FEAR & LOATHING IN THE MIDWEST

It's the first week of the season and it seems that it's already in the ditch for two of the biggest names in college football:

Michigan & Notre Dame.

Yes, those Titans of the Game. Those schools ranked #1 & #2 in all-time winning percentage and combined for 22 national titles.

Both are 0-1, after losing their openers AT HOME. Yes, The House That Rockne Built and The Big House aren't the same foreboding places that they once were or perhaps it's simply that the teams that play in them aren't as good as many had hoped.

With its loss to unranked Georgia Tech, Notre Dame is now on a 3 game losing streak. With its loss to D-IAA Appalachian State, Michigan is now on a 3 game losing streak.

And it doesn't get any better for either squad. Michigan gets Oregon-- a team with as much talent as App State possessed and more money from Nike than most 3rd world countries' GDPs. Notre Dame gets JoePa and Penn State--hardly the matchup that Charlie Weiss wanted.

The only good news is that Michigan plays Notre Dame in 2 weeks, meaning that at least one school will have a win by Week 4.