The first two weeks of the highly anticipated 2008 college football season has come and gone (Insert: Deep breath, relax). The first two weeks of any college football season is a lot like your first two days of class, or your first two days at a new job. You nervously over-analyze every detail and expect it to continue for the foreseeable future, when usually, it's not so. So, now, I will totally ignore what I just said. Here are five things that I have over-analyzed from weeks one and two and three things that will continue throughout the season.

Learned:

1. East Carolina is America's darling - and for good reason.

Each year the college football media unknowingly selects that certain non-BCS conference Cinderella team that deserves consideration. Sometimes the consideration is needed (e.g. Boise State, 2006 Fiesta Bowl) and sometimes its only hype (i.e. Hawaii, 2007 Sugar Bowl). East Carolina cruised through the roughest waters of their schedule (Virginia Tech and West Virginia) in back-to-back weeks and should win Conference USA with ease. Beware of a Cinderella being upset when they travel to Virginia on October 11.

2. The Big East should reconsider the adjective used in its conference name.

Coming into 2008, West Virginia and Pittsburgh were supposed to have above average seasons leading up to their annual "Backyard Brawl" as the unofficial Big East Championship Game. Pitt, though, was embarrassed in their home opener to a MAC team (Bowling Green) and West Virginia was manhandled in week two by America's darling. The best team in the Little Big East is the fourth best team in the state of Florida, South Florida.  

3. USC is not of this planet.

Supposedly, USC had plenty of question marks coming into the season. The biggest of those questions was a first-year starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez, coming off a dislocated kneecap in fall camp. How did USC handle the questions? They went across the country and made an average ACC team, Virginia, look like a middle school team. Let this serve as our warning, the Trojans are great - but what else is new?

4. Pre-season rankings mean absolutely nothing.

All summer all anyone wanted to talk about was Georgia. Then week one of the season passed and so were they, and not even by the number two team in the country. No. 3 USC jumped to the top of the polls. Tennessee was ranked 18^th in most preseason polls and even as high as 12^th in some (Sports Illustrated). What about UCLA you ask? Well they were unranked, and so was East Carolina, and we all know too well (The Great Labor Day Embarrassment) how that went.

5. Ohio State is grossly overrated.

Ohio State entered 2008 with their usual love affair with the national media, most notably ESPN. Then Chris ‘Beanie' Wells was lost to injury in week one, followed by their loss of a running game, confidence and any chance of beating USC in week three. They will win the Big Ten, which compares to another conference with confusing adjectives in their titles, but will be beaten soundly by a team from a better conference (The PAC-10, SEC or Big 12) when bowl season comes around.

Expected:

1. Tennessee can, and should rebound.

We are all aware of what happens when Tennessee opens the season in the state of California (Cal 45 UT 31 - 2007, UCLA 27 UT 24 - 2008). But you have to remember, it was week one. Think back to last year and how soundly Tennessee beat Georgia 35-14. Then by the end of the year the media were arguing for Georgia's right to play for the national title. Tennessee was embarrassed, but it was in September. Georgia was throttled, and it was in October.

2. Charlie Weis will continue to disappoint.

When Charlie Weis was hired at Notre Dame it was the second coming of the mural that over looks Notre Dame Stadium, ‘Touchdown Jesus'. Every offseason when Charlie Weis recruits Notre Dame is dubbed with a top five recruiting class by Scout and/or Rivals. It seems as though Weis has some strange skill to make top-ranked recruits disappear (The Bermuda Triangle of Indiana) much like Bill Belichick has the strange skill of destroying illegal tapes of other teams practices (i.e. "Spygate"). The "Fighting" Irish barely escaped past San Diego State University on Saturday, but don't expect them to escape the grasp of any other opponents, or the all too strange Weis' Bermuda Triangle effect.

3. The contenders take care of business.

USC plays host to Ohio State on Saturday, undoubtedly the biggest game of the weekend. It has even been dubbed the "Collision in the Coliseum." When the pressure is on, the cream rises to the top. So will the Trojans, and so did Florida against Miami in week two, and so will Georgia when they travel to Arizona State in two weeks. The contenders separate themselves from the pack when it matters most. USC will win the Pac-10 in a landslide and make Ohio State wish they had never boarded the plane bound for the Coliseum. Florida will survive its Eight-Round Title Fight that is their SEC schedule. Watch out America, and sorry ESPN, parity is no more - at least for 2008. Well, except for East Carolina.