:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47083014/usa-today-8333562.0.jpg)
Buckle up everyone. Today is the first day of the rest of your CFB lives.
The opening weekend of college football is generally just a chance to see what each team has, a buildup to the excitement of conference play. This weekend's match-ups don't really deviate too much from the mean. There are sure to be a lot of blowouts and a few, actual, good games.
The bout between Alabama and Wisconsin is obviously the highlight. Wisconsin is sure to be a good team, but after what happened to them in the Big 10 Championship game, they are going to have to show me something before I will give them much credit towards being a potential top 10. I'm gonna have to go into this saying that Alabama wins it without too much trouble.
What does make this interesting, at least for us in the Lone Star State, it that we have two unranked, but very good Texas teams playing against top-15 opponents. No. 15 Arizona State vs Texas A&M promises to be exciting just based on the fact that the Aggies are always up for a good shootout, and a Pac-12 team like ASU is the perfect opponent to deliver some excitement. The Pac-12 South, like the SEC West is stacked, and while I don't see TAMU pulling off this upset, they surprised us last year against the Gamecocks didn't they?
Notre Dame is really always difficult to judge. They come into every year highly ranked (No. 11 this year), and almost always don't live up to the hype. But they are a perennial CFB powerhouse, and because of their schedule they have a chance to make waves every season. Texas's defense this year will be a bear, and if they can keep things close, maybe they have a chance to pull off the upset. Ultimately, I don't see either team winning, but there was a lot I didn't see last year too. We have a lot of college football ahead of us, and just as many questions that need answered.
Let's get to it.
Here's the full schedule of games:
CBSS
Colgate
Navy
ESPNN
Rutgers
ESPNU
Maryland
BTN
Iowa
FSN
Kansas
SECN
(17) Mississippi
(9) Georgia
ESPN
(21) Stanford
Northwestern
ESPN3
(12) Clemson
Pittsburgh
Boston College
PAC12
Washington State
Miami (OH)
Buffalo
Penn State
ABC
BYU
Nebraska
Air Force
FOX
Virginia
(13) UCLA
Texas Tech
CBS
Louisville
(6) Auburn
UTEP
(18) Arkansas
Indiana
(25) Tennessee
(24) Missouri
Cal
NC State
Miami (FL)
Cincinnati
(19) Oklahoma
(15) Arizona State
Texas A&M
Kentucky
Kansas State
West Virginia
NBC
Texas
(11) Notre Dame
(14) LSU
Florida
(10) Florida State
Iowa State
Wisconsin
(3) Alabama
(7) Oregon
FS1
Mississippi State
(8) USC
Purdue
(1) Ohio State
Virginia Tech