Signings have come and gone, except for Terrelle Pryor, who has decided to continue torching the Wolverines and Buckeyes with patience, and there were a few surprises. A Georgia Tight End, whose name I don’t know because he’s going to Georgia and he’s only in high school, screwed the Dogs and went to Clemson instead.

Look: I don’t keep up with college football recruiting much. To me, it’s one of those things that’s a lot of hype and not a lot of substance. So many of these kids come in highly recruited and we never hear from them; others, kids that were three and four stars, blow up in college and end up the best players in the NFL. Regardless, I’m forced to do a job, even if it’s half-ass. Here’s the Top 5 recruiting classes this year, according to ESPN.

1. Miami Hurricanes
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Florida “Urban Meyer Pays Well” Gators
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. Georgia “We Would Be Better If It Wasn’t For Clemson” Bulldogs

According to Rivals, here’s how it goes:

1. Alabama
2. Notre Dame
3. Florida
4. Miami
5. Oklahoma

Like I said: I don’t think recruiting means that much. How they play against another level is something Rivals or ESPN can’t tell us. That said, it’s nice to see Miami getting talent again. There was something always fun about watching a team with speed, and then watching Miami. It’s the old saying: “There’s speed, and then there’s Miami speed.” Say hello to seven more 1st Round NFL Draft Picks.

Okay. I’ve posted on this a lot, which means I shouldn’t go over it much more, but recapping can never be done too much. Last week I went 2-2. This week? I’m switching up my style a little, have a couple of twists, and am expecting to be rolling in the dough somewhere around 9:00 Saturday night (only to start rolling in it again Sunday night, but those NFL picks will wait until tomorrow).

Anyway, in case you didn’t notice, last week had a few “misprints.” I didn’t pick an FSU team that can’t block, and I definitely didn’t pick a Tennessee team that can’t tackle. This week is free of any possible misprints that my editor may let sneak through. On we go.

--Teaser
Miami (+21) @ Oklahoma
South Florida @ Auburn (+3)
Kent @ Kentucky (-2.5)

It’s a teaser, which is one of those bets that always looks good until the games actually play themselves out. That said, I feel this one is pretty solid: I can’t see a Miami defense losing to an Oklahoma offense (without AP, mind you) by more than 21 points; Auburn looked shaky against Kansas State, sure, but at home, against South Florida, as a two point underdog? That’s money in the bank. As for Kentucky and Kent, well, it seems like a sure bet to me. Andre Woodson is one of the best players in the nation, and as hard as it is for me to bet on a Kentucky football team that doesn’t feature Tim Couch (pre-NFL-deadbeat days, obviously), it’s something I’ve got to jump on. This teaser’s a lock. Trust me.

-Straight up

-Virginia Tech (+14) @ LSU

LSU beat Mississippi State by 45. VT beat Eastern Carolina by a much slimmer margin than they were supposed to. But Matt Flynn only had 123 yards passing against Croom’s boys, and their top rusher boasted a measley 68 yards. This was against Mississippi State. Not against Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall. Sean Glennon’s as bad as they get, but VT can sit back on Brandon Ore and win a game. LSU can’t sit back on Jason Hester and Richard Murphy — Richard Murphy! — and expect to win much. Beamer knows special teams and defense. Matt Flynn’s gonna know this isn’t Mississippi State anymore. They probably won’t win, but take VT and the touchdowns.

-Troy @ Florida (-25)

Hey, it’s Troy. And better yet, it’s Florida. I don’t give a damn that Tebow’s new. Percy, Percy, Percy. Gators cover.

-Bowling Green @ Michigan State (-17)

Michigan State is that team that comes out of the gates hot and then really tanks. Thankfully, we’re in luck: It’s week two, where MSU does its best impersonation of USC. It won’t be like last week (my God, was that game ever really in question?), but MSU rolls, covers the 17.

I’m a little on the hungover side. And when I say a little, I mean a lot.

Yesterday was the first real day of college football. My first day of college football is kind of a mixture of Bloody Marys, beer, fun and anger rolled into one. So writing this now, my motor skills aren’t at their best — I drank from noon yesterday afternoon until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. I’m hurting. Hurting very, very badly.

That said, I’m going to try and do a run down of yesterday’s games, at least what I remember of yesterday’s games. Here’s how my day went:

It’s a little after 1:00, and I’m watching Michigan State on ESPN2, absolutely dismantling UAB. I’m not surprised by this at all: Michigan State seems to jump out of the gates every year, only to lose their last six or seven games. They’ll do solid right up until the time they play Notre Dame and Charlie Weis sticks it in their hearts again. Then it’s a free-fall plummet through the standings, and we’ll all wonder the same question we wonder ever year: “With such a good offense, why does this team always suck?”

It’s sometime after 2:00, and I’ve gone through a couple Bloody Marys on an empty stomach. I realize if I keep up this pace, I won’t make it through the 3:30 GT/ND game. That said, fueled by Appalachian’s late lead over Michigan has me forgetting logic and responsibility, and I keep pounding them.

My friend calls me and tells me he’s about to his first of many parlays he bet on the day. He picked Miami to cover and someone else, who I can’t really remember.

Georgia Tech is about to kick off to Notre Dame. The “suspense” of who will be the starting quarterback is revealed just before this. My friend comes out from his room and tells us Appalachian has beaten Michigan.

That’s another celebratory drink.

It’s 16-0 at halftime of the Georgia Tech game. That’s a few celebratory drinks. I call my friend — the one with the twenty different parlays — because he’s a big Notre Dame fan. I tell him his team’s done, that Charlie isn’t really the Evil Genius everyone’s painted him out to be.

It’s the second half of the Tech game. We’re running away with it, and I’ve come to terms that the game’s over. Charlie Weis puts in Evan Sharpley, who goes 10-13 for 92 yards, and then is yanked in favor of everyone’s favorite Clausen. Young Jimmy goes 4-6 for 34 yards, but his accurate arm is much too late. It’s 33-3, and that’s the way the game ends.

This calls for champagne.

I flip over to the UGA game to find they’re not struggling as much as the so-called “experts” said they would. They’re pretty much running and passing all over Ok. State, who might need to be reminded that football teams do play defense. Occasionally, anyway.

The rest of the night is a blur. I watched the UT/Cal game for a while. . . I’m starting to get drunken rage as I see Cal able to do whatever they want on offense. UT needs those same classes Ok. State needs; with the tackling they had, they’ll be lucky to beat Vandy this year.

All in all, it was a fun day. Biggest upset was clearly App. State over Michigan, but the best part of the day for me was seeing Charlie Weis so confused and so lost during his press conference. He took responsibility for the team not being ready, but at some point — and that time may be coming soon — I think people need to start recognizing this guy as a coach who inherited an awful lot of talent and is now having to do it on his own. Notre Dame, I believe, will be fortunate to get five wins this year. Tyrone Willingham, in his third year, had more wins than that and was fired. We’ll see if Weis’ fate holds the same cards.

I’m looking forward to next week. I think LSU/VT is going to be an inredible game, and if it isn’t, it doesn’t really matter — this is college football, where every Saturday is a good Saturday.

A lot of blogs are doing this, so I feel I should jump in. And with the recent nothingness in sports, why not? 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 others will be covered in whole.

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. To see past entries, click here. On we go.

• Virginia Tech (2): They’ve got the best defense in the ACC behind them — one of the best in the country, for that matter — and they’ve got all sorts of emotional momentum on their side, as well. They have to play Georgia Tech and Clemson on the road, but both games are winnable. It’s hard for me not to pick a team whose D is led by Xavier Adibi and Vince Hall, probably the best linebacking duo in the nation.
• Georgia Tech (3): Call me a Homer, that’s fine. They lost Calvin Johnson, sure, but return 8 starters on a defense that finished in the top 15 last year. Oh, and they lost Reggie Ball. It’s rare that losing a four-year starting QB is a good thing, but, well. . . you’ve seen Reggie Ball.
• Miami (4): Can Kyle Wright finally get it right (no pun intended)? If he can, they’ve got one of the best defenses in the nation. They may need it: New offensive coordinator Pat Nix had Georgia Tech ranked 67th in total offense last year. . . with Calvin Johnson.
• Virginia (8): I remember when people were saying Al Groh was going to bring this team back to prominance. Right now, .500 would be nice.
• North Carolina (11): Butch Davis will turn this program around, but not in year one.
• Duke (12): It’ll be fun watching the biggest rivalry in college basketball face-off to see who finishes dead last.