Is it Too Early to Talk College Football?

 I can hear it now....come on Lou, Summer isn't even half over!!  My wife might even be yelling that at me.  College Football, in the middle of July?  Seriously??   What if I yell "Go Green, Go White" on the pontoon boat after I fly my Michigan National Championship Banner.  Oh wait, if I do that, I may get thrown off.   Ok, how about Fire-Up Chips or Roll Tide?

College Football Media Days are upon us.  The SEC, the most dominant football conference in the past two decades (oh how that pains me to say that), kicks off their media days tomorrow, continuing throughout the week.  The Big 12 had theirs last week.  B1G Ten and ACC Media days are coming next week.  Let the hype begin!  

Alabama, most certainly will be center stage.  Arguably the best coach of all time, Nick Saban, will not be at the podium wearing the Crimson of Alabama.  Tiring of the rigors and the new rules and new ways of college football off the field, he decided enough was enough.  

Kalen DeBoer, fresh from a championship game appearance as the head man at Washington in January, gets the challenge of filling those gargantuan shoes in Tuscaloosa.  Mike Elko will be at the top at Texas A&M.  Jeff Lebby at Mississippi State. But all eyes and ears will be glued to DeBoer.  Oh, ok, a few eyes may be glued to two newcomers.  You might have heard of them.  Oklahoma and Texas.  

Two blue bloods making the premier conference that much tougher.  Oh, this is going to be fun to watch this year.   Even before Texas starts SEC play, they get a monster road matchup, traveling to the Big House to take on the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines.  

What about Georgia?  Oh yeah, the Bulldogs will have plenty of bite left in them.  Many prognosticators have them as the top-ranked team in the land going into this season.  Wait, there is more.  Brian Kelly just raised his head and said, in his newfound southern drawl, "What about us, y'all?  Don't forget about us!"  How can you not get excited about the possibilities here?

Speaking of new coaches.  The defending national champion Michigan Wolverines get to welcome Sherrone Moore to the podium at B1G Ten Media days as their new head coach.  Jim Harbaugh left to take the head job in the NFL with the Chargers.  You know a lot of eyes are going to be on him.  There will still be the off-the-field accusations about Michigan lingering with him throughout the season.  Tack that on top of having the bullseye on them on the field, this will be must-watch TV.  I mentioned earlier that they get to host Texas, a perennial National title contender in week 2 at home.   They also get to entertain new members of the B1G Ten, Oregon, and USC and travel to Washington for a national championship rematch with the Huskies.  

Throw in the annual end-of-the-year matchup against Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Yes, this is quite the schedule.  Ohio State is going to be so so good.  Oregon is picking the right time to come into the B1G Ten.  They are loaded.  Can James Franklin ever beat a top 5 team and live up to the hype?  No Oregon on their schedule.  No Michigan this year.  Home against Ohio State and USC.  This sets up for them, again!  No more excuses!  Watch out for the surprise team, Michigan State.  I'm saying it here now.  Take the over on wins at 5.  

Clemson and the ACC.  Florida State are they the real deal?  Is this the make-or-break year for the ACC?  We constantly hear the chatter that these teams may be leaving.  FSU claiming they got screwed out of the four-team playoff.   Cal and Stanford in the ACC?  I am still trying to wrap my head around that.   

No more Pac-12.  I am still trying to wrap my head around that, as well.  I am still trying to figure out how they could not figure out how to keep them together.  I am still trying to figure out how they could not come up with a TV contract for a so-called Power 5 conference.  Why do I have a feeling that within the next ten years, we will have some kind of re-configuration of the Pac-12 and get rid of all this nonsense of Cal and Stanford in the ACC?   Not to mention, USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon in the B1G Ten.  

If you are a fan of college football, how can you not like the new 12-team playoff?   Home sites for the first round of the playoffs?  I can't wait to see a potential first-round matchup of Georgia at Penn St., or Florida State at Utah in the middle of December.  Ohio State hosting Texas A&M the Saturday before Christmas.  College football warm-weather teams have enjoyed such a home-field advantage for decades in bowl games, and playoff games.  This will be fun.

This is going to be such a unique and fun year.  Let the games begin!  Let the banter begin.  Let's keep in mind, though, that ultimately, this is only sports.  It is not life or death.   Don't follow the lead of the political scene in our country.  Let's keep it fun.   I am so looking forward to chatting with folks from all over the country this year on The Captain Lou Extravaganza this year on Wednesday nights at 7pm ET, live right here on https://12ozsports.com/.  

It is never too early to talk college football.  Just make sure you are maybe talking or thinking about it on the beach with your loved one.  Or next to the grill, flipping your steaks, chicken, or brats.   Maybe on the deck, overlooking that gorgeous Northern Michigan or Lake Superior sunset, you can proclaim what a great a"Maize"ing looking sunset it is, or what a Clemson-looking orange sunset it is!  Let the fun begin!!