Can anybody pull another App. St.?

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By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer

Let the blowouts begin.

OK, not every Top 25 team opens the season with a made-to-order patsy. And surely if anything was learned from last season, it's that nothing is automatic.

However, as the college season begins with wall-to-wall football from Thursday to Labor Day, most of the Top 25 shouldn't have a problem starting 1-0.

No. 1 Georgia (against Georgia Southern) and No. 2 Ohio State (against Youngstown State) are among 10 ranked teams opening this week against FCS schools. Nine others are at least double-digit favorites.

Of course one of those games matching a ranked team against a member of what used to be known as Division I-AA is a lot more intriguing than most.

Appalachian State, which became the first team from Division I's second tier to beat a ranked team when it stunned Michigan to start last season, takes on defending national champion LSU.

Defending champs, huh. Well, the Mountaineers have won the last three championships at their level. How do you like that, Tigers?

The picks:

Thursday
No. 23 Wake Forest (minus 12) at Baylor
   Remember when Wake was the Baylor of the ACC? ... WAKE FOREST
34-14.
Saturday
Georgia Southern (no line) at No. 1 Georgia
   You know, Georgia Southern plays in same conference as App State
... GEORGIA 42-13.
Youngstown State (no line) at No. 2 Ohio State
   Coach Jim Tressel's old employer gets big pay day from Buckeyes
... OHIO STATE 35-6.
No. 3 Southern California (minus 19 1/2) at Virginia
   USC QB Mark Sanchez expected to play after knee injury ... USC
34-7.
Chattanooga (no line) at No. 4 Oklahoma
   Sooners get their running in ... OKLAHOMA 58-10.
Hawaii (plus 35) at No. 5 Florida
   Remember what Georgia did to Warriors? And that was with Colt
Brennan ... FLORIDA 58-21.
No. 6 Missouri (minus 9) vs. No. 20 Illinois at St. Louis
   Tigers won last season's track meet with Illini 40-34 ...
MISSOURI 41-28.
Appalachian State (no line) at No. 7 LSU
   No, not again ... LSU 38-17.
Villanova (no line) at No. 8 West Virginia
   Who gets to 100 yards rushing first, Pat White or Noel Devine?
... WEST VIRGINIA 45-14.
No. 9 Clemson (minus 4 1/2) vs. No. 24 Alabama at Atlanta
   Tide tries to derail Tigers' season of great expectations ...
CLEMSON 28-26.
Louisiana-Monroe (plus 26) at No. 10 Auburn
   Tigers work out the kinks of their new spread offense ... AUBURN
44-14.
Florida Atlantic (plus 24) at No. 11 Texas
   FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said Longhorns were short on
toughness ... TEXAS 60-28.
Eastern Washington (no line) at No. 12 Texas Tech
   First of several stat-padding tuneups for QB Graham Harrell ...
TEXAS TECH 58-10.
Akron (plus 26 1/2) at No. 13 Wisconsin
   Badgers bully Zips .... WISCONSIN 42-10.
Florida International (plus 36) at No. 14 Kansas
   Jayhawks won last year's meeting 55-3 ... KANSAS 55-6.
Northern Arizona (no line) at No. 15 Arizona State
   Sun Devils 10-0-1 in last 11 meetings with Lumberjacks ...
ARIZONA STATE 45-14.
Northern Iowa (no line) at No. 16 BYU
   Cougars take first step toward trying to bust into BCS ... BYU
39-14.
No. 17 Virginia Tech (plus 9 1/2) at East Carolina
   Pirates played Hokies tough last year in Blacksburg ... VIRGINIA
TECH 20-14.
Tennessee-Martin at No. 19 South Florida
   USF starts season ranked for first time ... SOUTH FLORIDA
50-10.
Washington (plus 13 1/2) at No. 21 Oregon
   Tyrone Willingham could really use upset of Ducks ... OREGON
35-20.
Coastal Carolina at No. 22 Penn State
   JoePa can tie Bobby Bowden on career wins list ... PENN STATE
42-14.
Bowling Green (plus 13) at No. 25 Pittsburgh
   Big season for Pitt; It'd be bad to start with loss to MAC team
... BOWLING GREEN 31-24.
Monday
No. 18 Tennessee (minus 7 1/2) at UCLA
   Rick Neuheisel's return to college sidelines could be rough ...
TENNESSEE 28-13.