Your favorite college football team has started fall practice, with coaches evaluating their players to fill out position charts. A number of programs will start the season with a QB controversy, using two quarterbacks in a game to determine which one will assume the starting role and who will be his backup. The season kicks off three weeks from tonight, with 16 games scheduled. By the following Monday, Labor Day, more than six dozen contests will have been played, giving college football enthusiasts five consecutive days of football nirvana.
Let’s take a day by day look at some of the key match ups of the 2012 opening weekend:
Thursday, August 30 — Four games will start at 7 p.m. ET, officially marking the beginning of the 2012 college football season. An SEC tilt between South Carolina and Vanderbilt is one of the early games and it will be seen on ESPN.
Of note, UMass kicks off it ascendancy to the highest levels of college football by visiting neighboring UConn. Later in the evening Washington State hopes to show everyone that it has improved at it pays Brigham Young a visit. That game will follow South Carolina-Vanderbilt on ESPN.
Friday, August 31 — Curiously, just five games are slated for the last Friday of August, but there are a pair of match ups worth watching. Unfortunately the start times are just 30 minutes apart, necessitating a lot of clicking back and forth between channels. Two televisions, anyone?
At 7:30 p.m. Tennessee visits North Carolina State with both teams seeking to improve. Last year, the Vols finished at 5-7, an uncharacteristically bad season for a talented football season. The Pigskin Report says that Tyler Bray is one of the best quarterbacks out there, a point we won’t dispute. If the Vols-Wolfpack isn’t to your liking than tune in 30 minutes later to watch Boise State take on Michigan State. This game may be the best match up of the weekend, pitting two high power teams on opening weekend.
Saturday, September 1 — They’ll be several good games to take in on the first Saturday of September. Notre Dame and Navy play at 9 a.m. ET in the Emerald Isle Classic, a game that will be played in Dublin, Ireland. These two teams have a lot of history between and have met in Ireland before, in 1996.
Following the Irish-Midshipmen, there will be several games of note. At 3:30 p.m., Miami visit Boston College and Mississippi takes on Nebraska. 30 minutes later it’ll be Colorado State against Colorado with Clemson taking on Auburn in the early evening. At 8 p.m. Michigan kicks off against Alabama with that game on ABC.
Sunday, September 2 — Two games on Sunday are scheduled as the NFL doesn’t kick its season off until the following week. Kentucky at Louisville will provide a glimpse at both an in-state rivalry and at the team favored to win the Big East Conference.
At 6:30 p.m., it is Baylor hosting Southern Methodist, with the Bears looking to match last year’s break out season. They’ll have to do that without QB Robert Griffin III who is now playing for the Washington Redskins.
Monday, September 3 — There is only one game scheduled on Labor Day and that is an 8 p.m. match up you can watch when you finish cleaning up from your cookout.
Georgia Tech visits Virginia Tech, with the Hokies ranked #20 in the USA Today preseason poll. The Yellow Jackets start the season just outside of the Top 25 and can make a name for itself by winning in Blacksburg. This game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Schedule Improvements
A number of college football programs have upgraded their schedules, but there are some cupcake contests that will be played that first weekend. Without an exhibition season to precede the regular season, some schools desire to knock around a weak opponent before taking on the meat of their schedules.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
end of post idea
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
view home improvement ideas at our Photo Remodeling center
Helpful article? Leave us a quick comment below.
And please share this article within your social networks.
