Opening weekend of college football is just about done, but the game I’ve really been looking forward to — when my Vols head to California to face UCLA — will close the weekend tonight (and Rutgers and Fresno St. are about to go at it right now).

With that said, here’s a few thoughts on what’s transpired thus far.

Jackonsville State 14, Georgia Tech 41: The Jackets were able to run for 385 yards in its first game running the triple option. You don’t watch a D-I school beat Jackonsville State and say a system will work, but if Thursday night was an indication, then the system will work.

UGA 45, Georgia Southern 21: This isn’t the kind of game you want to see from the No. 1 team in the nation. That offensive line of Georgia has got to be a question mark.

Youngstown State 0, Ohio State 43: The biggest thing about this game wasn’t the score but the health of Chris Wells. If he’s out for a duration of time, and from what I saw from USC, you’ve gotta give the Trojans the nod during their showdown in two weeks.

USC 52, Virginia 7: Ouch. The ACC really showed that they’re an inferior conference this weekend.

Chattanooga 2, Oklahoma 57: Sadly, the score wasn’t even this close. It was 50-0 at halftime, and then the reserves came in.

Hawaii 10, Florida 56: They didn’t look as sharp as I expeted, but keep in mind that Percy Harvin is still out, but expected to play next week against Miami.

Illinois 42, Missouri 52: Chase Daniel had 323 yards and 3 touchdowns. As good a start as that was, he was outplayed by Juice Williams, who had over 400 yards throwing and 5 TD’s.

Appalachian State 13, LSU 41: There wasn’t going to be another miracle this year. Not against that defensive size and speed.

Villanova 21, West Virginia 48: They’re one of the teams I’ve said will play in the BCS Title game. It wasn’t the best showing, but a win’s a win.

Alabama 34, Clemson 10: Again: The ACC just didn’t show up. The Clemson game was never close, and Tommy Bowden proves again why you can’t rely on Tommy Bowden. You can’t say Alabama has more talent, but they sure did look like it Saturday night.

Louisiana Monroe 0, Auburn 34: I watched this game, and though the score shows a blowout, this game was a lot closer. Auburn’s offense never did click, and that’s hopefully just some rust in the new spread system they’re implementing.

Northern Arizona 13, Arizona State 30: Does anyone really think Arizona State will beat UGA? I hope they do, but I’m not really buying into it.

Virginia Tech 22, East Carolina 27: Again: Wake up, ACC.

Washington 10, Oregon 44: Say goodbye to Ty Willingham. He’s on thin ice as is, and losing by 34 points in the opener isn’t the way to start the season.

The scores of today’s games, minus the Georgia/Hawaii game, which will probably result in a UGA blowout. It’s just underway, but everything else is official. Tomorrow features VT and Kansas.

Wisconsin Badgers 17, Tennessee Vols 21: With it being the 11:00 a.m. game the day after New Year’s Eve, I was a little late to tune in, even being a UT fan. What I watched was a game where Tennessee tried at every possession to give the game away, only for Wisconsin to give it right back. Erik Ainge passed for 365 yards and two touchdowns, 229 of those yards coming in the first half. Tyler Donovan played courageously against the Vols, getting hit every time he seemed to drop back, but finished with only 150 yards passing and one touchdown. It was the Vols first 10-win season since 2004.

Missouri Tigers 38, Arkansas Razorbacks 7: This game was pretty much over before it started. Featuring Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, you’d think one of those guys would have the big day on the ground, but instead Mizzou’s Tony Temple ran all over Arkansas’ D for 281 yards, a Cotton Bowl record.

Michigan Wolverines 41, Florida Gators 35: There was trash talking back and forth, but in the end Mike Hart and Chad Henne made sure to send Lloyd Carr out a winner. Florida’s defense couldn’t do anything all game, and while Tebow and the offense were successful, they often looked out of sync. Percy Harvin finished up with 166 yards rushing to go with 77 yards receiving.

Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28: I watched very little of this game. It was taking place during the Tennessee/Wisconsin game and also during the Michigan/Florida game. Both games featured more high profile teams, but neither was probably as good as this one. Virginia had a ten point lead in the second half, but fell short in the fourth quarter when Texas Tech nailed a game-winning field goal with .02 left.

Illinois 17, USC 49: If you watched this game — or at least the first half, upon which you became as bored as I did — then you saw one team that was really good and one team that was really, really overmatched. Illinois probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Illinois will be an exciting team to watch next year, but they never stood a chance in this one.

How I’m doing:

Last week: 3-2
On The Season: 6-7

It’s been a rough year, but this week features can’t-miss games that I can’t miss on. Here’s a few I’d take, and a even a teaser to really spice things up (crazy, I know).

Oklahoma (-23) @ Tulsa: They beat Miami by more, and you have to think that Miami, bad as they’ve been the last few years, still has more talent than Tulsa. I know that game was in Oklahoma, but it’s not like Tulsa is exactly the Swamp. Sooners cover.

Georgia @ Alabama (-3): ‘Bama has an offense, a defense, and one of the best coaches in the nation, loyal or not. Georgia? They’ve got none of the above. ‘Bama rolls, wins by two touchdowns.

Penn State @ Michigan (+3): Mike Hart delivered on his promise last week, but that was against Notre Dame, who recently became a 1-AA school (there’s a thousand App. State jokes to poke at that one). The bad news for Michigan is that they’re not facing Notre Dame’s offense; the good news is that they are facing Anthony Morelli’s. The gift three is nice, but Michigan wins straight up.

Georgia Tech (-3) @ Virginia: Virginia barely beat UNC. And Duke. They lost to Wyoming. I don’t know what Vegas is thinking, but I’m betting. Jackets cover, win easy.

PS: Looking through this, I lied about the teaser. I don’t want to chance anything when I’ve got four guaranteed winners. You heard it: Guaranteed.

Last Week: 1-3
On the season: 3-5
How I’ll do this week: Hopefully better

Last week was tough. This week will be better. Here’s my picks.

-Virginia @ North Carolina (-3): Virginia got waxed by Wyoming and then played a close game against Duke. I know nothing about either of these teams. But I know plenty about Duke. UNC covers, wins by 10.

-Notre Dame @ Michigan (-7): One team can’t score, the other team can’t stop anyone from scoring. This is a game people used to have marked on their calendar, now it’s a game to see which coach is closer to being fired. That coach is Lloyd Carr. But it’ll be at the end of the season. As long as Michigan has Mike Hart and Notre Dame has, uh, who they’ve got, Michigan covers.

-Tennessee @ Florida (-8): I hate picking against the Vols — I went to school there a couple years, ya know? — but they couldn’t stop Cal on the road, which leads me to believe they won’t stop Florida, either. I’d love to be wrong about this one. But I think I’m right. Gators cover, do the Tebow-Chomp.

-Texas (-19) @ Central Florida: It was a close game, but the scoreboard in the TCU/Texas game wouldn’t indicate so. Even when they’re sloppy, they still cover. Central Florida? Gimme a break. Horns cover, win a blowout.

-Boston College (+6.5) @ Georgia Tech: My Yellow Jackets are looking as good as they’ve ever looked, but unfortunately so is Boston College. This is the first year in a long time I can remember being 2-0 and thinking we’ve got a chance — I mean, I’m just saying a chance — of playing for a National Title. Problem is, Matt Ryan’s pretty good, and averaging 400 yards, regardless of who you’ve played, is pretty solid in a two-game span. My National Title dream won’t come to an end this week; that said, BC covers, loses by a field goal.

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.