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Capsule previews of this weekend's season-opening college football games.
All times Eastern and all rankings Associated Press.

SATURDAY:

MIAMI of OHIO (0-0) at No. 4 FLORIDA (0-0), Noon, ESPN.

Favorite: Florida by 34.

Coaches: Mike Haywood (1-11 in second year at Miami) and Urban Meyer (57-10 in 6th year at Florida).

I used to make fun of "old-timers" who would shake their heads at the sight of progress -- or at least how we younger folks defined progress. What they thought was ridiculous we thought was simply the way things were.
Well, now that I'm getting closer to "old-timer" status myself I'm starting to shake my head, too.

Fueled by the passion that fires the big engines that do and all those little engines that think they can, millions of stir crazy college football fans are geared up for another exhilarating climb to the summit of Bowl Championship Series Mountain.

It can be pretty nerve-wracking, especially if your team is in the lead pack approaching the summit.

Ed "The Sheik" Farhat was hard-core long before Extreme Championship Wrestling unleashed its own brand of brutality in the early 1990s.

A reminder of the late Farhat's influence on pro wrestling comes in the form of a recently released DVD documentary. "The Sheik -- Wrestling's Greatest Villain" delves into what made Farhat the ultimate heel during his 49-year grappling career.

Capsule previews of Thursday and Friday's season-opening college football games. All times Eastern and all rankings Associated Press.

SOUTHERN MISS (0-0) at SOUTH CAROLINA (0-0), 7:30, ESPN.

Favorite: South Carolina by 14 .

Coaches: Larry Fedora (14-12 in third year at Southern Miss) and Steve Spurrier (35-28 in sixth year at South Carolina).

College football season cranks up this week. Will Florida thrive without Tim Tebow? Will USC fall apart? Can Alabama successfully defend its national championship?

We try to answer those questions and more with our quick three-way tour around the nation.

LOS ANGELES - The University of Southern California was barely into its August practices when new coach Lane Kiffin revealed that prize freshman tailback Dillon Baxter would miss the opening game at Hawaii for breaking team rules.

"I've made some mistakes," Baxter conceded contritely then in his first meeting with reporters. "Now I've got to pay for it."

History reminds us of elite tennis players who never quite adjusted to clay courts, or who were eternally confounded by grass. The mind flashes back to John McEnroe and Pete Sampras at the French Open, or Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin likes to use fancy words. This summer, "clarity" has been a popular choice for him, as in, "We're striving to find clarity with our quarterback position." There's only one problem. Tomlin doesn't appear to understand what the word means.

As teams open their 2010 seasons this week, many will rely on true freshmen like never before.

At USC, Robert Woods will become the first true freshman ever to start an opener at wideout for the Trojans.