Three Weeks Until Kickoff!

The college football season is fast approaching, with the first games to be held the last weekend of this month. Yes, the lull from the January bowl games to Labor Day is about over, giving fans from Athens to Laramie and everywhere else a chance to cheer on their favorite teams.

LSU was crowned champion last season despite doing what no other #1 team had done previously — they lost two twice before knocking off Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS title game.

LSU Opens Light

This year, LSU starts the season on August 30th against Appalachian State (ASU), the top team from the formerly known as 1-AA division. That ASU team started the 2007 season with a shocking victory on the University of Michigan’s field, but don’t expect LSU to be caught looking when the Mountaineers from Boone, NC come to town. LSU follows up its opening contest with games against Troy and North Texas before heading into SEC play.

Early Season Tilt

With major college football now a twelve game season, most schools are electing to pad their schedules with a subdivision team or a weak BCS team in a bid to get that extra win and position themselves for a higher post season bowl opportunity. Not so with Ohio State and USC who will be meeting each other, Rose Bowl style, at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday, September 13th.

Both schools have a decent conference schedule this year with most of their toughest games at home. Whether worthy of that distinction or not, the winner of this tilt will be an early season favorite to play at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL on January 8, 2009. Me thinks that several other programs will take exception to this theory, including several powerhouses from the SEC.

Any Fight Left In The Irish?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made history last year, but not the kind of history the Irish are noted for.  Fresh off a 10-3 season in 2006, Irish faithful expected much in 2007, but got very little. Three wins to be exact and a heart-wrenching home loss to Navy. The arm of Jimmy Clausen will guide the troops this year, but it is the defense that needs the most improvement, a unit that gave up 29 points per game last season.

Sporting News says that the Irish are the #28 team on their Top 50 list for 2008 and NBC recently extended their exclusive TV contract with the university through the 2015 season. Expect the team to forget last season as soon as they take the field when they open up against San Diego State on September 6th.

Big East, Not The Least

A few years back when the Big East Conference lost its top three teams, the Miami Hurricanes, Boston College Eagles, and Virginia Tech Hokies, most pundits said that the conference’s ability to compete on the national level would be limited to only one team: the West Virginia Mountaineers. Since the Big 3 fled for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East’s fortunes have actually improved while the ACC still remains a full step behind the SEC.

This year, West Virginia is expected to shine, but the South Florida Bulls are right up there as well. In addition, a renewed Pitt Panther team should be bowl bound while UConn, Rutgers, Louisville, and Cincinnati, battle for the two remaining post season positions.  Speaking of Rutgers, will Ray Rice’s early exit to the NFL hurt the team and will the State of New Jersey find enough money to fully fund the stadium upgrade?

Lots Of Coverage This Fall

SayCampusLife will keep an eye on big time college football this fall, but we’ll throw in a few surprises including some smaller school programs and other tidbits. The season starts early, but by the time the first fall chill is in the air, we’ll have a good idea just how far some of these teams will go.

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Tags: ACC, ASU, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10, Big East, college sports, Fighting Irish, football, Louisville Cardinals, LSU Tigers, Navy, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio State Buckeyes, Pac 10, Pitt Panthers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, San Diego State, SEC, South Florida Bulls, Sporting News, UConn Huskies, USC Trojans, West Virginia Mountaineers

American military personnel who have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting a heap of thanks from this country due to an important overhaul of the GI Bill signed into law by President Bush late last month. For the first time since the initial bill was enacted in 1944, significant changes have been put into place, updates which will make it easier for returning veterans and their families to benefit from their service to this country.

Key provisions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill include the following important points:

• All service personnel who have been active since September 10, 2001 and/or who have been honorably discharged are eligible to participate.

• A housing provision of up to $2600 per month is now included for retired military personnel.

• An increase in tuition assistance kicks in; a yearly books and supplies stipend payable to the student of $1000 is also included (active duty personnel are not eligible to receive this benefit). A one time payment of $500 is given for people who must relocate from a rural area to attend school.

• Under certain conditions, benefits can be transferred to spouses and to their dependent children.

Provisions of the new bill do not kick in until August 1, 2009, with various benefit percentages granted depending on their length of service from September 10, 2001 on. Ex-military members are eligible to receive benefits for 15 years from their last period of active duty of at least 90 days.

The changes to the GI Bill have long been in the making, ending several years of frustration on the part of advocates who called for the end of partisan wrangling and for the passage of the bill. Some states and private colleges are already developing plans to offer in-state tuition rates or discounts to eligible students ahead of the August 1, 2009 start date or other incentives to attract new students.

(Source: www.gibill.va.gov)

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Tags: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, college education, G.I. bill, Marines, Merchant Marine, Navy, Post-9/11 GI Bill, tuition, US military, VA, Veteran Affairs