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By Andrew O'Brien
September 2, 2009
The 4:30 a.m. practices can finally be something of the past. The three month vacation – or lack-there-of – is a distant memory. Last season’s devastations are gone and the slate is wiped clean.
Thursday marks to beginning of the 2009 college football season, with a full slate of games scheduled to air on the ESPN family of networks. The more intriguing game gets underway at 10:15 p.m. when 16-ranked Oregon Ducks travels to the blue-turf field of 14-ranked Boise State Broncos. Both teams finished last season ranked in the top 15 in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today poll.
The season certainly isn’t starting off slowly either, with Saturday featuring plenty of “upset alert” games. Among those games include Georgia (13) vs. Oklahoma State (9) and Alabama (5) vs. Virginia Tech (7).
The opportunity to become National Champions isn’t thrown down the drain with an opening-day loss, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for a team’s morale.
As difficult and frustrating as the Bowl Championship Series might be, it does possess some sympathy, however. After all, the BCS doesn’t require a team to go undefeated if they want a chance at the title – the last three champions have had at least one loss – but it certainly makes the road tougher than it all ready is.
A game some fans might keep their eyes on will be the top-ranked Florida Gators taking on Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. in the Swamp. Perhaps fans will be glued to their televisions to see if the Gators can manage to cover the 73-point spread allotted to them.
Either way, this weekend should be exciting with plenty of top 25 games.
A new season is here, and the road to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California begins now.
