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Top 25 NCGs of 2007: Games 6, 7, & 8

Due to the intrusion of real life, I've fallen a bit behind on the rundown of the most interesting non-conference games (NCGs) of 2007, so you get a three-fer update tonight:

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Saturday, September 1st
Tennessee at Cal
Berkeley, California
Memorial Stadium

Tennessee put a pretty serious hurtin' on the left coasters up on Rocky Top last year. Cal will definitely be out for revenge. Will be a tough road opener for the Vols.

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UAB at Michigan State
Saturday, September 1st
East Lansing, Michigan
Spartan Stadium

I fully admit that not many people are going to be interested in this, but I am (and I'm sure Todd is as well.) UAB has had the opportunity to play David to some of the Goliaths of college football on opening day of the last two seasons. They barely lost to Tennessee (10-13) in '05 and lost a close one with Oklahoma (17-24) to open last season. Perhaps with some decent coaching, they could dust off some of the BCS schools they are habitual cannon fodder for. It wouldn't be nearly as big as their shocking victory against LSU in Baton Rouge in 2000, but it'd still be a big deal for a school with such a young program to win on the road in Big 10 country.

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Saturday, September 8th
USF at Auburn
Auburn, Alabama
Jordan-Hare Stadium

Some may scoff at this inclusion as well, but USF is a potentially dangerous team. They've beaten a Top 10 team in each of the last two seasons: Louisville in '05 and West Virginia in '06. The win over the Mountaineers was on the road too. Sure both of those teams are conference opponents, but they were still fine football teams. I still pick Auburn to win, but it might not be as easy to accomplish as some will think it is.

Other games on the list: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5