TCU, LSU, Notre Dame and 8 Ranked Teams on Upset Alert in Week 1

Football is finally back!

Our Saturdays and Sundays will no longer be boring. Our lawns will become overgrown as we sit inside and watch our favorite teams on the big screen.

And, tempers will flare with every loss. After all, only two teams can make it to the BCS Championship game. And, of those two teams, only one can win.

So, when will your team’s title aspirations get derailed? Here’s a list of eight ranked teams that might not make it through the first week of the regular season unscathed.

No. 25 USC (vs. Minnesota)

USC is still reeling from the NCAA sanctions leveled against them.

They aren’t as formidable as they once were, despite Matt Barkley’s play at the quarterback position.

Minnesota isn’t that great, but they are a power conference team, so USC should at least be wary of the Gophers.

No. 24 West Virginia (vs. Marshall)

West Virginia probably doesn’t deserve to be ranked in the top 25 to start the season.

Marshall isn’t very good either, but in the first week of the regular season, anything can happen.

And it’s a rivalry game, so that’s another reason anything can happen.

No. 19 Georgia (vs. No. 5 Boise State)

Mark Richt’s campaign to save his job is going to get off to a rocky start against the Broncos of Boise State.

Boise has been a giant-killer for several years now, and Kellen Moore and company will keep that reputation going.

The Broncos are in their first season in the Mountain West Conference and they’ll be looking to prove they can take on a tougher schedule. That starts against Georgia.

No. 16 Notre Dame (vs. South Florida)

Notre Dame is going to be good in 2011, but so are the USF Bulls.

The Bulls have a shot to be the surprise team of the year under Skip Holtz.

He’d love nothing more than to beat the Irish, a team his father used to coach.

USF could win the Big East if things go their way.

No. 14 TCU (at Baylor)

TCU is in its last season in the Mountain West Conference in 2011 and they’d like to go out with a bang.

But, they will have a tough test in Week 1. The Horned Frogs have to go to Waco and take on Robert Griffin and the Baylor Bears.

Without Andy Dalton and Jermey Kerley on offense, this will be a tougher task than it appears to be on paper.

No. 13 Virginia Tech (vs. Appalachian State)

There are two reasons to be worried for the Hokies in this game.

One is that Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Williams are going to be missing from the offense.

The second reason is that Appalachian State has pulled a Week 1 upset in recent history (against Michigan).

The Hokies won’t be able to cruise through this game.

No. 8 Texas A&M (vs. SMU)

SMU is trying to impress the Big 12 and show that they would be a valuable addition to the conference.

What better way to do that than to pull an upset against Texas A&M, the team that is ditching the Big 12 to get out from under Texas’s shadow?

This will be the Mustangs’ Super Bowl, so anything can happen.

No. 4 LSU (vs. No. 3 Oregon)

Playing this game without Jordan Jefferson is going to cost the Tigers dearly.

The offense needs to be explosive to keep pace with the outstanding Oregon offense. Without Jefferson, the Tigers lose a little bit of offensive explosiveness.

They also lost Stevan Ridley to the NFL, so they will probably be a little bit lost to start the year.

LSU’s BCS Championship hopes are going to be dashed pretty early in 2011.

5 Ranked Teams That Will Cruise to Victory

No. 1 Oklahoma (vs. Tulsa)

No. 2 Alabama (vs. Kent State)

No. 6 Florida State (vs. LA-Monroe)

No. 7 Stanford (vs. San Jose State)

No. 10 Nebraska (vs. Chattanooga)