Oregon vs. Boise State, 7:15 today. (AP photo)
Today is the first day of fall. Maybe not on your wall calendar, but in the sports world, fall means football, and today marks the opening day of the college season. And in a departure from the typical season-opening mismatches that top NCAA schools love so much (yeah, how do you think Charleston Southern will do against Florida?), there are actually a handful of great matchups this holiday weekend. So grab a brewski, work a good butt-groove in your couch and settle in.
Things technically kick off at 4 p.m. today on ESPN with South Carolina vs. North Carolina State. But seriously, does anyone west of Charlotte give a hoot? The real action starts at 7:15 on ESPN when Oregon takes on Boise State in a Wild West shootout that could have national title implications. Both teams have their eyes on a BCS bowl, and the loser will have a much tougher path to get there. Warning, you might want to wear sunglasses for this one — Oregon will bring their horrid green and yellow unis to the shockingly blue turf of Boise. Should be a fun, high-scoring affair and is probably the highlight of the weekend.
Other games of note:
Nevada at Notre Dame (12:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC). Are the Fighting Irish back on the road to respectability? Nevada’s a decent team, so we’ll find out quickly.
Georgia at Oklahoma State (12:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC). Perhaps the second-best game of the weekend. Oklahoma State is getting a ton of hype as a national title contender, but Georgia is no pushover.
BYU vs. Oklahoma (4 p.m. Saturday, ESPN). BYU’s good, but not that good. Still, this game should rack up about 700 yards of passing between the two teams.
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (5 p.m. Saturday, ABC). Two of the nation’s best defenses square off.
Miami at Florida State (5 p.m. Monday, ESPN). Two once-proud programs looking to regain respect. This would have been a much better game 10 years ago.
And on the local front:
San Jose State at USC (12:30 p.m. Saturday, CSN-BA). This will be ugly.
Stanford at Washington State (3 p.m. Saturday, FSN Northwest). Unless you have satellite or some crazy sports package, you won’t get this game. You probably won’t be missing much.
Maryland at Cal (7 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2). Cal has a Heisman contender in the electrifying Jahvid Best. If the Bears have Rose Bowl dreams, they’d better not lose to a middle-of-the-pack team like the Terps.
