And so the honeymoon begins. For many Northeastern students the first week of school is the best time of the year. The weather is still bearable, girls are tan and upperclassmen engineers actually have a chance of kissing freshmen girls.

In a way all of us are freshmen this year – well, aside from that whole making out with engineers thing.

A new era of Northeastern athletics has just begun with the Colonial Athletic Association. The America East is like the boyfriend we left at home, only we aren’t gonna tell him to be faithful. No, we’ve already broken up with the America East and now we’ve upgraded.

Although the CAA is still a mid-major conference, the mere fact we are moving our university’s name south of New England is a huge step in the right direction. And better yet, the CAA is actually revered in a few sports as one of the top conferences, a claim the AE has never been close to.

Fall sports teams haven’t played conference games yet but here are a few things to look for in the upcoming year:

1. Field Hockey won’t win a conference title in first year.

The step up in competition for the field hockey team will be the largest out of any sport, with men’s basketball and soccer coming in a close second. However, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. With the increase in competition, the Huskies may actually be more poised to make a national title run than in any other year. The AE wasn’t the worst conference in field hockey, but the mere fact that Northeastern’s record against AE since 2001 was 24-2 with four straight conference championships to boot means the Huskies might not have been playing the most competitive teams on a regular basis.

This year the Huskies have a slate including six of last year’s final STX/NFHCA Top 20 teams. Northeastern will have a good idea what kind of post season hope it has after a brutal four game stretch in which the Huskies play host to UConn, Boston College, Old Dominion and William ‘ Mary — all of whom were ranked in the final poll of 2004.

But the field hockey team isn’t the only squad facing a tough slate this fall.

2. A new star will emerge for NU football.

Nobody in the world expects the football team to do any damage in the Atlantic 10 this year, but nobody in the world expected the Huskies to beat No. 5-ranked Georgia Southern on Saturday. Although the score would indicate otherwise, they did beat Southern at Parsons Field, however, they also beat themselves with 58 seconds remaining in the game. But their record at the end of the season really isn’t going to be all that important this year.

The Huskies are the Div. I-AA version of Temple. They face a brutal schedule including five games against pre-season Top 25 teams, three of which are on the road. But whereas the tough schedule will help the field hockey team prepare for a title run this year, the football team will be preparing for the next few years.

If you missed the game Saturday, you should be ashamed of yourself. Not only was it televised, but it was actually a great game. You would have never guessed redshirt freshman Anthony Orio was starting his first collegiate game. The 20-year-old QB commanded the huddle and led the Huskies on five scoring drives, the first two of which ended on 40-yard bombs to senior receiver Pat Graham. The QB dove fearlessly into the end zone while being sandwiched by multiple GSU defenders for another TD.

Orio will be this year’s Shawn James – a freshman whose play will not only help his team win games, but reinvigorate a fan base that desperately needs it. The kid shows the grit and determination to be a star for four years at NU, and with him at the helm, look for senior receiver Cory Parks to have another stellar year and graduate as the most prolific receiver in NU history.

3. Philadelphia will dethrone Boston as the City of Champions.

I know this has nothing to do with Northeastern, but I know there are tons of Philly fans here on Huntington Avenue. Now you can say what you want about the last few minutes of last year’s Super Bowl and the off-season circus with Terrell Owens, but the Eagles are a better team this year than they were heading into the Super Bowl, without a doubt. And that guy in green wearing No. 5 has a habit of turning off-the-field criticism into on-the-field production.

Aside from maybe Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb is the most talented QB in the league and would be a shoe-in for MVP this year if not for his #1 receiver, T.O., snagging a record 20 TDs this season. Write it down.

But I’m not just talking about football; the Flyers sure look a lot better than the Bruins … and every other team in the NHL, at that. Peter Forsberg was the missing link on a team perfectly balanced with aged vets and young studs. Guided by the leadership of one of the best captains in hockey, Keith Primeau, the Flyers will be parading down Broad Street with a shiny new trophy.

Trust me, I know that having a good team on paper means nothing, and I am from Philly, so I know how good those teams are at breaking my heart, but this is the year for Philly. Double down.

— Max Lederman can be reached at [email protected].