10 Things to Be Excited About this College Football Season

 Are you ready? College football season is just around the corner. Hopefully you are as pumped as I am. Without further adieu, here are 10 things we should be excited about for the 2023-24 season.

10. The first game.

    I know. I know. Notre Dame against a 20.5 point underdog Navy might not be one of the best games of the season. But it will be the best (and only) game on at 1:30 pm central time on Saturday, August 26. In other words, there is something special about that first game of the season. After 7 long months of college football withdrawal, that first game always gives you that special, surreal feeling: "I am actually watching a real college football game: LIVE!"

   To put the cherry on top, the game will be played in Dublin. The 3 hours of jokes about the fighting Irish playing in Ireland will be good Saturday afternoon drinking game material, if nothing else.

9. The mascots.

    Tune in to an Oregon game to see the Duck. Tune in to a WKU game to see the hilltopper. If you watch a Colorado home game you get to see Ralph the buffalo run across the field. Hopefully he doesn't trample anyone! Broadcasts from LSU sometimes show the real Mike the tiger and broadcasts from Baylor do the same with the black bears on campus. And that's just scratching the surface of all the mascots CFB has to offer.

8. The Air Raid in the Big Ten?

Okay, Ohio State has run a pass-heavy spread offense for years now. But the rest of the conference? Can you imagine Wisconsin or Iowa running an air-raid? I don't want to make promises that are unlikely to be fulfilled, but Phil Longo is now the offensive coordinator for the Badgers. Maybe, just maybe, the air raid is coming to Madison. Moreover, Purdue has hired Graham Harrell as OC and could implement the air raid as well. 

7. The programs that are sticking with the old fashioned way

On the flip side of the coin, there will always be something to say for the slow-moving, smash mouthed, run-first offenses of college football. Once dominant, they are now a minority. But, as Socrates might have once said, variety is the spice of life. There is a certain pleasure in watching defenses designed to stop the spread trying to deal with fullbacks and multi-tight end packages. Michigan and Kansas State are two notable examples, as they both won conference championships with this style last year. 

6. Bo Nix vs Caleb Williams vs Michael Penix Jr vs DJ Big Cinco 

The battle for best QB in the Pac-12 is going to be wild this year. Everyone knows Oregon QB Bo Nix is a dark horse Heisman candidate when he is having fun. Then there is also defending Heisman winner Caleb Williams from USC. Michael Penix Jr also is coming off a great season with a resurgent Washington team. Then there is DJ Uiagalelei (aka DJ Big Cinco). He struggled at Clemson, but is a former 5-star recruit who has the talent to flourish with a change of scenary. This QB battle will not just be for bragging rights either. The stakes are high, as each of these QB's commands a team with legit Pac-12 title aspirations. But those aren't the only 4 teams..

5. Will Utah just make the playoffs already?

Cam Rising is a good QB, but I don't think he's as good as Nix, Williams, or Penix. That said, he might command the best team of any of them. It seems like Utah always plays at a dangerous level at the end of the year and is ready to whoop whoever comes out of the Pac 12 North in the conference championship. That said, they always finish the regular season with 2 or 3 losses because they let someone they should beat trump them early in the season. Will this be the year they take care of business? Speaking of taking care of business...

4. Georgia's quest to pull off the 3peat

The Dawgs are ranked #1 in the preseason by most outlets. Its hard to argue, given the last two seasons. However, a 3peat has not been done in college football since Minnesota pulled it off in the 30s. This feat would be so unprecedented that it could cement the start of a new dynasty. People might stop saying "We want Bama" and replace it with the trendy new "We want JawJaw." But Bama might have something to say about that.

3. Seeing how Alabama and Clemson rebound

It wasn't too long ago that Alabama and Clemson owned the sport. First Alabama established the Saban dynasty, then Dabo Swinney established a Clemson program that could match the Crimson Tide blow for blow for a few years. The past couple seasons, however, have seen both teams suffer disappointment. Clemson has been unable to move the ball. Meanwhile, a spoiled Alabama fanbase is steaming mad after going 2 seasons without winning a title. Both have the talent to make it back to the playoffs, and maybe even win it all. But will they?

2. Farewell tours. 

Texas and Oklahoma are saying adios to the Big 12. USC and UCLA are taking their chai lattes to Big 10 country. Then there is the mass exodus of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, and Washington. The Big XII (specifically the hateful 8) is mad at UT and OU. The 4 remaining Pac-12 teams are mad at everyone. The  I think there might be some added intensity to the Big XII and Pac 12 conference races because of it. The Big XII seems to be wide open this year. Could Kansas beat Texas in football again? Could Oklahoma State reclaim the crown its come so close to winning so many times? Will Oklahoma retake the throne. Will Texas be back? 

1. The college football playoff race slowly dwindling down. 

This is always so much fun to watch. The tension becomes unbearable, as each week you never know which teams will be marked with that damning second loss. Anything could happen, and at the end of the season only 4 teams that were strong enough to withstand a gauntlet nearly unblemished are left standing.  Perhaps the 12-team format will make the playoffs more fun and more fair, but the 4 team system makes the regular-season so deliciously intense. Time to enjoy it.