Has College Football Season Started Already?

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College football season officially kicked off ten days ago with two Thursday night games between Central Arkansas/UAB and South Alabama/Southern Mississippi.  Two other games that night were postponed.  Two days later, on Saturday of Week 1, six games were played.  The most intriguing matchup of the six had to be Arkansas State at Memphis, and that says a lot.  When the first week of college football season usually arrives, it means big-time non-conference matchups that will impact each of those teams for the remainder of the season.  The first week always starts off with a bang.  Not this year.

Fast forward to Week 2, which took place yesterday.  This actually had way more of a “first week” feeling to it because unlike Week 1 where only a handful of games were played, 19 games were in action yesterday.  There were a few big teams that took the field, such as Oklahoma, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Texas, but there were no matchups that interested anyone outside a team’s fanbase.  Oklahoma played Missouri State, Clemson played Wake Forest, Notre Dame played Duke, and Texas played UTEP.  The most intriguing matchup yesterday?  You decide, because there weren’t any.

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Of course I watched the Appalachian State/Charlotte game with interest because I graduated from App State, but anyone outside of the fanbases of those two schools were not going to spend their Saturday watching that game on ESPN2.  And that goes for every single other game that took place yesterday, and has taken place so far this season.  This season sucks.

The Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-12 have yet to play a game this year.  The SEC will begin playing in a few weeks, and we don’t know if we’ll even get to see Big Ten or Pac-12 football this year.  This season, along with this year, is a mess.  I appreciate the conferences that are trying to make it happen, but from a fan’s viewpoint I would almost rather have no season at all than what is happening so far.  It’s so strange watching on tv with no fans in the stands because fans are such a huge part of what makes college football so great.  Without them getting loud, it feels like watching a spring exhibition game on tv.  But from the players’ viewpoints, I’m glad they are getting to play (the ones that actually are) instead of their opportunities going to waste.

College football is one of the things that make this time of year so special.  Tailgating, crowded stadiums, bands blaring their schools fight songs, big-time matchups, rivalries, and exciting matchups on tv all day long are such a big part of the autumn season here in America and we just won’t be getting that this year.  We’ll be getting a very watered down version of all that.  I’m curious to know how many people will still be tuning into college football this year vs. how many will be waiting for it to get back to normal before tuning back in.  Meanwhile, let’s all get pumped up for that big Oklahoma State-Tulsa game next week…

Garett