Upset Bruin?
Bob Toledo likes his team's chances of beating Bama. It sure sounded that way over the phone anyway. The UCLA coach could not be more upbeat and excited about the anticipated rebirth of his Bruins.

It's a total one-eighty from this time last year, when he'd suffered through a hellish offseason of family crises and parking sticker scandals.These days, he's refreshed and eager to show that this year's team has the cohesiveness, leadership, and toughness last year's desperately lacked.

There's been plenty of fighting in practice and Toledo is loving it. The big boys are scrapping back and forth, competing hard and making each other tougher. Now they have to show that side to the opponents.

There's only one way to prove it. Here comes the Tide. And they're bringing about 25,000 Crimson clad iron lungs with them. The UCLA locals are in danger of being drown out unless the home team's fight gives them reason to believe.

Alabama's got a long rich history of success on the west coast. A half century ago, they were semi-regulars in the Rose Bowl. One of the program's landmark victories came down the freeway in the Coliseum, when Bear Bryant's 1971 team unveiled the wishbone and upset USC in the opener.

Mike DuBose says his recruits eyes lit up when he mentioned this opener in the famous stadium. Many of his players have never been to the west coast before. Then reality hit them: there will be no extra minutes to sight-see this week. Offensive lineman Griff Redmill had the quote of the week about the Tide's Pasadena visit: "It'll be just like going to Starkville, but a longer plane ride."

Toledo is counting on the long plane ride factor. He thinks it contributed to the Bruins' upset of Tennessee a few years ago.

	UCLA quarterback Cory Paus has struggled.

But UCLA has other assets besides a westerly time zone. UCLA's skill players are healthy, finally. Wide outs Brian Poli-Dixon and Freddie Mitchell are on "a crusade" after losing seasons to injury. DeShaun Foster is back and dangerous. And the light bulb has come on for quarterback Cory Paus.

The Bruins see things on Bama's defensive films they believe they can exploit. The Tide's secondary was torched by Michigan. I think UCLA can pile up some points on Bama, if they can find a way to block super soph Saleem Rasheed.

On defense, I still have doubts about UCLA. They've changed to a 4-3 and have avoided the injury curse so far. But it's hard to go from last in the Pac 10 against the rush to respectability in a year. They have to face a Bama line that has dubbed itself "The Pancake Posse." OK, it's a little hokey, especially when you think it up yourself, but they are a decent bunch and more than a match for UCLA's D-line.

So...both offenses have success and it's a nice, entertaining game. I'll go with Bama, but I still think they're a tad overrated. An upset wouldn't stun me.

"Put Up or Shut Up" Saturday
That's what one head coach in the always under-appreciated C-USA considers it. East Carolina's Steve Logan knows that for the league to get the respect it seeks, it must continually pull upsets.

Last season, his Pirates beat Miami and Cincinnati pulled the shocker of '99 by beating Wisconsin. C-USA schools came close to other surprises, too. Southern Miss fell short at Nebraska. Memphis went 0-3 vs. the SEC, but lost them by a combined seven points.

Saturday, four C-USA teams face SEC foes. They're underdogs in all four, but have two of them at home. So, keep a scorecard handy and keep an eye on Memphis, Louisville, Tulane, and of course Southern Miss in the Eagles visit to the Big Orange nation. One of them needs to break through for the good of this overlooked league. Consideration from the BCS will never come via "moral" victories. Logan calls it "the height of insult" to pat a C-USA team on the head for coming close to an upset.

By the way, if you want BCS bashing, just get Logan going. He's the current bowl system's strongest public critic, lambasting the BCS as a "crass, cold deal... an exclusionary club that's repulsive to me." Wow.

By the way, if you're wondering who East Carolina's got Saturday: Duke. But, worry not, Logan's crew will get it's chance to show the exclusionary scoundrels a thing or two about C-USA next Thursday when Mr. Vick and the Hokies visit Greenville.That's no shameless plug for an ESPN game. It'll be one worth watching.

Cupcake Saturday
Check out this list: Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, Toledo, Kent, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green. What does this group have in common, besides sounding like a bunch of low-seeded longshots at the NCAA tournament? They are opponents of Big Ten teams this week.

I've excluded Fresno State, which is the toughest draw for a Big Ten school this week, but still a nearly three TD underdog at Ohio State.

Look, nothing against the MAC, but it's an embarrassment for a great conference like the Big Ten to have every one of its members facing teams from non-BCS conferences on the opening week of the season. It takes advantage of their loyal fans, who are either willing or are forced by season ticket policies to shell out money for glorified scrimmages. Maybe Northen Illinois will beat Northwestern. Maybe some other MAC school will hang tough, but that's not the point. These kinds of matchups do nothing for the sport, the players, or anybody else except the bean counters.

The Big Ten used to be better than that. Now, more and more schools are followers of the Kansas State scheduling philosophy. Any enthusiasm I might have about Glen Mason's revival of the Minnesota program is tempered by the Gophers' atrocious non-conference schedule. Tune in September 23 (at Purdue) to see if Minnesota is legit.

There, that's the annual, futile rant I promised.

Quick outs