The 2010-11 College Football Season Begins Today
The moment that college football fans have been waiting nearly 240 days for is finally here. The 2010-11 college football season officially begins this evening when Wake Forest plays host to Presbyterian at 6:30 PM EDT. Fans from Eugene, OR, to State College, PA, will be proudly wearing their colors, and school flags will be waving from cars like Sabal Palm trees on I-95 as thousand of fans make their annual pilgrimage to college towns throughout the nation. As of today, everyone is undefeated. One hundred and twenty Division I teams are starting fresh with the hopes of playing in Glendale, AZ, in the 2011 BCS National Championship game on January 10, 2011.
There is no shortage of story plots this season as fans witnessed arguably the most eventful college football off-season this summer. While college students arrive on their campuses this first week of September for the first time, and face the fear of the unknown, they are not alone. New faces of coaches will be roaming the sidelines on Saturdays in places such as Knoxville, TN, Lawrence, KS, and Lubbock, TX. Stagnant fanbases have become rejuvenated and optimistic with the hiring of new coaches. Fightin’ Irish fans nationwide wait eagerly with baited breath to see if new head coach Brian Kelly can return their program to prominence and significance. After suffering dismal seasons for the past few years, Florida State fans anxiously await the beginning of the Jimbo Fisher era. Twenty-three new coaches have new universities and will be charged with the task of winning, or else meet the same fate as their predecessors. Meanwhile, fans in Baton Rouge, LA, College Park, MD, Athens, GA, and Ann Arbor, MI will be logging onto www.FireMiles/Friedgen/Richt/Rodriguez.com by week three of the season if they’re not satisfied with the performance of their teams.
Many unknown faces will become household names by season’s end. Penn State will start its first true freshman at quarterback since 1992 this Saturday. This time last year he was renting his suit for the high school homecoming dance; next week he will travel to Tuscaloosa, AL, and perform in-front of 98,000 hostile opposing fans. Alabama’s Mark Ingram can become the first two-time Heisman Trophy winner since Archie Griffin. Nebraska‘s and Colorado’s final season as members together of the Big XII conference will be bittersweet. Both school’s have agreed to leave the Big XII for the Pac-10 and are sure to make their last season together in the Big XII memorable. Florida State bid an emotional farewell to Seminole, and college football great, Bobby Bowden, and Texas bid adieu to college football’s all-time most winningest quarterback. However, what makes college football so great, is the fact that while one may become attached to a particular player for a couple of years, another one comes along to fill his place. And not surprisingly, we find ourselves doing it all over again.
Regardless of where your allegiances lie, we can all admit to being avid college football fans. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the four month ride that you are about to go on. Best of luck to your team and we’ll see you in Glendale.
