. All others are backups right now in their respective teams. It was just a couple of years ago that The Shark chose baseball over football. He was given a major league contract which is the second best contract only behind of Brady Quinn, and it is somewhat similar to that of a late first round draft pick in the NFL. Wise move because of the guranteed money and longevity of playing time.

I'm a big Cubs fan, so I follow the Shark. To say the least, he is having a really bad year especially with the way he performed during the second half of last season in MLB. Shark was basically unhittable last year, and the team and Lou had great expectations for him coming in to this year. His audition for a starting pitched during the offseason was awful. He was sent back and pitched well then called back again but as reliever in the bullpen. This year, he is basically giving up a run(s) every time he is called out, and that is no exageration. That's how bad he is this year.

But when he pitches as a starter he is very very good especially when he pitched for the Iowa Cubs. This is a great chance for the Shark to show Lou that he does not bellong in the bullpen, and if he does show his good stuff this Wednesday, there is a good chance for him to stay there for the whole season. This will allow Ryan Dempster to go back to the bull pen and make the Cubs' bull pen very strong.

The Shark will go against the defending champion, Phillies. It is at home, so Shark better be in his game. Earlier this year, Shark was booed off by the Cubs faithful for increasing the opponent's lead. If I remember correctly, the next day, he was sent back to AAA.

I think he'll do just fine. He'll give up about 4 (plus or minus 2) runs. He'll pitch six innings. It will be up to his batters if he gets his second win (first as the starting pitcher) this season. For him to pitch well and get the W, his first pitch better be strike and get ahead of the batters and finish it off with his fastball.

Let's Go Shark.