Week one was filled with tune up contests with a few surprises including Kansas losing to North Dakota State, an FBS school. Not that the Jayhawks are a football powerhouse, but they shouldn’t lose to a Missouri Valley Conference program. With #15 Georgia Tech coming to town this weekend, the Jayhawks are looking at a long, dismal season.

If the first week of the season didn’t tell you that Notre Dame and Michigan have improved while the Big East is looking especially lame, then you’ll have to spend a few extra hours this weekend taking in some of the top contests including:

Georgia at South Carolina — Every SEC match up is a dog fight, but in this case the #24 Gamecocks have the edge over #22 Georgia because of its home field advantage. Odd that this game was scheduled for noon because by halftime the air temperature should be pushing past 95 degrees. That might cook a few eggs, but I believe that South Carolina will finish on top in a close one.

South Florida at Florida — The Gators are ranked #8, but are without Tim Tebow. Will that make a difference? It didn’t last week when Miami of Ohio came in, but the Bulls are a better team and likely to put up a good fight. If they pull off a surprise, then everyone will wonder if South Florida is “that good” or whether the Gators have simply faded.

Florida State at Oklahoma — The #17 Seminoles travel to Norman to take on the #10 Sooner in one of the better inter-conference battles of the young season. I don’t have a stake in this game, but I have to think that the Sooners will shake off their close contest against Utah State to knock off the Noles. If not, bye-bye BCS aspirations!

Miami at Ohio State — The Buckeyes are ranked #2 in the nation and the Hurricanes are #12 which means that this game should be well played, a back and forth affair which could yield a frontrunner for a BCS contender. I’m not entirely convinced that the Buckeyes deserve a #2 rating, but I’m also not sure that the Canes are that good either.

Penn State at Alabama — JoePa is still around and his #18 Nittany Lions look to challenge for the Big Ten title. Playing the #1 Crimson Tide on the road in an inter-conference tilt means that Penn State can’t afford to make any mistakes while Alabama will have to make several if the cats are to stand a chance to pull a huge upset.

Happy footballing!

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There are some very good games on tap over the coming extended weekend with Oregon at Boise State being one many fans will want to watch. The Ducks were stunned by the Broncos at home last year and must travel to Idaho to extract their revenge. Both teams are nationally ranked with prestige on the line. Prediction: Boise State 41, Oregon 31.

Also of note on Thursday: NC State will host South Carolina (see our review) and Utah will play host to Utah State.

Friday’s lone game will be a match up between pitting Tulsa at Tulane, the Conference USA opener. Tulsa QB David Johnson is no longer at the helm of what was last year’s most potent offense in the nation, but his replacements should help the Golden Hurricanes maintain their two touchdown edge going in against the Green Wave.

Saturday will feature three important matches between Top 25 teams including: Georgia at Oklahoma State, Brigham Young at Oklahoma and Alabama at Virginia Tech. For the first two games, the home team should win, but we’re not too sure that the Hokies will be able to defend their turf against the rising Crimson Tide.

Sunday will feature a pair of match ups which will sate NFL fans who have to wait one more week for their season to get underway. Besides the intrastate rivalry involving Colorado and Colorado State, #8 Mississippi will be visiting Memphis. It has been decades since expectations were so high for ‘Ole Miss who must not look past the Tigers, a team that they’ve beaten each of the past four seasons.

By Monday you may have had your fill of football, but in the event that your Labor Day plans include some gridiron action, you’ll want to check out Cincinnati at Rutgers at 4 pm followed by Miami (FL) at Florida State. The Big East is the Big Unknown this year as far as who will win the conference, but we’re going with Rutgers 28-24 in what may prove to be a sloppy game. Florida State will handle Miami in the other contest, an intrastate meeting that has lost its luster of late.

Let’s play some football!

Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, like so many colleges and universities these days, has been experiencing financial difficulties. As part of their plan to reign in costs, the university is cutting back by laying off staff, trimming its academic offerings while also eliminating the university’s cheerleading team and marching band. Yes, the school that only began playing Division 1 football in 2002 and has one of the worst won-loss records of all won’t be having the two most important crowd cheering programs in attendance for its games this year.

Cheerleaders Ranked Fourth In The Nation

The cut to the FIU cheerleading programs is perhaps the biggest surprise given that cheerleading is the one sport program at the university with a consistent and proven track record.. While the football team tries to show its prowess on the gridiron, the cheerleaders have been racking up awards and are currently ranked #4 in the nation among small coed Division 1-A programs.

According to the Beacon, the student newspaper for FIU, the cuts to the cheerleading program are part of a one million dollar hit to the university’s athletic budget. The school says that they will save $78,000 by axing the cheerleaders while the program’s director says that figure is closer to $25,000. Curiously, the university plans to keep the school’s Golden Dazzler dance squad in place, a team of jazz and hip hop dancers who will be seen at upcoming FIU games instead of the cheerleaders.

Even when the cheerleading coach, Maria George, offered to coach for free, FIU turned her down citing that expenses would still be incurred with running the program. George added that several FIU bound students chose the school for its cheerleading program and might end up going elsewhere as their athletic program closes.

Fundraising And Sponsorship Sought

There is a slim chance that the cheerleading program might be restored if the fundraising efforts now underway by students raises enough money to fund the cheerleaders. FIU officials say that recurring sponsorship of the cheerleaders would help their cause, emphasizing “recurring” so that the program won’t be jeopardized again next year.

Source: Beacon News, FIU

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