Day 5: What to watch for in week one

As a student at N.C. State it is my job to continuously hype the N.C. State game against South Carolina, by the way it is this Thursday night at 7pm on ESPN. But in this column I will tell you about a few other games to watch for during the first week of the college football season.

The obvious one? Another ACC/SEC battle. Alabama and Virginia Tech will play at 8pm Saturday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Alabama comes in ranked fifth and Virginia Tech starts the season at seventh.

What a Hokie win would mean: The ACC has been starving for respect in the BCS after last season's ACC/SEC showed Alabama beat Clemson to start the season. Virginia Tech can help the ACC earn that respect by beating a national power on a neutral field.

What a Crimson Tide win would mean: Alabama could mark their spot among the nation's elite by beating the Hokies. This game would start Alabama off on their way to a national title run.

How about an SEC/Big 12 showdown? When 13th ranked Georgia travels to Stillwater to take on the ninth ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, more conference pride is on the line.

What a Georgia win would mean: A win for Georgia would show that they can continue to succeed without Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. It would be quite impressive if they could show that.

What a Cowboy win would mean: A win would show that the Big 12 is ready to play again this year, and its not just Texas and Oklahoma in the race.

I've talked a lot about games important to conference pride. Oregon, ranked 16th, will visit 14th ranked Boise State Saturday at 10:15pm.

What an Oregon win would mean: The Pac-10 is often noted as USC's conference, and it still is. Oregon can make a splash on the national outlook with a win on the road against a nationally ranked team.

What a Bronco win would mean: The WAC is alive yet again. And Boise State is back for more BCS crashing. This may be Boise's toughest test all season, a win might mean an undefeated season.

Thanks for reading day 5 of First and Short's week long college football tailgate party, check back tomorrow for day six.

Day 4: Preseason Polls?

I sit here looking at a copy of Sports Illustrated (the August 17th edition), and cannot help but to wonder what is going on with the pre-season rankings.

I'll start at the top: One through five looks right, with traditional powerhouses Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Virginia Tech.

But Ole Miss at six? Wait, didn't this team finish 5-3 in the SEC last year? Yes, I know the SEC is a very strong conference but that was still fourth best in the conference as they did not finish ahead of any ranked teams in conference play.

Oklahoma State and Alabama as eight and nine makes sense, as both are coming off of strong season and return many starters.

Boise State will start at ninth. Finally the voters are showing some love to the WAC team that was undefeated in conference play and returns eleven starters.

Rounding out the top ten is Ohio State. The Buckeyes look to win yet another Big Ten championship and this year should not be too challenging for them. Penn State is the only other Big Ten team ranked to start the year (14th). They seem to be a deserving top ten team.

Check back tomorrow for day five of First & Short's week long college football tailgate party.

Day 3: Life in the ACC

The Atlantic Coast Conference is constantly bashed and noted as a weak football conference. Some have even said that the Mountain West Conference is stronger than the ACC.

But could this be the year that the ACC steps up and demands respect from the rest of the college football world? Maybe the have already started making statements.

In this decade, the ACC has produced more first-round NFL draft picks than any other conference. That statistic is often hidden behind the ACC's 2-9 record in BCS bowl games. A winning percentage of just over 18%.

With Miami not being the same dominant national power that once were when they played in the Big East Conference, the ACC lacks a dominant team.

Florida State used to be that team in the ACC, but has been mediocre nearly every season since the conference expanded to twelve teams. Hell, the Seminoles have had more academic scandals than bowl wins since the expansion.

Virginia Tech has been the team to really take control in the conference. But has yet to make a big mark nationally, going just 1-3 in BCS games.

Bottom line: the ACC needs someone to step up this year, my guess is that Virginia Tech will be that team, they will start the season ranked fifth in the country, now can they stay up at the top for the whole season? We'll find out soon enough.

Check back tomorrow for day four of First & Short's week long college football tailgate!

Day 2: Warming Up

We are now less than a week away from the opening of the 2009-2010 college football season. College students across the country have made the great dash to receive tickets to their school's first game of the season.

North Carolina State University is no exception. Students tickets have been distributed and at the moment, every seat at recently renovated Carter-Finley Stadium has been sold for the season opener against South Carolina. It seems that the 37-0 beat down brought on by the Gamecocks last season has not phased the often overly optimistic Wolfpack fans as they start the new season.

Student tickets were so hard to come by that your's truly is left without a ticket (Not to worry, this will be resolved). A white out has been called by the students... just another cheesy unoriginal practice that bothers me in sports. Why not a red out? Seeing as that is the school's color.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to live with it, like I've done for the wave for years.

Check back tomorrow for day three of First and Short's week long college football tailgate party.

Day 1 of First & Short's Week Long College Football Tailgate!

The feel of NCAA Football is definitely in the air now. Two-a-days are in full swing as teams across the country are preparing for week one of the seaon.

The first game of the '09-'10 seaon is just seven days away, and First & Short will be there. The South Carolina Gamecocks will travel to Raleigh to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack on ESPN. The feeling on campus is unlike any season in recent history.

The expectations are astronomical for Tom O'Brien in his third season with the Pack, after the local newspaper, The News and Observer predicted state would finish near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference for this season, largely in part from the return of All-Conference quarterback, Russell Wilson.

We will have a full game preview for this game next Thursday (gameday).

Check back tomorrow for day two of First and Short's week long college football tailgate party.

LeBron Gets Dunked On

A huge deal was made of Nike confiscating the tapes of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James. TMZ .com got their hands on a cell phone clip of the event, click here to see it!

Video of the Week!

Kobe Bryant lets everyone know that he will not be dunked on at his camp like LeBron James was.