Monday, 27 August 2012

Week 1 - Things I'm interested in

1. Navy at Notre Dame - For me, the interesting thing here is not what happens on the field but what happens off it. The game is being played in Dublin, Ireland. The NFL has been playing a game each year in London at Wembley Stadium. I went to last years Bears-Bucs game and the crowd was an interesting mix. There were plenty of people from all over Briton there (I was sat next to a guy who'd come down from Aberdeen in the north of Scotland) but there were also plenty of Americans and Europeans there. So who will be in the crowd for this? And if this is successful in attracting plenty of locals to the game, could this be repeated in future with more regular season games played outside the USA, or perhaps in the long term - a bowl game?

2. Alabama at Michigan - This for me is the game of the week. Can Alabama repeat? Are Michigan going to challenge for the national championship? And it's an early test of the relative strengths of the SEC and Big Ten.

3. Auburn at Clemson - Another big inter-conference game. This time SEC vs ACC. This could have repercussions for the future rankings of all ACC teams. If Clemson win, then they'll get a boost. If not, then the ACC could struggle to get attention in the national championship debate.

4. Boise State at Michigan State - Boise have been close for several years now but have lost several senior players such as Kellen Moore, who was underrated in the NFL draft in my opinion. Will they still be competitive with the big teams?

5. Ohio at Penn State - This is another game more interesting for what happens off the field. After all that's happened in the last year, how will Penn State move forward? They will need to do this soon, without forgetting what happened or the victims.

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