If I'm married baseball, college football is definitely my mistress. And what a vixen she is. A talking head made a good comparison between college and pro football recently: pro football is like a work party, college football is like a backyard BBQ at a friend's house. Coming at a time when the Cardinals have become nearly unwatchable (seriously, please win a home series against an over .500 team before the end of the season), college football starts hot and heavy this season with some of the best matchups of the year. Opening weekend is arguably the bestsince it's the only time big programs will take the risk to play an out of conference ranked team; then it's back to cupcakes (Fordham, Citadel, Mizzou) until conference season starts up.
This season has some interesting storylines, but it will likely play out as per usual: Three Big 12 teams have a weak early schedule so they start the year 8-0, overinflating their ranking so when they play later in the year it seems like a big win (looking at you Baylor, TCU, OU), the Pac 12 gets over praised because people think it's under praised due to the games being so late (apparently sportswriters have a 9pm bed time), the Big 10 plays and no one watches because their games are at 11 am (sportswriters also don't get up until noon) so a couple of their teams get pumped up until Michigan State blows a winnable game, the SEC cannibalizes itself and haters complain that it would be a national tragedy if a 2 loss team makes the playoff, the ACC continues to exist for reasons unknown.
Despite the predictability of the overall season, week to week will bring drama, embarrassing stories about "kids" making mistakes and overcoming self created adversity, and spikes in my blood pressure when Notre Dame plays a weak opponent WAY too close. This will be the best interconference football until bowl week, so crack a cold one, pop that shirt off, blast your pecs, and enjoy the BBQ!
Tony M.
