GENERAL VIEWS ( 3rd Edition )

I want to look at the early surprises and disappointments in the college football world so far this season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL has had a few surprises so far this season with BYU upsetting Oklahoma and Washington giving Southern Cal its usual early season loss to an unranked conference opponent. The Southern Cal loss is probably not as surprising as you might think because of their recent history. It would have been an even bigger surprise to me if it hadn't happened. I was surprised that it was Washington instead of someone else upsetting the Trojans. The defending champion Florida Gators are 3 and 0 which is not a surprise, with blowouts against Charleston Southern and Troy. The surprise is we still don't know how good the Gators are because of their less than impressive win against Tennessee. The Auburn Tigers are off to a surprisingly good start with a big win over West Virginia. The South Carolina Gamecocks are about where I expected them to be at 2 and 1. They have a big test at home on Thursday night against Ole Miss. In the ACC, the Miami Hurricanes have been very impressive with big wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech. I believe the Canes are going to be a surprise title contender in the ACC race. The Clemson Tigers are where I thought they would be at 2 and 1. The Tigers look like a very good defensive team with an inconsistent offense. Clemson played their base defense for the first time this past Saturday against Boston College and was very impressive. I really expected Virginia Tech to be more impressive on offense this season, but so far their offense has been very disappointing. The Hokies have a big game this weekend with Miami. The North Carolina Tar Heels are 3 and 0 as expected, but they are a disappointing 3 and 0, as they have not been impressive, while struggling with UConn and East Carolina. The Michigan Wolverines have been a surprising team so far this season with their win over a disappointing Notre Dame team. The start of the college football season has been exciting with its surprises and disappointments and you can count on many many more before it is said and done. Stay tuned to The ArmChair Coach and we will enjoy the excitement together.

THURSDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL has Mississippi @ South Carolina..... The 4th ranked Rebels come in to Williams-Brice stadium on a mission to prove to the nation that they are as good as advertised. I personally think Ole Miss is a very good team but is definitely over-rated. I would rank them around 15th or 16th. I look for the Gamecocks to play well and give the Rebels all they want but I have Ole Miss winning the game..... Mississippi 31 South Carolina 27

DID YOU KNOW? The South Carolina Gamecocks under Steve Spurrier are 1 and 7 against top 10 opponents and 0 and 4 against top 5 opponents.

DID YOU KNOW? The South Carolina Gamecocks have a record of 1 and 31 overall against top 5 teams. They defeated 3rd ranked North Carolina in 1981.

Until Friday.