Later this afternoon, I'm flying from Chicago to Atlanta for the ND-GT game. Then Saturday morning, the fun begins: College GameDay is broadcasting live from Tech campus starting at 10:00 AM ET and the game doesn't kickoff until 8:08 PM ET, so it will be a marathon start to the college football season for me. It will be my 174th college football game for which I've been in attendence. But it will be my first time ever seeing Georgia Tech, and consequently, my first game at Bobby Dodd Stadium in downtown Atlanta.

Expectations of Notre Dame are higher than they've been in over a decade. I have the Irish ranked #1 in my preseason Top 25. But, are the Yellow Jackets capable of stunning the Irish in the opener? While Calvin Johnson is an All-American wide receiver, quarterback Reggie Ball is just too erratic and the Jackets' secondary is thin and inexperienced. Brady Quinn should have a field day throwing the ball downfield to Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight.

My Pick: Notre Dame 42 - Georgia Tech 13