pre-season hype or rankings, regardless of who is responsible for the hype (in this case it's mostly national media). It's meaningless, hype doesn't win games. Personally I think this is an 8-10 win team barring key injuries with a Rose Bowl appearance as the absolute, but not likely, ceiling. Existing questions with the health of Covey and Moss, coupled with the unknown ability of special teams, OL and LB corps, are reason enough to temper the hype train. As for game 1, I expect the same thing I expect every year; a close game, and something crazy or controversial (probably involving the officials, bad calls, or someone wearing suspenders).