Forget the courtroom dramas and hot doctor shows. For some of us, there’s only one soap opera worth watching: college football, a program that shows no signs of ever getting canceled. Fall means something to watch all day every Saturday.
Though some might argue for the cartoonish physiques and league parity of the pros, college football offers the only regular season that really, really matters—the otherwise antiquated bowl system at least guarantees that the entire regular season is an elaborate playoff. To get a national title shot, teams are pretty much required to survive the 12 game regular season undefeated, or at least with only one valiant loss. Several big games have already virtually eliminated some preseason favorites—most notably the surprise game of the century, Appalachian State’s improbable victory over Michigan.
So here are the must-see match-ups of 2007—assuming, of course, the App States of the world don’t first turn these title favorites into also-rans.
Southern Cal at Nebraska, September 15, 8pm. Nebraska’s thinking revenge for the blow-out loss the Cornhuskers suffered last year. Win this one, and Nebraska could also start realistically thinking BCS title bowl.
Clemson at Georgia Tech, September 27, TBA. If any ACC team other than Virginia Tech can make a claim to national fame, it will likely be the winner of this game.
Oklahoma vs. Texas, October 6, TBA. The annual Red River Shoot-out played in neutral Dallas once again looks to be one of football’s most significant rivalries.
If you’re a Florida fan, you know these chests spell L-E-A-K, as in quarterback Chris Leak, who helped the Gators win it all last year. Chances are that the visit to LSU on October 6 will be a pivotal game for this year’s Florida team.
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Florida at LSU, October 6, 8 pm. Forget last year’s Michigan-Ohio State game—in retrospect, it was LSU at Florida that ended up determining the 2006 national title. This year’s version promises to reveal which of these SEC teams is the best from the nation’s best conference.
Wisconsin at Penn State, October 13, 3:30pm. With Michigan and Ohio State at least in partial rebuilding modes, the Big Ten title could be at stake with this one.
Louisville at West Virginia, November 8, 7:30pm. Assuming West Virginia has made it past its matchup with Rutgers, this game will show which Big East team should represent in the BCS.
Boise State at Hawaii, November 23, 9:05pm. Hard for longtime football fanatics to believe that this could be the final showdown between undefeated teams—but if both schools play to potential this season, it quite likely will be.
UCLA at Southern Cal, December 1, 4:30pm. UCLA shocked the nation this time last year and kept the Trojans from a third consecutive shot at the national title. If the Bruins play as well as many pundits predict—and if USC comes in with a couple losses—the Trojans could easily return the favor.
