Must List: Week 1

Welp I blinked and college football season is already here. And thank God because we needed a distraction from freaking Deflategate or whatever nonsense Roger Goodell is up to. The first week is always interesting because you have a combination of intriguing games and non-competitive games featuring Pac-12 teams versus Grambling (Looking at you Cal). Don't let that bother you though and enjoy the weekend!

(Schedule via 506)

Thursday, September 3rd
North Carolina vs South Carolina (Charlotte) 6:00: (ESPN- Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, Kaylee Hartung): Why South Carolina is always the first game of the season pisses me off. Get all excited for the college football season and there's South Carolina and some patsy in the way. Thankfully the opening Thursday has more than these two so let's just move on.

OK State at Central Michgian 7:00 (ESPNU- Adam Amin, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Harlan): Ready for some MACtion? Of course you are! OK State is looking to bounce back after a terrible 2014 season and traveling to Central Michigan is going to be a tough way to start the year. Central Michigan is coming off a bowl game and should be pretty good again this year.

Michigan at Utah 8:30 (FS1- Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Molly McGrath): Gut feeling: Michigan wins this game, everyone gets excited about them, and then they finish the year 6-7. Utah meanwhile should be one of the best teams in the Pac-12 this year but this is still a tough game to start out with even if they did beat Michigan last year in the big house.


TCU at Minnesota 9:00 (ESPN- Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Luginbill): This is it for TCU. Expectations are high and they start the season right out of the gate against a tough Minnesota team in St. Paul. TCU has to make a statement in this game because this could be the game the playoff committee looks back on and tries to keep TCU out of the playoff if they lose.

Friday, September 4th
Colorado at Hawaii 1AM (CBSSN- Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, Jenny Dell): I'm only highlighting this game because it starts past Midnight on the East coast and at 10PM on the West coast. FOOTBALL AFTER DARK!

Baylor at SMU 7:00 (ESPN- Dave Flemming, Mack Brown, Allison Williams): Baylor is the other Big 12 team that needs to make a statement early. While SMU isn't exactly the team to make a statement against they are a start.

Washington at Boise State 10:15 (ESPN- Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich): Well this is awkward. Chris Petersen who built Boise State into the powerhouse that it now is returns to the blue turf. Washington fans need to be patient because they're rebuilding and they'll probably won't be ready to compete for titles for another two years. Boise State as usual will be good again.

Saturday, September 5th
Stanford at Northwestern Noon (ESPN- Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Jerry Punch): Can I interest in you two nerd schools playing at 9 in the morning? Stanford is looking to bounce back from a disappointing year. And yes before you ask Kevin Hogan is still on the team. Feels like he's been there since Stanford was founded.

Louisville vs Auburn (Atlanta) 3:30 (CBS- Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Allie LaForce): These early games pitting a ACC/Pac-12/Big 10 team versus a SEC team always crack me up. The SEC team always wins these games and then everyone craps all over the other conferences while giving the SEC a handjob. If Louisville had a proven QB I would give them more of a chance.

Virginia at UCLA 3:30 (Fox- Joe Davis, Brady Quinn, Kris Budden): Nothing would make me happier than UCLA losing this game. Still when UCLA falls flat on it's face this year BruinsNation.com is going to be hilarious.

Nebraska at BYU 3:30 (ABC- Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay): Welcome to Nebraska Mike Riley now go to Provo to play BYU! I still have no idea why Nebraska hired Riley who hasn't coached a good team since 2010 and hasn't beaten Oregon in eons. I guess Nebraska wants to be mediocre forever.

Arizona State vs Texas A&M (Houston) 7:00 (ESPN- Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe): ASU is another Pac-12 team that looks overrated. Herbstreit is actually picking them win the Pac-12 and play in the playoff. Sorry but I won't believe until I see it.

Texas at Notre Dame 7:30 (NBC- Dan Hicks, Doug Flutie, Kathryn Tappen): Texas is still a year away from making this a good game. Still it should be close because Texas' defense this season should be better because they're returning most of their starters. I'm looking forward to seeing red faced Brian Kelly again.

Alabama vs Wisconsin (Dallas) 8:00 (ABC- Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox): Here's another one of those Big 10/ACC/Pac-12 vs SEC first weekend game where the SEC will dominate and everyone will freak out. I wouldn't be shocked if Bama won by 14 even if they didn't play a quarterback and just had their running back take all of the snaps.

Monday, September 7th
Ohio State at Virginia Tech 8:00 (ESPN- Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox): Virginia Tech shocked Ohio State last year in Columbus so can they do it against in Blacksburg? Ohio State still hasn't named a quarterback yet but we all know it's going to be Cardale Jones who will then trunk some VA Tech defenders.

Recipe of the Week, Smoked Sausage Patties: One of the best investments I ever made was a wood pellet smoker. I honestly don't grill anything anymore because of it. I smoke everything from cheeseburgers to chicken to smoked sausage patties. The premise is simple, get some Jimmy Dean sausage, mix in whatever ingridents you want, make hamburger patties and smoke it for 2 hours. Best meal ever, especially on game days.

Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, Summer Solstice: When I went to the Reno beerfest in June this beer stole the show in my opinion. It's one of the smoothest, best tasting beers who'll ever have. Hurry up though and buy now because it is a seasonal that will go out of stock soon.