College Football Predictions 2011: Predicting Week 1 for Top 25 Teams

The hours have been counting down, and college football is only moments away from kicking off the first week of the regular season, so I had to give my two cents on every Top 25 matchup.

When it comes to college football, expect the unexpected and don’t be too surprised if more than a couple of teams go down in the first week.

Obviously, you have the two marquee games between Oregon against LSU and Boise State against Georgia, but TCU and Notre Dame don’t have any “gimmies” placed in front of them either. Here are my predictions for the first week of the college football season.

UNLV at No. 11 Wisconsin (8:00 PM ET)

In an off-season that had a tremendous amount of turmoil and penalties given out, Wisconsin was by far the most beneficial team over the summer.

The Badgers picked up former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson in what is sure to be a game-changer in the Big 10. Wilson will impress in his debut as a Badger, and Wisconsin blows out UNLV, 41-13.

No. 20 Mississippi State at Memphis (8:00 PM ET)

Dan Mullen has gotten things going in the right direction in Starkville, and I expect the Bulldogs to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders.

This has the potential to be a close contest, and it will be a struggle early on. However, the Bulldogs led by Chris Relf, Vick Ballard and Chad Bumphis will eventually pull away. Mississippi State wins this one 45-21.

Youngstown State at No. 17 Michigan State (7:30 PM ET)

While the last game might be closely contested, don’t expect this one to be close at all.

With Nebraska joining the Big 10 and Wisconsin winning the Russell Wilson sweepstakes, Michigan State is being overlooked this year. Kirk Cousins and Edwin Baker will have huge games for the Spartans as they win by a score of 49-10.

No. 14 TCU at Baylor (8:00 PM ET)

Attention everyone, this is your weekly upset alert informing you that the TCU Horned Frogs could start out the season 0-1.

TCU has so many question marks heading into the season after losing Andy Dalton -- key losses on the offensive line and losses on the defensive line.

Watch out for Baylor in this one as they have nine returning starters on offense including their starting quarterback Robert Griffin. Griffin and the Bears pull away late in this one to upset the Horned Frogs 27-20.

Akron at No. 18 Ohio State (12:00 PM ET)

Even with everything surrounding the Buckeyes going into this game, this one won’t even be close. Ohio State blows out Akron, 45-3.

Miami (Oh) at No. 21 Missouri (12:00 PM ET)

This is another game that could be a lot closer than what most are expecting. The Redhawks have eight returning starters in offense and nine on defense.

They also have a good quarterback in Zac Dysert, who will put points on the board. Unfortunately for Miami, Missouri has nine returning starters on offense and are considered to be a dark horse in the Big 12. The Tigers win by a score of 38-24.

Utah State at No. 23 Auburn (12:00 PM ET)

The reigning defending national champions will be in rebuilding mode this year, but don’t expect Utah State to be much of a challenge for Auburn. Expect Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb to rush all over this defense en route to a 52-10 victory.

Kent State at No. 2 Alabama (12:20 PM ET)

This score is not going to be pretty. Alabama will get good looks at both quarterbacks in this one, as AJ McCarron and Phillip Simms should share the load for week one.

Trent Richardson will start campaigning early for the Heisman as he’ll rush for over 100 yards and multiple touchdowns. Alabama’s defense shuts out Kent State, and the Tide rolls on toward a 41-0 win. 

Appalachian State at No. 13 Virginia Tech (12:30 PM ET)

Does Appalachian State have another upset in them especially since Virginia Tech struggled so badly early last season? Eh, I wouldn’t get too excited if I were a Mountaineer just yet.

Virginia Tech has every wide receiver back for them and expect Jarrett Boykin to have a monster day against the defense.

David Wilson should rack up some yards on the ground, and Jayron Hoseley will establish his island early. Virginia Tech wins this one 31-10.

UL-Monroe at Florida State (3:30 PM ET)

Fear the spear. E.J. Manuel and company will rack up over 500 yards when the Warhawks come to town. ULM falls 47-3 to one of the best teams in the country.

Chattanooga at No. 10 Nebraska (3:30 PM ET)

This will be yet another blowout on opening day as Nebraska will be far too much for Chattanooga to handle. Taylor Martinez will rack up a lot of stats in this one as Nebraska wins 42-7.

South Florida at No. 16 Notre Dame (3:30 PM ET)

Notre Dame has almost all their starters coming back, so should they really be put on upset alert when they play South Florida? You betcha.

South Florida year in and year out always have tough football teams. The Bulls will give the Irish a run for their money, but Dayne Crist will mount a last minute drive as Notre Dame will beat South Florida 34-27 by a last second touchdown. 

Minnesota at No. 25 USC (3:30 PM ET)

Matt Barkley will lead the Trojans to a big victory over Minnesota, as they should win this one pretty convincingly.

Expect Barkley to hook up with Robert Woods on multiple occasions, and the Trojans to pull away early. USC wins 31-14.

San Jose State at No. 7 Stanford (5:00 PM ET)

Instead of predicting the score of this game, let’s try and figure out how many touchdowns Andrew Luck is going to have in this one.

I look for Luck to throw for over 350 yards and five touchdowns in Stanford’s 56-13 victory.

UL-Lafayette at No. 9 Oklahoma State (7:00 PM ET)

I bet the Ragin’ Cajuns of Lafayette, La. are hoping college football implements a mercy rule before Saturday arrives because this game is going to get ugly.

Brandon Weeden will have a field day throwing to the best wide receiver in the nation, Justin Blackmon, and the Cowboys destroy the Ragin' Cajuns 70-7.

East Carolina vs. No. 12 South Carolina (7:00 PM ET)

East Carolina will compete with South Carolina for the first two quarters, but ultimately the talent of the Gamecocks will overwhelm the Pirates.

Marcus Lattimore will turn in over 100 yards on the ground as South Carolina defeats East Carolina 42-17.

Missouri State @ No.15 Arkansas (7:00 PM ET)

The Razorbacks lost Knile Davis before the season, so expect the Hogs to rush the ball a good bit in this season opener to find out which guy will replace Davis.

Ronnie Wingo, Jr. and Dennis Johnson should share the load, and Tyler Wilson will show off his arm in the season opener. The Hogs win this one 49-6. 

Florida Atlantic @ No. 22 Florida (7:00 PM ET)

It’ll be Will Muschamp’s first game as the head coach of the Florida Gators, and expect Mushcamp to begin his tenure at Florida with a solid victory.

The thing to watch in this one will be John Brantley’s progression from last season and how comfortable he looks under Charlie Weis. Brantley improves and so do the Gators as they’ll win this one 42-14.

Tulsa at No. 1 Oklahoma (8:00 PM ET)

Landry Jones, Roy Finch and Ryan Broyles all turn in big games in the season opener, as the Sooners blow out Tulsa 70-3.

Is this a ridiculous and crazy prediction? Yes, but it's my boldest one on here. Yes, I know Tulsa is supposed to be even better this year than last year, and they finished in the top 25 a year ago. But, I believe they won't be able to handle the expectations going into their first game against the best team in the nation.

Oklahoma is loaded and they are going to come out looking the part. Oklahoma devastates Tulsa, and Tulsa regroups the following week and has a successful season. 

Marshall at No. 24 West Virginia (3:30 PM ET)

  Marshall will compete for the better part of the first half, but the Mountaineers talent will be too much for the Herd. Geno Smith impresses with 300 yards rushing and passing en route to a 34-14 victory.

Southern Methodist at No. 8 Texas A&M (7:30 PM ET)

Like most of the games on this slide, this will be another blowout. Jeff Fuller will be on the receiving hand of many Ryan Tannehill touchdown passes and the Aggies will win 48-0.

No. 5 Boise State vs. No. 19 Georgia (8:00 PM ET)

Boise State still has Kellen Moore but they don’t have Titus Young and Austin Pettis, and Georgia still has Aaron Murray, but will be without AJ Green and Kris Dunham.

I believe this will be the storyline of the game. Who will step up and establish themselves as legitimate playmakers on the outside? Another thing to watch out for will be Georgia’s rookies.

This is the “dream team” recruiting class and guys like Isaiah Crowell are expected to produce right away.

This will be a fantastic game, but I think the home field advantage (Georgia Dome) will help the Bulldogs score a 31-28 victory. 

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 4 LSU

This is the big one. This is perhaps the biggest hyped season-opener in the history of college football, and the recent actions of Jordan Jefferson have made it even bigger.

LSU will be without their starting quarterback, starting wide receiver in Russell Shepard and will be without their starting offensive lineman in Josh Dworaczyk.

The Oregon Ducks are going to come into Dallas guns blazin’ with their no huddle offense, and expect them to try and establish a story running game early with LaMichael James.

I’m not going to lie, the more the Gameday crew sing the blues for LSU, the more I feel like the Tigers are going to rally together and come out ready to play.

LSU’s defensive line will be the deciding factor in this one as LSU wins a hard-fought game by a score of 27-24.