The calendar now reads mid-August and that means that we are just two weeks away from that first taste of "real" football. Sure, we've all enjoyed seeing some teams get back in action with the NFL Preseason underway but the College Football season kicks off on Thursday, August 28th! As a result, it certainly is not too early to take a quick look at what we might expect from some of the teams around the country. We'll continue where we left off in prior weeks as we now move on from the Big Ten Conference and this week we'll take a look at those teams without a conference home, the Independents:

Army - The Black Knights really need a home as being an independent has not really served this program well. However, the fact that they have 4 MAC teams on their schedule this season should certainly help them to "step up" a bit and we are expecting a better season from Army this year. After last season's ugly 3-9 year it's certainly hard to go any direction but up. However, the fact is that this team is destined to improve this season despite losing a lot of starters. The key is that a softer schedule will help keep the Black Knights from "breaking down" too early in the season and, as a result, this team will have a little more "staying power". They are well-coached and their strength along the defensive line and within the linebacking group will allow them to hang around with some teams. If they get good production from the QB spot (Paul McIntosh?) than this team could truly be one you'll want to invest in a number of times this season. Follow the Black Knights for some early season value in particular.

Navy - The Midshipmen won eight games last season but a repeat is highly unlikely. Head coach Paul Johnson is gone and in steps Ken Niumatalolo. He comes in with no head coaching experience and the Midshipmen lost some key players on offense. Even with an improved defense, due to a lot of returning talent on that side of the ball, we expect some growing pains with Niumatalolo at the helm. Keep in mind that Navy not only lost some of the talent that made the offense "go" last season they also lost a sharp mind that had a solid system in place! With Johnson gone, we may look to fade Navy a few times, especially early on, when we can get a fair number to go against them!

Notre Dame - The Irish are always a big story and nothing has seemed to change in that regard. One thing that also hasn't changed is that this team is struggling to get back to where it used to be. 2001, 2003, and 2004 were not winning seasons. Finally, after back to back solid campaigns in 2005 and 2006, it looked like the Irish might be getting back on track. However, a miserable 3-9 season last year, their fourth non-winning season in the last seven years, was a major step in the wrong direction. However, we feel this will end up just being one year "blip" on the screen as, the solid seasons of 2005 and 2006 is the type of season you can expect from the Irish this season. They have nine starters back on offense and seven on defense and their lettermen losses were also small. They return a strong nucleus of players and they are well coached. Look for the hiring of Jon Tenuta as an assistant to defensive coordinator Corwin Brown to pay big dividends. With so much talent returning on offense and a defensive solidified with Tenuta coming on board, plus offensive coordinator Mike Haywood handling the play-calling duties this season, look for the Irish to function more like a well-oiled machine this season!

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