You're laughing. Why are you laughing? The Cougars, currently riding the nation's longest win streak (10 games), have finished 11-2 the past two seasons. Quarterback Max Hall was the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year in 2007 and 243-pound tailback Harvey Unga the MWC Frosh of the Year — and both were first-year starters.
The offensive line, by the way, averages 6'6\", 330 pounds.
So why do I have this game on my list as opposed to the Sept. 13 vengeance fest versus UCLA (the Bruins and Cougars played twice last season, splitting the series)? Because that one is in Provo, where BYU has won 12 straight.
The Huskies, meanwhile, beat Boise State and figuratively-ranked-No. 1-for-two-hours Cal in Seattle last autumn, while also coming up just a field goal shy against USC (the Huskies also led 28-7 at Hawaii before losing). Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker is a stud.
If the Cougars beat U-Dub and UCLA on consecutive weekends, it's all downhill for Bronco Mendenhall's team.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","9/13: Ohio State
at USC","Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Laurinaitis_James.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "David Maxwell", "Getty Images", "358", "240", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Ohio State at USC
There won't be a game with two better teams all season, not even the BCS title game … unless these two stage an encore. Pete Carroll may have his best defense yet, with All-American-worthy talent at defensive end (Everson Griffen and Kyle Moore), linebacker (Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing), and safety (Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays).
Even with Troy's second-teamers at the offensive skill positions (QB Mitch Mustain, tailback Joe McKnight and wideouts David Ausberry and Damian Williams), you'd have a top-five group nationally. The only thing that can stop USC, besides another Brennan Carroll YouTube clip, may be the Buckeyes.
Ohio State returns nine starters on both sides of the line of scrimmage, and no one of great consequence on offense was lost. Senior Linebacker James Laurinaitis has already won the Nagurski and Butkus awards, and if he makes an impact play in a Buckeye win here, will receive some Heisman mentions.
The past three national champions have had one thing in common: they beat Ohio State. Carroll and the Trojans aim to push that streak to four.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","9/27: Va. Tech
at Nebraska","Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/beamer_frank.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Doug Benc", "Getty Images", "358", "250", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Virginia Tech at Nebraska
Last September, when Bo Pellini was the curator of national champion LSU's defense, the Tigers destroyed Virginia Tech 48-7. This September Pellini, now the head coach of a Cornhusker team that finished 114th in scoring defense in 2007, will have his work cut out for him.
The Huskers are at least a couple of seasons away from being a BCS threat, but with no real challenges in-conference (Is the ACC the worst of the BCS conferences?), they and their Red Sea throng pose the greatest threat to Frank Beamer's BCS hopes.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/4: Ohio State
at Wisconsin","Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Bielema_Bret.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Al Messerschmidt", "Getty Images", "358", "239", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Ohio State at Wisconsin
Bret Bielema is 14-0 at Camp Randall Stadium (\"Jump Around!\"), but the Badgers' third-year coach still has yet to earn a win versus a top 10 foe. The Buckeye visit is the meat in a Michigan-Ohio State-Penn State sandwich over the course of three Saturdays. And while Wisconsin returns nine starters both on offense and defense, quarterback Allan Evridge, a Kansas State transfer, is not one of them."; spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/11: OU vs. Texas","Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Bradford_Sam.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Jed Jacobsohn", "Getty Images", "358", "223", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Oklahoma vs. Texas at Dallas
For the first nine halves of last season, the Sooners were the most dominant team in the land, outscoring opponents 270-54. Then they were outscored 20-0 in the final 20 minutes in Boulder and everyone leapt off the bandwagon of a program whose very symbol is a bandwagon.
They've all returned, thanks to a quarterback, Sam Bradford, who led the nation in passing efficiency as a freshman last season and whose TD-to-INT ratio was 36:8. That's bad news for the Longhorns, who couldn't stop anyone last season (allowing 25.1 ppg). Mack Brown hired away Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to address that problem.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/11: LSU
at Florida","Florida quarterback Tim Tebow","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Tebow_Tim.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Marc Serota", "Getty Images", "358", "249", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "LSU at Florida
These two staged a classic last October in Death Valley, and that was a Gator program in rebuilding mode. The country's last two national champions and its defending Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, promise another memorable game in the Swamp. Tebow, who in the past year has circumcised third-world babies while circumscribing new parameters for dual-threat QBs, should lead the Gators to victory.
The Tigers, having dismissed blue-chip phenom QB Ryan Perrilloux, may find themselves starting Andrew Hatch, a Nevada-raised Mormon transfer from Harvard (and that is certainly the first time I've ever typed that phrase).";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/18: Kansas
at Oklahoma","Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Reesing_Todd.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Matthew Stockman", "Getty Images", "358", "268", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Kansas at Oklahoma
Excuse Mark Mangino if he is not all that impressed by your or anyone else's gridiron gang. After all, the Jayhawks are the only team to have finished with one loss in 2007. The feelgood story of last season, KU was also legit, finishing 4th in scoring defense and 2nd in scoring offense.
Ah, but did they play the Sooners?
In any other conference not boasting OU quarterback Bradford, Todd Reesing (33 TDs, 7 INTs) would have been the newcomer of the year. The Jayhawks return nine starters on defense (though not Aqib Talib) and the punt returners have hopefully learned how to comport themselves following TD run-backs. ";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/23: Auburn
at West Virginia","West Virginia quarterback Pat White","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/white_pat.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Jed Jacobsohn", "Getty Images", "358", "227", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Auburn at West Virginia
Pat White. Remember him? White Lightning returns to Morgantown, and allow us to remind you that in the two games the Mountaineers lost last season, the elusive QB was injured in the first half and either sat out or was feckless in the second.
Steve Slaton is gone at tailback, but Noel Devine is faster. White remains the most indefensible weapon in open space in college football. If the Mountaineers outduel this SEC foe, they're home-free until South Florida visits in December.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","10/25: Georgia
at LSU","Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Moreno_Knowshon.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Chris Graythen", "Getty Images", "358", "276", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Georgia at LSU
The Dawgs are, to steal a song title from another Athens group experiencing an '08 renaissance, supernatural superserious about playing for the national title. The last time they visited Sportsman's Paradise, Georgia gutted Hawaii 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl.
Death Valley will be a different scene, of course, but as last year was LSU's ripe moment, 2008 is so for Mark Richt's team. Quarterback Matt Stafford is solid and tailback Knowshon Moreno may be the most exciting player in the SEC never to have performed a briss. Still, even if the Dawgs outlast Les Miles' Tigers, they have only seven days before ...";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","11/1: Florida
vs. Georgia","Florida coach Urban Meyer","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Vandermark%2C%20Brett/CFB_Games%20to%20watch/Meyer_Urban.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Doug Benc", "Getty Images", "358", "263", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "Florida vs. Georgia at Jacksonville, Fla.
Oh, we very much doubt that Urban Meyer and the Gators have forgotten what happened after Georgia scored the game's opening touchdown last year. You might have called it \"excessive conflagration\", as the entire Bulldog team ran onto the field to party.
Mark Richt's ploy may have worked, though, as the Dawgs beat UF for only the second time in 10 seasons. Then again, Tim Tebow was battling a shoulder injury and had his least effective rushing output of a worthy Heisman season. You don't step on Superman's cape, Georgia. Not twice you don't.";
spt_cfb_impact_games[i++] = new Array("","Other key games","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_cfb_impact_games[i-1].body = "
Below, 10 more contests that you just know will wind up having more impact than half the aforementioned games will -- as if you had Missouri vs. Kansas in your \"Top 10 Games\" list last season. Right? Right?
8/30: Missouri vs. Illinois at St. Louis
The Tigers played in the Cotton Bowl (only Oklahoma beat them, but twice) and the Illini in the Rose Bowl a year ago. Mizzou is a legit Top 10 (higher, even) threat this season, with the return of the Chases (QB Chase Daniel and TE Chase Coffman), scary fast receiver-returner Jeremy Maclin and our favorite defensive name in the land, end Stryker Sulak.
8/30: Alabama vs. Clemson at Atlanta
Crimson, meet Clemson. Alabama will have three Tigers to tame in '08 (SEC West foes Auburn and LSU being the other two). Nick Saban's problem with this trio of cats is that, \"They're grrrreat!\" The kitties' Cullen Harper had a 27 to 6 TD/INT ratio in '07 and returns all of his wideouts plus running back C.J. Spiller. The Tide and these Tigers last met in 1975, when Bear Bryant's bunch won 56-0.
9/12: Kansas at South Florida
The Jayhawks could have found a tougher game at the Bonnaroo campground than they did in their four non-conference opponents last season. This September the Mighty Manginos travel to Tampa, where the Bulls are 14-3 since joining the Big East in 2005.
9/13: Wisconsin at Fresno State
The Badgers, apparently assuming that what happens in Vegas really does stay there, nearly bowed to the 2-10 Rebels last September. Pat Hill's Bulldogs, who beat Kansas State and took Texas A&M to three overtimes before losing in College Station last season, are trouble.
9/20: Georgia at Arizona State
Even the folks in Tempe are telling us the Sun Devils are a year away from making this a game. Don't believe 'em. Sun Devil Stadium is a trap-game hell in September, as defending national champion Nebraska discovered in 1996 and the Leinart-Bush-White USC juggernaut nearly did in '05.
9/20: Florida at Tennessee
The SEC slate is tortuous (hey, there's news!) and for all the talk of LSU, Florida and Georgia being top-10 programs, it's never a shock to see the Vols win in Knoxville. A victory here for Phil Fulmer's team, which has won eight straight at Neyland Stadium, might have Urban Meyer shedding Volun — wait for it — teers.
11/1: Texas at Texas Tech
Michael Crabtree! He was the best receiver in the nation as a freshman last season, and not just as a product of Mike Leach's system. The Biletnikoff Award winner was the favorite target of Graham Harrell, who led the nation in passing while completing 72% of his throws.
11/22: Michigan at Ohio State
The maize-and-blue color scheme is not the only way in which the Wolverines will resemble West Virginia. First-year head coach Rich Rodriguez will employ a spread option, and while the Wolverines will be seriously out-personneled in Columbus, it's still Michigan-Ohio State.
11/22: Brigham Young at Utah
The Cougars may just be undefeated when they step on the team bus for the 45-mile journey up I-15 to face the arch-rival Utes, who won eight of their last nine in 2007. Utah's Kyle Whittingham is the only coach we know who had the bird openly flipped at him during a game last season (by Wyoming's Joe Glenn, who for some reason took umbrage at an onside kick perpetrated in the midst of a 50-0 loss).
12/6: South Florida at West Virginia
The Mountaineers have lost four games the past two seasons. Two of them have come at the hands of the Bulls. Expect Pat White to atone for that and garner a Heisman invitation for the following Saturday in Manhattan.";
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// END editorial data