10---Kentucky at Louisville, Aug. 30
UK's win over Louisville in the rivalry game was the jumping off point for its big season, while it set the wheels in motion for a rough first campaign for Steve Kragthorpe. The Cardinals had better win their season opener, especially after beating the Wildcats four times in a row before last year, or else the seat will get really, really warm under Kragthorpe's bump

9---Kansas at South Florida, Sept. 13
This is the prove-it battle that would've been a blast in the middle of last October. Yes, Dorothy, Kansas is playing a real, live non-conference game. For everyone wondering if the Jayhawks are the real deal after last year's shocking campaign, this game will show it. This is South Florida's shot to show off on a game of national importance and a chance to give the Big East a big win

8---Arkansas at Texas, Sept. 13
Bobby Petrino, welcome to the old Southwest Conference days and your first really, really big game since leaving Louisville. He'll get a chance to tune up against Western Illinois and UL Monroe, and then reality sets in against the Longhorns, Alabama, Florida, at Auburn and at Kentucky, making this almost a must-win to get a little momentum going. A win for Mack Brown and Texas would likely mean a 4-0 start before dealing with the Big 12 season

7---Cincinnati at Oklahoma, Sept. 6
The two teams combined for 21 wins last season, with each hitting the double-digit mark. OU will get the Fiesta Bowl taste out of its mouth with an obliteration of UT-Chattanooga, but it had better be ready to face the defensive pressure of a Brian Kelly program looking to make a national splash

6---Alabama vs. Clemson (in Atlanta), Aug. 3
Every once in a while, a non-conference game is just plain interesting. If Clemson is the power team it's supposed to be, it keeps the Alabama four-game regular season losing streak going. If Nick Saban's Tide program is ready to turn a corner, this would be a nice time to do it. The fan base is already nuts after one of the nation's best recruiting classes, and a win over the Tigers would send expectations through the roof. The Tide won the last meeting between the two 56-0 in 1975 and has won the last 11

5---Virginia Tech at Nebraska, Sept. 27
A rematch of the 1997 Orange Bowl, a 41-21 Husker win, it's also the first real test for Bo Pelini after starting out with Western Michigan, San Jose State and New Mexico State. With Missouri and at Texas Tech to follow, the Huskers can't afford a loss. This is the second road trip for Tech in a nasty stretch of four road games in five dates

4---Tennessee at UCLA, Sept. 6
If the hoops teams if they play in March, will the showdown on the football field take a back seat? Tennessee got blasted at Cal in last year's opener in the first road trip against a Pac 10 team since a 30-24 win over UCLA in 1997. The Vols get a tune-up against UAB while UCLA has to get by a nasty first game against Fresno State. Beating the Bulldogs will be better than it might appear, if Rick Neuheisel can pull it off, but a win over Tennessee would really get the Bruin crowd moving. These two used to play all the time in the mid-80s and early 90s, but this battle will have even more intrigue than some of those classics

3---Georgia at Arizona State, Sept. 20
Alright Georgia, if you're really a national title contender, prove it. The Dawgs will be coming off a nasty SEC road opener against South Carolina while ASU gets three tune-ups. It's very likely Dennis Erickson's club could be playing two of the top three ranked teams in the span of a few weeks facing the Dawgs and going to USC, with a trip to Cal in between. Georgia hasn't faced a Pac 10 team since beating Oregon State 41-7 in early 1987, while ASU played an SEC just a few years ago when a road trip to LSU got moved to Tempe, thanks to the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, with the Tigers winning 35-31 in the final moments

2---Auburn at West Virginia, Oct. 13
One team has mastered the spread attack, and the other is just starting to figure it out. If Auburn had Pat White, where would it be ranked? As is, West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart gets a shot to come up with a big, big win that would prove his program is among the elite of the elite. This is Auburn's toughest road test by far until ending the year at Alabama.

1---Ohio State at USC, Sept. 13
It's the epic matchup of superpowers you really wanted to see over the last few seasons, and it could've been the 2007 BCS Championship game if the Trojans hadn't gagged against UCLA. These two have played each other in a slew of recent Rose Bowls, right? The last game between the two was in 1990, with USC winning 35-26. The last Rose Bowl matchup was in 1985, and the last Buckeye win over the Trojans came in the 1974 Rose Bowl. The winner will likely be the nation's No. 1 team, or at least No. 2, with full control of its national title destiny

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It may be true that you can't fool all the people
all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a
large country. -- Will Durant