3 Things to Watch For in College Football Saturday

NEW YORK -- (TheStreet) -- The national championship chatter started in the first week of the season. Here are three talking points to consider for this weekend's college football action.

Commentators Will Really Want to Decide the BCS National Championship Matchup ... This Weekend

>>College Football Corner: Joe Pa in Bear Country

We got a taste of this last weekend when Boise State closed out its impressive Week 1 win over Virginia Tech, thanks to the cool, assassinlike efficiency of Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore in the game's waning moments. In the immediate aftermath, it felt like the season had essentially written itself, with the sports chattering class all ready to give them their tickets to the BCS National Championship game, for no other reason than the rest of their schedule looks manageable.

AP

Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore

But here's the dirty truth: No one will have a clue about the college football post season until, at least, conference play gets well under way. And even then, the last three or four weekends tend to hold the most sway in the minds of knee-jerk voters and analysts.

While the hearts of many college football fans may have fallen for the Broncos last week, the brains know well that Boise's week-one win will be a figment if more than a few top-5, undefeated or one-loss teams are entering conference championship play at the end of the season.

Still, that won't stop the hyperbole to magnify this weekend, even if it is only week two. Notre Dame,, Florida State, Michigan, Miami. It's like the college football gods (read: television sports programmers, marketers and nonconference schedule makers_ took us into the way-back machine by shining their bright lights on these former, all-world beaters.

So it's only natural that a few commentators will want to use phrases like "such and such is back," "XYZ is making their national championship dreams a reality," and "blah, blah blah can look to punch their ticket to the BCS, if all goes according to plan," in this weekend's aftermath. It'll be a fun weekend of football watching, to be sure, but let's stop pretending that we're going to be handing over crystal footballs and throwing confetti parades come Monday.

>>>Fantasy Football Stocks for the 2010 Season

But, the inevitable hype to come this weekend also means...

Someone Will Say or Write (Insert Player Here) Is Your New Heisman Front-Runner

Many are already proclaiming Moore, the aforementioned Broncos quarterback, as the leader of the way-too-early Heisman pack. But let's put this in perspective.

Last season, Alabama running back Mark Ingram didn't even appear on SportsIllustrated.com's preseason, prognosticating Heisman list. By the Web site's Oct. 12th Heisman watch edition, Ingram ranked seventh. We know how it ended.