Thankfully, week one is college football is devoid of the time conflicts that make the middle of the college football season so wonderfully excrutiating for the avid college football fan. No having to choose between a battle of the Big Ten’s best and a showdown between the SEC elite inexplicably both scheduled at 3:30 in the afternoon. But that is not the first week in college football. For all the hype and the 25-hours of pre-game madness ESPN will be spewing all day, week one consists mainly of powerhouse schools paying for their Division 1-AA brethren to come on down to Columbus, Ann Arbor, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa for a proper, if not agonizing to watch, butt-kicking.

That being said, there are some games worth watching and TiVo’ing, some early season conference showdowns and even a couple non-conference games worth keeping an eye on.

Game of the week: #15 Tennessee at #12 Cal -8:00 p.m. ET - ABC

In what was one of the most unconvincing performances by a fashionable preseason national championship pick, Cal and head coach Jeff Tedford went to Knoxville and got it handed to them last year. The defense made then-junior quarterback Erik Ainge look like the greatest Tennesee quarterback since… Tee Martin? Tedford put the game in the hands of sophomore Nate Longshore, hands which were apparently lubed with mayonnaise before kick-off. Longshore stunk on ice.  This year, the Vols travel west to play the Golden Bears in Berkeley in what is, without a doubt, one of the best non-conference match-ups of the season. If you can’t watch it, I’d suggest taping it or erasing some episodes of Boy Meets World to find some space on your TiVo for this one.

GAMES FOR MEN WHO AREN’T AFRAID TO CRY 

Week One also begins on a somber note for two schools. First Virginia Tech opens its season at home against East Carolina in the first football game for the Hokies since a gunman killed 33 people this April. While I think people, myself included,  intend to overestimate the importance of sports in our culture, I do understand its undeniable power to help those struggling with grief and tragedy to find some sense of normalcy. What happened at Virginia Tech can never be undone, let alone by a silly football game, but maybe the game will grant that campus and that community a much-welcomed respite from the unspeakable horror of lives shattered and changed forever by a random act of violence on a blustery April morning in Blacksburg. East Carolina at Virginia Tech - 12:00 p.m. ET - ESPN

Saturday night will also be the first game back for my alma mater Indiana following the offseason death of head coach Terry Hoeppener. The Hoosiers open the season with Indiana State and my guess is that there won’t be a dry eye in the house. The game will begin with a gut-wrenching video tribute to Coach Hep that will have the toughest of tough guys biting their lower lip with clenched, quivering jaws with a ceremony with Hoeppner’s family to follow. As I wrote this, the Indiana media guide landed on my desk. The first five pages of the guide are dedicated to the memory of Coach Hep. In just three years, Hep came to symbolize hope for the Hoosier faithful who put off thinking about basketball season in late October to see if this would be the year that their beloved Hoosiers would play in Nashville, San Antonio, Orlando, Detroit or Tampa over Christmas break. Unfortunately, we will never have that year under Coach Hep but his memory and his legacy lives on in the hearts of the Indiana University family. Indiana State at Indiana - 8:00 p.m. ET - The Big Ten Network. 

O.G.I. - OTHER GAMES OF INTEREST

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame - 3:30 p.m.  ET - NBC 

Charlie Weis is keeping his starting quarterback a secret and I must say that it’s nice of sportswriters to humor him and act like they give a crap or don’t believe it’s going to be freshman Jimmy Clausen. None the less, this will be a watchable, if not, unspectacular game but you can’t deny the power of South Bend on a Saturday. I hate Notre Dame and I’ve been on that campus on gameday and it’s unlike any other place on Earth. In two words, goosebump-inducing.

Wake Forest at Boston College - 3:30 p.m. - ABC 

An early season showdown between two potential ACC powers in ‘07. Last year’s Cinderella, Wake Forest, heads to Chestnut Hill to face quarterback Matt Ryan and Boston College. Ryan is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league and the game could be the perfect opportunity for him and the Eagles to make a statement and start the season off on a good note.

Oklahoma State at #13 Georgia - 6:45 p.m. ET - ESPN2 

I’ve got to hand it to Georgia, Tennesee and Auburn and applaud all of them for going out and not scheduling tomato cans (*ahem* Florida) in the first week. Most people, myself included, think that there’s no conceivable way that Georgia is the 13th best team in the country and the Cowboys and wide out Adarious Bowman, who some believe to be the best receiver in the country, pose a very interesting matchup to the Bulldogs in week one. The game will also serve as a pretty good indicator of how true sophomore Matthew Stafford will play this year. Will he be the gun-slinging, interception-prone quarterback of his youth or will he emerge matured and ready to be crowned the SEC’s best quarterback? We’ll see at 6:45 p.m. Between the Hedges.

#19 Florida State at Clemson - 8:00 p.m. ET - ESPN

Who’s ready for the Labor Day installment of the Bowden Bowl?!!? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? For Florida State fans, the week one clash at Death Valley will be an early test of how frustrating it will be to watch Drew Weatherford all-season. For Clemson, the strategy should be simple. HAND THE STUPID BALL OFF TO JAMES DAVIS AND C.J. SPILLER! None the less, it’s the best game on Labor Day so it’s worth watching, unless you got Heroes Season 1 on DVD.

UNDER THE RADAR GAME OF THE WEEK 

Arizona at BYU - 5:30 p.m. - VERSUS 

Of all the games that I picked this week, it was this game that  was the most difficult to pick. If I were able to pick “push,” I would have. This game poses some very interesting questions. Will this be the year that Bob Stoops turns Arizona around and makes them relevant in the Pac-10? Can BYU’s offense be effective without quarterback John Beck? Unfortunately, this is probably the fourth best game on in its time slot but it could be a heck of a game when it’s all said and done.

Yes, I know it’s more than two weeks from the official start of the 2007 college football season but I’ve already printed out the schedule for week 1 and will soon set my TiVo. When we get closer to the start of week one, I’ll pick a game of the week and a list of winners of every game over the weekend to track how I’m doing throughout the season.

______________

UCLA at STANFORD - 3:30 p.m. 

It’s the official beginning of the Jim Harbaugh/Captain Comeback era at Stanford and this game will prove a very interesting test for the Cardinal, and the Bruins in week one. This is sort of a baptism by fire for Harbaugh, who will be forced to show if he can actually coach or if he’s just good at spreading rumors about Pete Carroll leaving USC and lobbing grenades at this alma mater.

WHO YA GOT? The Ben Olson/Chris Markey combination on offense will be too much for Stanford’s porous defense.. even at home. I’m taking the Bruins.

GEORGIA TECH at NOTRE DAME - 3:30 P.M. 

Charlie Weis is still posturing that he’s not going to start Jimmy Clausen in week 1 against Georgia Tech but my guess is that this game will be the beginning of the Clausen era in South Bend. The Irish defense will need to stop Tashard Choice and the GT running game. On the other side of the ball, with senior quarterback Reggie Ball gone, this will be the first real road test for first year starter Taylor Bennett,

WHO YA GOT? Gotta go with the Irish at home. Even though Notre Dame lost Brady Quinn, Darius Walker, Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardjiza, none of those losses offset the impact Calvin Johnson leaving GT early will have on that Georgia Tech offense. With CJ, this is probably a Georgia Tech win but without him, I got the Irish by at least 7.

WAKE FOREST at BOSTON COLLEGE - 3:30 p.m. 

Jim Grobe and last year’s Wake Forest team was college football’s best Cinderella story last year and this early season Atlantic division matchup at Chesnut Hill will show if the stage coach turned back into a pumpkin. Both squads return competent signal callers in Riley Skinner and Matt Ryan. This is a huge game for Jim Grobe’s team as far as confidence building is concerned and a win on the road at BC, who is favored to win the Atlantic, would be huge for the Demon Deacons. but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

WHO YA GOT? The BC defense is very tough and very seasoned and I don’t anticipate them having a tough time throwing blitz packages at Riley Skinner and confusing him into throwing a bad interception or two. I’ll take the Eagles by at least 7.

MISSOURI AT ILLINOIS - 3:30 P.M. 

Ron Zook surprised the college football universe last year when he snagged some of the nation’s top recruits, specifically wide receiver Arrelious Benn. I don’t see this game even being close. Missouri is a far better team than is Illinois and I expect Mizzou QB Chase Daniel to have a big game against a weak Illinois secondary. I will be very interested to see if Zook opens up the offense and lets QB Juice Williams air it out to Benn a couple times and give the Illini faithful something to look forward to.

WHO YA GOT? A no-brainer. Mizzou by at least 10.

TENNESSEE at CAL - 8:00 P.M. 

I don’t think I saw a worse performance by a quarterback in a big game last year than Nate Longshore’s tank job at Rocky Top. Defensive coordinator John Chavis called one of the best defensive games of the year last year confused and frustrated Longshore and stopped future first-rounder Marshawn Lynch essentially snubbing the running back’s Heisman hopes in week one. Back for the Golden Bears are Longshore, running back Justin Forsett and wide receiver DeSean Jackson. This year’s game could make for one of the year’s best.

WHO YA GOT? This is one of those games that you hate to prognosticate because you know whoever you pick, you have a substantial chance of being wrong. I’m still going with Cal at home. I think what happened last year was a total embarrassment to Tedford and to the program and they’ll be hungry to exact some revenge. It will be a very tight game could be decided by 3 points or less.

FLORIDA STATE AT CLEMSON - 8:00 P.M.

When I interviewed Bobby Bowden a couple months ago, he cited the week 1 game at his son Tommy and the Clemson Tigers at Death Valley as the most important game of the year for his ‘Noles. And it is. Forget that FSU opens the season against a conference foe on the road, the game will be a crucial game for Drew Weatherford/Xavier Lee/Jimbo Fisher and the Florida State offense. Equally as important is the FSU defense who will be handed the dubious task of stopping James Davis and C.J. Spiller, one of the nation’s best running tandems.

WHO YA GOT? Feeling pretty good about Florida State in this one. Clemson starts its third quarterback in as many years and lost a good portion of its defense and won’t be able to match the firepower that Florida State will bring with them from Tallahassee.