Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

Not bad in the picks: 9-3 against the spread (not including picking ECU to cover).

Because of the disparity in many of the matchups, it's tough to gauge most teams after the first weekend of football. But Labor Day weekend gave us enough to think about and analyze.

So what did we learn this weekend?

1. The ACC is terrible. It's really bad, and the conference champion could be an unlikely. After seeing Clemson fold like it has in years past, I'd give the edge to Wake Forest at this point. Maryland edged Delaware 14-7, UNC edged McNeese State 35-27 (a game the Heels were losing in the second half), Virginia Tech was grossly outplayed by East Carolina, Duke had its bouts with James Madison and North Carolina State has more problems than it knows how to handle. A team like Miami or UNC could make a run for the title, assuming Clemson doesn't rid the bug that plagued it Saturday night.

2. Nick Saban has Alabama on the fast track. I figured this would happen, but I thought it would be 2010 before the Tide could compete for a national title. Instead, try next year. Saban is not waiting for his young prospects to mature on the scout team and in the film room. Guys like Julio Jones and Mark Ingram looked impressive against a well-hyped Clemson defense and they're only going to get better. I think things could get a little hairy come conference play, mostly because of the youth, but the team won't be as green soon.

As for Clemson, year after year the school loses a crucial game. I chalk it up to a soft attitude there. Tommy Bowden recruits well and has a lot of good players, but for some reason, they can't translate it into big, important wins.

3. Missouri is very good. They again turned the Illinois game into a track meet and made it look like a flag football game. Washington ran at will against Ron Zook's defense, breaking tackles and creating space with superb downfield vision. Defensively, the Tigers had me concerned, but came up big when called upon. Oklahoma will once again be a tough draw for the Tigers, but the team has BCS written all over it.

4. Southern California will give Ohio State more fits than I thought. First, the defense is going to be the most aggressive in the country, and likely one of the three most talented. Second, that running back corps looks capable of anything it's asked to do. Third, Mark Sanchez seems very comfortable with his weapons at receiver. With the running game keeping defenses like Virginia (which I think is rather decent) honest, Sanchez will have time to make his reads and find the right target, as he did Saturday. I wasn't sure if the Trojans have a title run in them, but they certainly do.

5. Rich Brooks has done good things in Lexington. Kentucky's defense is an underrated unit and should keep them in a lot of ball games this year.