It's Football Season!

Finally, it's college football season again! That means copious hours on the couch with the entire family. Yep, Wifey loves football as much - maybe more - than I do, and Moochie loves sitting on our laps while we watch football. I have a sneaking suspicion Misaki may worm herself into something more comfortable than the floor at some point too - must resist Shiba Mind Control...

If you've been at the blog for awhile you know that last season I wrote about PAC-10 football. A lot. Multiple times a week. This year I'm really going to cut it down, for a couple reasons. The first is I simply don't want to write that much about it this year. The second is I have other things I want to write about more, like food, the kids, and things that drive me crazy. Or make me laugh. Or all of those tied together.

If for some crazy reason you absolutely need to hear football thoughts from me - pretty sure no one actually cares - hit me up on Twitter.

What I am going to do is weekly put together a schedule of what PAC-10 games are on TV, with the when and what channel. I'm going to do this because frankly I can't find that information anywhere else so I do it anyway. And because I have to, I will pick winners. Don't care about the spread, I'm not gambling, so just picking winners. Last year I went 55-18 for the season, which I think is pretty respectable, so that's my benchmark. I may write little tidbits here and there, but not on any kind of schedule.

Before we get to the Week 1 games, I do have a thought on the PAC-12, which will begin next season with Utah and Colorado added to the league: I like it. I like the idea of getting bigger, I like the Pacific Conference getting a league championship game, I like the prospect of their own network (the Mountain West has one for crying out loud), and I like more games that mean something. I also would have liked it better had it become the PAC-16 with the Texas schools, but oh well.

When it comes to divisions my preference would be to have the Oregon schools, Washington schools, Utah and Colorado in one, and the Cali and Zona schools in the other. We shall see how that works out - I have a feeling they may go the zipper method like the new Big 10 is and split all the rivalries. Not sure I like that, even though the rivalry teams will still play every year. That could mean a year when Oregon doesn't play Washington, and I hate that idea.

On to the schedule - and this year I don't care about Boise State, so sorry Broncos fans. All game times are Pacific time, followed by the network and the pick. Also, the network and whether or not it's on TV is for Portland - some games may be televised regionally, so if you live in a home market, check your local listings. Rankings are in parantheses (AP, USA Today).

Thursday

8pm - USC (14, *) at Hawaii, ESPN - USC

Friday

5pm - Arizona (35, 29) at Toledo, ESPN - Arizona

Saturday

12:30pm - UCLA at Kansas State, ABC - K-State
12:30pm - New Mexico at Oregon (11, 11), Comcast Sports - Oregon
1pm - UC-Davis at Cal (NR, 43t), no TV - Cal
3:30pm - Sacramento State at Stanford (27, 32), no TV - Stanford
4pm - Washington State at Oklahoma State (42, 39), Fox Sports - Oklahoma State
4pm - Washington (39, 36) at BYU (34, 28), CBS College Sports - Washington
4:45pm - Oregon State (24, 22) at TCU (6, 7), ESPN - Oregon State
7:15pm - Portland State at Arizona State (NR, 43t), Fox College Sports Pacific - Arizona State

Yes, I did just pick Oregon State. National media is not giving Ryan Katz enough respect. I expect him to earn it on Saturday. Should be the start of a great season for the Oregon schools.

* USC is not eligible for the USA Today Coaches Poll because of NCAA sanctions.