Week 0 - My Morning Thoughts...

7:45am – I woke to my 7am alarm with an odd sort of anxiety. Will I have enough time to fully understand if WKU can cover 4 scores against FCS Austin Peay? Despite this, I lay there for another half hour, sifting through my un-caffeinated, jumbled morning thoughts. It’s a sunny morning in Denver, Colorado; it’s one of those days that should be spent outside, but as far as I’m concerned, Wyoming playing in Illinois at 2:00 pm MST is appointment TV. Having the windows open will have to do. It doesn’t quite feel like a football Saturday, given we’re still in the throes of summer here in Colorado. The fall crisp has yet to make an appearance, and the women walking by on the street seem to be lacking a certain pumpkin spice. Regardless, I’m thrilled to be watching meaningful college football today. There are still 2 hours until the kickoff of the first game. What that really means is two more hours of preview mag season. I love the preview mags, and I love the months leading up to the season. Sometimes I wonder if the anticipation of an event is more enjoyable than the event itself. Not just in football, but in life. Do we as humans set expectations too high too often? Can these next 4 months possibly live up to the expectations that I’ve formed whilst paging through Phil Steele’s nearly illegible preview mag? I guess time will tell. I’m sure you’re also wondering, is this a college football blog or the ramblings of a madman? Both. Get used to it.

8:15 am – After taking my dog out, brushing my teeth and pouring a second cup of coffee, I plop down on the couch, open my laptop, and turn on Gameday. This minty coffee tastes awful. Now it’s starting to feel like a college football Saturday. Gameday is showing b-roll of Ireland pubs, packed with Nebraska fans. The lack of purple is concerning for my Northwestern +13 card, but I’m sure Scott Frost will somehow negate whatever advantage it is that the surplus of Nebraska fans may provide. Which brings me to this – I want to apologize to Ireland. Ireland, I am sorry we sent you two football teams that went 3-9 last year. Why are these teams playing there? Does Ireland even have corn? They haven’t shown the stadium yet, and I’m extremely interested to see what the field looks like. In these international games, the condition of the field is always a toss-up. Something tells me that this field is going to play slow.

8:45 am - I never published my picks yesterday because the action I have has had some serious line movement, to the point that putting out my picks felt disingenuous. For example, I have Illinois first half -6.5 at -109. That line is now at -150. I have Northwestern at +13, that line is at +11.5. I also caught good movement on Charlotte (+7.5), New Mexico State (+9), and Vandy (-8). I took Vandy first quarter -2.5, which is a hilarious bet, but a bet that I love. Given that essentially none of this action is available anymore, I opted not to publish. I also hate that I’m on the right side of all the movement because that means the public is thinking what I am.

9:15 am – We’re inside an hour until kickoff of the first game. Lee Corso, who really needs to retire, just went on a rant about how great USC will be and predicted Caleb to win the Heisman. We all need to pump the brakes on Caleb and USC. Caleb Williams was benched last season because of poor play. His ceiling is no doubt as high as any QB in the country, but we all need to start being more realistic about his floor. Remember, this is a USC team that is weak in the trenches. Caleb’s protection is a question mark, which can be the difference between an 11-1 season and an 8-4 season. To be competitive on the national stage, you must be close to elite on both lines. USC is not elite on the line on either side of the ball. To me, this means their ceiling is a New Year’s Six Bowl. The path to the playoff for USC is still under construction and won’t be completed until the trenches are bulked up. If USC doesn’t make the playoff, Caleb is not winning the Heisman. Common Corso L.

9:40 am – 20 minutes until APSU @ WKU kicks off, 50 minutes until Nebraska v. Northwestern. This is exciting! It’s been a long summer preparing for this season, and it feels oh so good that we finally get to watch these teams battle it out on the field. This season will be insanely entertaining. It feels like Alabama and Ohio State are a shoo-in for the championship game, but where teams finish after that is anyone’s guess. So enjoy, dear reader, and don’t take any Saturday for granted. LFG.