The 2009 college football season is here and most fans have already planned their next four months around it, if not their fall class schedule.
To give fans a guide to the best of the best (excluding all UH games, as those are must-watch in their own right), I have compiled a list of the top 10 games to look forward to this season.
10. Oct. 3: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
This Southwest Conference throwback features two former members fighting for respect and national exposure.
Most students at these schools are not old enough to remember that this game was played on an annual basis. More often than not, their matchups had huge implications on the SWC.
This is the first step to reviving the ‘Southwest Classic,’ one of the more storied rivalries in the South. If nothing else, it’s a chance to see two teams from power conferences that are working their way up their respective ladders to claim bragging rights for their leagues.
9. Oct. 24: TCU at BYU
This game will go a long way toward determining the Mountain West crown, with all due respect to Utah. By the time they face off, TCU will have played games at Clemson and Virginia. BYU will have hosted Oklahoma and Florida State.
Needless to say, they will be ready for each other, and like many other games on this list, it will be a classic struggle of defense (TCU) versus offense (BYU). Who would have thought two institutions could produce such quality football?
8. Sept. 5: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
The first of two opening-week matchups to grace this list pits Southeastern Conference power Alabama against the always dangerous Virginia Tech from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Even though this is a new season, Bama will want to show the world that they are every bit as good as its undefeated regular season run in 2008.
Virginia Tech, on the other hand, will be out to prove that its back-to-back ACC titles and Orange Bowl victory from last season were no flukes.
7. Sept. 19: Nebraska at Virginia Tech
Just two weeks removed from doing battle with an SEC opponent in the Georgia Dome, Virginia Tech rolls out the red carpet for the Cornhuskers.
This may not be the same Nebraska team that hung its hat on defense ‘agrave; la the ‘black shirts’ era of the ’90s, but it is no longer the joke it was just a few years ago under Bill Callahan.
Enter Bo Pelini, and the fans in Lincoln have reason to believe again. Virginia Tech is especially tough at home, and this could easily be a game in the upper teens or low 20s.
Expect a lot of turnovers and maybe a fight or two as the Cornhuskers look to avenge the home loss to the Hokies last season.
6. Nov. 28: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
One word to describe this game: bedlam. That’s what this series has been called for as long as I can remember, and with good reason. These teams and their fans just plainly don’t like each other.
Our neighbors to the north may hate us with a passion, but it’s nothing compared to how they feel about each other.
Led by quarterback Zac Robinson, the Cowboys look to dethrone 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the Sooners from their place atop the Big 12 South in this blood bath on the football field.
5. Oct. 31: Florida vs. Georgia
Nicknamed the ‘World’s Largest Cocktail Party,’ this game has been especially interesting over the last two years.
Beginning with the infamous ‘Gator Stop’ of 2007, which saw the Georgia players celebrate on the Gators’ logo after their first touchdown en route to a 42-30 shellacking by the Bulldogs.
The following year, Florida’s Urban Meyer called two timeouts with less than a minute left and holding a 49-10 advantage to give Florida’s fans and players a chance to do their own celebrating.
Needless to say, that won’t be the end of this back-and-forth, so the best is yet to come.
4. Sept. 5: Georgia at Oklahoma State
Here’s another BCS Bowl-caliber game in the first week of the season. What more could a fan ask for?
When these two teams met in 2007, the Bulldogs ran the visiting Cowboys off the field, winning 35-14.
Now they have to travel to Stillwater, Okla., where the Cowboys will undoubtedly have a bit of their own southern hospitality to offer up.
This has all the makings of a classic revenge game, but then again, that’s why they play the game.
3. Oct. 10: Florida at LSU
I have it on good authority that not only are these teams pretty good (three of the last four national championships), but that they also don’t like each other very much.
Anytime you have a team that plays in a place called ‘Death Valley,’ it’s a pretty safe bet that the opposition is going to have their hands full.
Florida has 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow on its side, but all the awards in the world may not help him make it out of Louisiana with a win.
Over the last four years, the home team has always prevailed, including last year’s 51-21 drubbing in Gainesville. This could be a preview of the SEC championship game, and LSU would like nothing more than to send Tebow out a loser.
2. Sept. 12: USC at Ohio State
This is the Rose Bowl matchup everyone has been waiting for, but has yet to happen.
I’m betting that Ohio State is tired of being referred to as ‘pretenders’ who play in a weak conference, and they will be out to silence the critics.
USC has been gutted in recent years by departures to the NFL, including losing its entire linebacking core to the draft in 2009.
Ohio State is led by sophomore phenom Tyrelle Pryor, who enters his second season as the unquestioned leader of this team.
Last year’s 35-3 beatdown in California will only serve to motivate Pryor and company, and they better bring theirA-game if they want to knock off a reloaded USC defense.
1. Oct. 17: Texas vs. Oklahoma
This game is usually the most entertaining year in and year out, except for the occasional Texas vs. USC of the Vince Young and Reggie Bush days.
Usually when a team wins an annual matchup, it’s not the one looking for revenge the following season, but that’s exactly the case this year.
Texas and Oklahoma both finished the season with one loss, and Oklahoma’s was to Texas. But it was the Sooners in the national championship game, thanks to a convoluted mathematical system and other factors.
The bottom line is that Texas felt it got hosed and will be out to right that perceived wrong.
And we get to watch. Like Terrell Owens said, ‘Get your popcorn ready.’
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