Ok so now we get the REAL first week of games. None of that Dublin showmatch kinda energy, the big boys are here to play. Of course the biggest thing the big boys are playing at this week is the game of finding a friendly judge to issue an injunction or a stay or otherwise interfere with what is nominally an amateur sports league. Fun times.
UCLA @ Cal - 9:30 PM CT - Is it strange that this is a B1G vs ACC cross conference game? Yes. Am I watching it? You better believe it. UCLA and Cal are eternal wildcards and they’re both in peak spooky form. Cal has fresh head coach and is coming off a season where they alternated between electric upsets and headscratching collapses. UCLA fired their head coach halfway through last season and are captained by the predictably unpredictable Nico Iamaleava. These two have a bitter history of sneering and sniping, including “Calimoney”. Oh yeah and sundown is 2 minutes after kickoff. Peak college football right here.
Clemson @ 11 LSU - 6:30 PM CT - This is shaping up to be a bit clash of civilizations. On the one side there is Lane Kiffin, who is, as he always has been, the human embodiment of everything wrong with college football. He flouts the rules, he flirts with coeds, he taunts the media, and worst of all we can’t stop loving him. This season the controversy of note is LSU’s announced intention to re-admit players who declared for the NFL draft and signed contracts and then got cut, a move that has long been considered obviously unpermissible and is now working its way through both state and federal court. Squaring up against the prodigal son is college football’s grumpy dad, Dabo Swinney. He’s a bit churchy, he sticks his foot in his mouth on the record, he refuses to adapt to change, and we’re forced to admit that he’s pretty good at what he does. The champion of the old fashioned up against cocky crown prince gets the primetime slot to nobody’s surprise.