We’re less than an hour away, and I’m a little jittery myself; every year around this time, I start yelling random snap counts in stores and parking lots, calling out audibles and hot routes, which normally results in scaring those around me, including my girflriend.

Hey, I’m a die-hard.

And tonight, even though it’s not my team playing (Georgia Tech/Notre Dame, 3:30), there is money involved in this one. The spread in the LSU/Mississippi St. game’s up to 20, but thankfully I got it at 18.

Let’s all hope — for my sake, anyway — that the Matt Flynn transition is a smooth one.

A lot of blogs are doing this, so I feel I should jump in. And with the recent nothingness in sports, why not? When the top story from yesterday was a non-related dog stabbing, football posts become a must. Which brings me to this: Each day I will try and post major conference breakdowns for all you college fanatics out there. The Big Twelve, SEC and ACC will be broken into two parts, since there’s two different divisions. All other conferences will be done in whole. Yesterday was the SEC East, today the SEC West. Monday we’ll pick up again and, I dunno, maybe cover the Pac 10; it’ll have to be a surprise.

I’ll have a ranking posted next to each team, and for the teams in conferences broken down by divisions, that ranking doesn’t represent the ranking for the division. . . it represents the ranking for the entire conference. On we go.

• LSU (2): It’s the team that everyone’s picking to win the SEC, and maybe even challenge for a National Title. They lost LaRon Landry, but their defense is still stacked. Matt Flynn doesn’t have Russell’s arm, but he may be more accurate, and with weapons like Early Doucet to throw to, don’t look for Flynn to have too difficult of a time adjusting to being the starter. LSU’s biggest problem: Les Miles. Good coach, but probably not the guy you expect to go unbeaten.
• Auburn (3): Their two losses came last year at home, both against opponents they were supposed to beat (first against Arkansas, then Georgia). It was hard for Auburn fans to swallow who, until October 7, thought they might have a legitimate shot at a national title (or at least a legitimate shot at Tommy Tubberville complaining about the BCS again). Brandon Cox won’t blow anyone’s mind, but he will complete 60% of his passes, and 60% of those may be to stud wideout Rod Smith. Ben Tate’s a guy most don’t know of, but he’s the next in a long line of great running backs to come out of Auburn (Cadillac, Ronnie, Kenny, now Ben). Biggest issue this team has? Florida, Georgia, LSU and Arkansas all on the road.
• Arkansas (5): So long as they have Darren McFadden playing quarterback, running back, wide receiver and linebacker, this team should be just fine. So long as their fan base is crazy and their coach has no control, this team could hit a few road blocks along the way.
• Alabama (9): Don’t look for ‘Bama to return to grace just yet. Nick Saban’s in, sure, but he doesn’t have a whole ton of talent to work with. John Parker Wilson is pretty solid at quarterback, but that’s about it. With an already tough SEC schedule — they play the entire West, and Tennessee, of course — and with a road game to FSU, it could be a long first year for newbie Nick.
• Mississippi State (10): Croom is bound to turn things around there sooner than later, right? Right?
• Ole Miss(11): They were bad last year with Pat Willis. They’ve got a decently young crop of players, but this team’s still a year away from competing in the SEC.