Are you ready for some football?

 Its that time of year again.  Sharpened pencils and pointy crayons, fall air and sweatshirt weather, leaves changing colors, cider mills and pumpkin doughnuts, more D-list celebrities making a name for themselves on Dancing with the Stars*, playoff baseball, and college football.

I freaking LOVE college football.  Some of my favorite memories during college were tailgating at 702 S. Division with roommates, neighbors, friends and family.  I will be the first to admit that I forget players names, don't know enough stats, and have trouble following all of the teams and coaches (there are just so many!), but I do alright.  At least, I know enough to call-out Josh when he starts making shit up.

 Me with 5/6 of my 702 roommates before the Penn State game in 2007.  The other 1/6 was too busy living it up in Hawaii - the nerve!

There is nothing like the Big House, formally known as Michigan Stadium.  I went to my first game just days before starting classes my freshman year, and I was instantly hooked.  I only missed one game throughout college, and that was for my cousin's wedding (even when tickets to the Ohio State game were going for $400 my senior year, I held on tight!).  It is awesome to be a part of a crowd of 110,000+ cheering your team to victory - the scoreboard reminded us each week that we were "part of the largest crowd watching football anywhere in America today".  Even though we don't go to games very often anymore, Josh and I spend most Saturdays watching the Michigan game and the other big games of the week on our ridiculously-large-came-from-the-bachelor-pad-high-def-TV.  (I hate to admit it.... but it is a damn good picture.)

 Inside the Big House.  Trust me, its a BIG house.  And yes, I somehow managed to get us front row seats in the alumni section for this game.  I am awesome like that (sometimes).

I play in a College Pick 'Em league on ESPN, and I don't remember exactly how high I've finished, but I'm in the top third every year anyways.  Each week ESPN picks 10 games, and you pick the winners and rank each pick in order of confidence from 1-10.  If you get this pick right (straight up, not against the spread), you get the number of points of your confidence ranking.  If you get the pick wrong, zero points.  I also participate in a Michigan alumni pool where you pick the winners of games involving the Top 25 teams each week, but I never expect to have a chance at actually winning that one since over 1,000 people play it.

I figured I would go ahead and post my picks here each week (after they are "locked" so Josh can't copy me), and then update with the results for the week.  Hey, my life just isn't that exciting and I spend a couple hours on Friday evening / Saturday morning doing my research to put this together, so I might as well share it.

Without further ado, my Week 1 picks:

10 pts: USC over Minnesota

9 pts: South Carolina over East Carolina

8 pts: Auburn over Utah State

7 pts: Michigan over Western Michigan

6 pts: Hawaii over Colorado

5 pts: Boston College over Northwestern

4 pts: Oregon over LSU

3 pts: UCLA over Houston

2 pts: BYU over Ole Miss

1 pt: Boise State over Georgia

UPDATE: I got 43 points, good enough for 6th place (out of 13), so middle of the pack.  But dammit... Josh is in second.... 

*Seriously, Elisabetta Canalis's credentials were described on one website as George Clooney's ex-girlfriend.  Umm, so that's whats makes her famous?  The truth is, I have idea who this chick is or what she has done except for dating GC.