WEEK ONE - 7 on 7

It's finally football time. To kick off the festivities, I'll introduce my picks for the first week of 7 on 7 drills. Brent and I will each pick the top seven games of the week and track our records. I'm not sure what the stakes are yet, but it will be a competition nonetheless.

Week One features more cupcake games than anybody should be willing to count. There are enough directionals and 1-AA competition to make even the most loyal fan yawn. Luckily there are a few schools willing to go out and schedule difficult games off the bat. The top two games this week each feature J&BP Top 25 teams squaring off in neutral sites. I'm taking the favorite in both matchups.

One of the week's most compelling games is in Ann Arbor where Rich Rodriguez makes his coaching debut as Michigan hosts one of the best teams not in a BCS league. I like the upset here because Utah is ready to go and Michigan still has a long way to go in learning Rodriguez's new schemes.

The other four games on the list includes Michigan State and Tennessee traveling out west to play games in California, and Fresno State and USC traveling cross country to play games on the east coast. Will all the travel have an effect? Probably, although I managed to pick three of the four road teams to win. I'll probably regret that. Here's the picks.

1. USC 33, Virginia 10
2. Fresno State 25, Rutgers 24
3. Michigan State 23, Cal 20
4. Tennessee 30, UCLA 16
5. Utah 24, Michigan 13
6. Clemson 23, Alabama 17
7. Missouri 31, Illinois 27