Hanna hankering for bangers 'n mash...

Non Football Thought:

Storm tracking has come a long way... Have you ever seen a forecast that tracks a storm all the way from South Carolina to the Cliffs of Dover? Now that's a forecast. Take notes Fox 4. I don't just want to know tomorrow's high temperature. I want to know whether the rain that lands here will eventually land in Beijing, as well. The Weather Channel: "In about 13 days from now, we expect the eye wall to be over Bono's castle."

Fan on the scene

Because we just can't give you enough SMU coverage on this here blog, I'll be reporting back Saturday night on my Ford Stadium experience during the SMU-Texas State game. Will be perched above the 25 yard line, behind the home bench.

SMU home game highlights:

• The Boulevard. It's got free beer and barbecue.
• The stadium. Not a bad seat in the house, though it's only got 32,000 of them.
• The band. Dubbed the "Hub of SMU Spirit," the SMU Mustang Band is one of a kind. It's played a jazz style since the 1920s, and its arrangements are actually pretty fun. The best pieces, though, are the originals -- "Shanty Town," "Dial 'M' for Mustang," etc. Oh -- and they do a uniform change just before halftime.

Downsides:

• The fans. Get there during the second quarter, leave early in the fourth. And there are often more from the visiting team than there are on the home side.
• The lame ways they try to rev up the crowd. Every time I hear "It's time for some THIRD DOWN THUNDER!!" I get a little sick to my stomach.
• My seats. It's so much more fun in the student section, rather than on the home side of the field.

Crystal Ball Part II: Sizing up Saturday...

The weekend is upon us and the Crystal Ball has some predictions to make:

Washington gives BYU a run for its money, but loses.

Cincinnati keeps it close against Oklahoma... in the first half.

Florida absolutely crushes Miami in the Swamp, sinking the ACC even lower than it already is. Gator Percy Harvin runs buck wild.

Stanford keeps things competitive but ultimately loses against Jake's boys from Arizona State.

Bowling Green beats Minnesota and skirts the Top 25.

Wake Forest, its misdirection plays neutralized by SEC speed, nevertheless squeaks one out at home against Ole Miss.

Texas Tech plays a closer than expected one at Nevada.

Ian's gang SMU rebounds and runs up the score June Jones-style against Texas State.

Crystal Ball: The Giants are a one hit wonder...

NFL Thought:

As a proud former New Jerseyan, I'm all for NYC, the Manning family, the Meadowlands, yada yada yada. But, I'm sorry: To say that the New York Giants are anything but a playoff flash-in-the-pan is foolish. They are Menudo in pads. The Colorado Rockies of football. Michael Phelps in about 15 minutes from now. Sure, they may beat the Washington Redskins tomorrow in the NFL opener tomorrow. But is that because the Giants are destined to repeat? Or is it because Danny Snyder's team is destined, yet again, for 7-9ish?

No D-Line. No more sneaking up on people. No Manning karma.

You heard it here first from The Crystal Ball: The Giants don't make the playoffs this year.

Nintendo Stat of Week One.

Total yards: Arizona 521, Idaho 112.

Poor Idaho. It's been downhill for the state since the first settlers dug up golden russet potatoes all those many years ago.

Rankings Review, Sept. 2...

New AP and Coaches' rankings are out and USC is now No. 1, presumably because they won more impressively than previous No. 1 Georgia did. I can't blame pollsters, though. USC looked absolutely off the hizz against Virginia on Saturday, while Georgia won at home against (Insert Name of Week One Cupcake School Here).

A few other things to note:

Clemson fell off a cliff in the AP poll --- from No. 9 to that Island of Misfit Toys: "others receiving votes." Ouch, as in rip-off-a-Band-Aid ouch.

The younger-than-my-little-sister Mountain West Conference has more teams in the Top 25 (2) than the, ahem, Atlantic Coast Conference (1). Double ouch.

The Coaches were impressed with Oregon's evisceration (read: disembowelment) of Ty Will's Washington Huskies as the Ducks moved up to No. 16 from No. 21. I was impressed, too. Duck Fans: Long live your loud and structurally lopsided stadium.

Four of the Top 10 teams are from the Southeastern Conference, which as of right now is the anti-ACC, which is to say the conference actually wins non-conference games. If the SEC gets any better, they'll have to rename it the NFC West.

Some pollsters were apparently high on glue fumes when they cast ballots in the preseason. In the AP poll, Hawaii garnered one vote (They lost to Florida by 46). In the Coaches' poll, Texas A&M received three votes (They were eaten alive, digested and then spit out by the Arkansas State Red Wolves); Louisville got two votes (They have done absolutely nothing special since, oh, 2006-ish).

Remarkably, Virginia, which looked like a Kermit-the-Frog-without-the-puppeteer rag doll against USC, got 12 votes (12!) Riddle me this, what did Virginia do in pads this summer that signaled to pollsters, "Boy, this team has a chance to beat the Trojans?" Who is voting in these polls? The beat writer for the Charlottesville Is Awesome Times?

Regardless of their flaws, I love polls. Let's rank everything, I say: Coffee drinks. Hair pieces. Cough syrup quality. In fact, someone could rank grass seed and people would be fascinated (My vote, while we're on the topic, would be Scott's Pure Premium Fenway Fescue).

On the tube: Sept. 6 edition

The weekend warmup includes South Carolina at Vandy on Thursday (yawn), and Navy at Ball State on Friday (yawn). Watch that Navy game if you're a fan of the triple option. (Yawn.)

Saturday morning at the Kim house: Ted's bound to be putting that ESPN Gameplan to use, as Georgia Tech heads to Boston College. Again with the option.

Possible dark horse? My day really won't get started until the early-afternoon BYU-Washington game. You've heard it before, but Brigham Young is going to be a team to watch. Some stumbles against I-AA Northern Iowa last week, but the boys from Utah will get it together. If the Mountain West has a chance to break into the BCS, it'll be with BYU.

Listen closely: East Carolina seems to be doing its best to improve the Conference USA strength of schedule -- a win this past weekend over Virginia Tech helps, and then there's Saturday's matchup against West Virginia. Quirky note on this game: It's at East Carolina, so keep your ears open for the stadium background noise. The pirate cannon will be firing, and to rev up the crowd, the announcer dude lets out a big "Arrrrrrrrgggg!" every now and then. The ESPN crew is going to be in stitches.

Because you'd be dumb to miss it: Miami-Florida. Duh.

No need for that Ambien: Texas at UTEP at 9:15 instead. Yet another early-season dud.

Other games on deck:
--Mizzou hosts Southeast Missouri State. Way to challenge Kansas for the cushiest schedule in the Big 12, guys.
--Rice at Memphis. The Owls play an actual, real football team this week.