NCAA weekend: 2-1; NFL weekend preview

The first week of college football is behind us and I am left with an indelible impression so far: Oregon has disrupted the college landscape.

This has nothing to do with the no-huddle, spread formation utilized by head coach Chip Kelly (especially considering the Ducks were using the spread before Kelly took over the reigns from Mike Bellotti, and also considering the spread formation has been around for decades.) The University of Oregon has changed college football with its uniforms (read this article by Michael Kruse for a good background). The Ducks have shown that any public relations regarding your uniforms is good public relations for your football program.

As recently as 1990, if you mentioned the powerful U of O sports program, most people would assume you were talking about track and field or cross country. Oregon is not rich in football history, so the folks in Eugene need any sort of buzz possible to lure potential recruits. In the same vein, the University of Maryland is known as a basketball school, but Twitter, Facebook and every other social media outlet was overflowing Monday night with references to the Terrapin uniforms. Never mind the Terps were in the middle of one of the better games of the opening weekend. Those uniforms, based on the Maryland state flag, looked like a Jackson Pollock reject. But, as Oregon has shown, any talk about the football program is good.

The bigger sartorial head-scratcher was the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs have one of the more storied football traditions in the nation, but they ditched their beautifully understated uniforms (check out Herschel Walker in the "gray britches") for Nike Pro Combat ugliness (seriously ugly). At least Maryland won its game. The Bulldogs lost to equally-ugly uniformed Boise State, which brings me to last week's predictions:

PREDICTION: Boise State/Georgia over 51 FINAL: 56 points
I was a little worried when the Broncos scored in the fourth quarter to make it 35-14 (49 points) because if the Bulldogs failed to score, Boise State could just sit on the ball and run out the clock. Thankfully there was still 11 minutes left in the game, but Georgia scored right away to give me the over.

PREDICTION: Houston minus 3 over UCLA FINAL: HOU 38 UCLA 34
It looked like this one was in the bag as the Cougars was up 31-14 at the half. UCLA's 2-quarterback system was reduced to a 1-quarterback system as Kevin Prince left the game in the second quarter with a concussion. "Backup" QB Richard Brehaut almost had the storybook comeback, but UCLA kicker Kip Smith missed a field goal attempt and had a late point after attempt blocked. If either one of those kicks goes through the uprights, I loose this prediction. As it is, however, he missed them and I win.

PREDICTION: North Texas plus 13 1/2 against Florida International FINAL: FIU 41 UNT 16
The Mean Green were bullied by the Golden Panthers from get-go. I need a Coke and a smile after this loss.

By going 2-1, I expect a free lunch at Ruby's in Santa Monica from a Mr. Taylor Whitley.

THIS WEEK'S PREDICTIONS
There is no more difficult game to predict in football than Game 2 of a season. Was Week 1 an aberration or the real deal? It is so hard to know what is real and what is not from Week 1, that I will go ahead and skip NCAA altogether and just jump into NFL Week 1 games. You can call it a gutless move if you would like, but I prefer to call it smart.

Kansas City minus 7 against Buffalo
The Bills allowed a few inches shy of 170 yards per game on the ground last season, last in the NFL. The Chiefs ran a few inches shy of 165 yards per game, best in the NFL. It does not matter if Matt Cassel is on the sidelines eating ribs while resting his ribs, the Chiefs will run over Buffalo. As a side prediction, I think Jamaal Charles will have the best Fantasy Football running back numbers in Week 1. In addition, I prediction the sun will rise in the East and set in the West.

Atlanta plus 1 against Chicago
This is a game of contrasts: The Falcons potent offense (25.9 points per game, 5th best in NFL) against the stout Bear defense (17.9 pts/game, 4th best in NFL); the horrendous Chicago offense (289 yards/game, 30th in NFL) against the mediocre Atlanta defense (332.4 yards allowed/game, 16th in NFL). It is no secret my most disliked athlete in all of the sporting universe is Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler. Add in that Chicago has possibly the worst offensive line the NFL and I think the Falcons actually run away with this game.

Arizona minus 3 against Carolina
While the Cardinals are not a Super Bowl contender, they did improve their team with the addition of quarterback Kevin Kolb, tight end Todd Heap (who I think will be the second-best tight end in the NFC West behind San Francisco's Vernon Davis) and running back Chester Taylor. I also think defensive back Patrick Peterson will be the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. On the flip side, I don't think Carolina has done anything to improve itself, Cam Newton is more sizzle than steak, and new head coach Ron Rivera will soon wish he was back as the Chargers' defensive coordinator.