It's the end of an era as we know it in college football. Texas and Oklahoma will take their last laps around the Big 12, while BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston take their first. The Pac-12 is set to explode next summer. And it's the final year of the 4-team College Football Playoff before the 12-team bracket changes the game in ways -- for better or worse -- no one can predict.
For now, let's be where our feet are. Focus on the process. Take it one game, one play at a time. Leave it all on the field. Or the couch. The 2023 college football season is here. It'll be the last one like it.
Pac-12, ACC take swings at the SEC. We all know how this works. When you take on an SEC team in a high-profile non-conference game, the stakes are not equal. If you win, congrats, you beat that specific team and that specific team only. If you lose, you lose to all 14 conference members. You lose to Vanderbilt. You lose to Arkansas. You aren't playing Arkansas, of course, but you lost to South Carolina, who lost to Auburn, who lost to Arkansas. You lost to the transitive property.
Of course, the SEC has won the right to this unequal scale by winning, a lot. The SEC wins a lot in January, but it also rarely loses on August or September, either. SEC teams went 7-1 in Cowboys Kickoff Classic games in Dallas, they're 16-2 in the Aflac (formerly Chick-fil-A) Kickoff Games in Atlanta, and 2-1 in Camping World Kickoffs in Orlando.
Sunday night will see No. 5 LSU look to avenge a rare non-conference loss, to Florida State last year in New Orleans. The way I see it, the pressure is all on Mike Norvell and No. 8 Florida State on Sunday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The Noles have garnered a ton of hype off a 10-3 season that saw them defeat one (1) team that finished in the AP Top 25 -- a 24-23 decision over LSU that needed three or four Tigers special teams meltdowns to occur.
On Thursday night (7 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN), No. 14 Utah looks to avenge a 29-26 in Gainesville last September. In Florida's first non-conference game out of the state of Florida since 1991, the Gators -- picked fifth in the SEC East -- are 2-12 in their last 14 true road games against ranked foes, and were last seen getting their scales gnawed off by Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Even without quarterback Cameron Rising, this should be a rare Pac-12 win over the SEC. Should.
Finally, GameDay will be in Charlotte to hype up No. 21 North Carolina against South Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). UNC leads this on-again/off-again rivalry 35-20-4, but the Gamecocks are 4-1 in games played since 2007. It's South Carolina's fourth straight game against a ranked Power 5 opponent, dating back to a closing kick that saw Shane Beamer's team knock off No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson before losing to No. 19 Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. UNC, ranked No. 13 into late November, was last seen dropping its final four games.
Who between Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler wants to grab the early mantle of QB Next In Line Behind Caleb Williams?
Coaches making debuts. The following coaches will lead teams onto the field for the first time in their lives this weekend:
-- David Braun: Northwestern at Rutgers (noon ET Sunday, CBS)
-- Kenni Burns: Kent State at UCF (7 p.m. ET Thursday, FS1)
-- Kenny Dillingham: Arizona State vs. Southern Utah (10 p.m. ET Thursday, Pac-12 Network)
-- Alex Golesh: South Florida at Wester Kentucky (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network)
-- Lance Taylor: Western Michigan vs. Saint Francis (7 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN+)
-- Ryan Walters: Purdue vs. Fresno State (noon ET, BTN)
The following coaches will lead their specific teams as head coaches for the first time:
-- Jeff Brohm: Louisville at Georgia Tech (7:30 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN)
-- Jamey Chadwell: Liberty vs. Bowling Green (noon ET, CBS Sports Network)
-- Trent Dilfer: UAB vs. North Carolina A&T (8 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN+)
-- Luke Fickell: No. 19 Wisconsin vs. Buffalo (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
-- Hugh Freeze: Auburn vs. UMass (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
-- Tom Herman: Florida Atlantic vs. Monmouth (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
-- GJ Kinne: Texas State at Baylor (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
-- Eric Morris: North Texas vs. Cal (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
-- Barry Odom: UNLV vs. Bryant (4 p.m. ET)
-- Biff Poggi: Charlotte vs. South Carolina State (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
-- Matt Rhule: Nebraska at Minnesota (8 p.m. ET Thursday, Fox)
-- Deion Sanders: Colorado at No. 17 TCU (noon ET, Fox)
-- Scott Satterfield: Cincinnati vs. Eastern Kentucky (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
-- Troy Taylor: Stanford at Hawai'i (11 p.m. ET Friday, CBS Sports Network)
-- Kevin Wilson: Tulsa vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN+)
Obviously, one of those debuts is bigger than the others. The Deion Sanders era at Colorado is unprecedented, and the breaking of precedent begins in Game 1. Colorado at No. 17 TCU has smashed the record for "Most anticipated game involving a 3-touchdown underdog coming off a 1-11 season" in college football history. That was a competition of one; no game in the sport's history even compares.
Of course, it's a stretch to compare the 2023 Buffaloes with the 2022 squad. This is a college football expansion team who happens to occupy the uniforms and the stadium of an existing franchise. Watching Fox's promos, the viewer could be forgiven for not knowing the team Colorado plays is coming off a national title appearance, is at home, and will likely win by multiple touchdowns.
What will this Colorado team look like? What will Gus Johnson say about Deion? Will Deion manufacture a controversy in the post-game press conference to distract from his team's 55-10 loss? We'll have to tune in to find out.
Additional Games:
-- Central Michigan at Michigan State (7 p.m. ET Friday, FS1): Michigan State has won 13 straight against Directional Michigan, dating back to a 29-27 loss back on Sept. 12, 2009 to, gasp, Central Michigan.
-- Stanford at Hawai'i (11 p.m. ET Friday, CBS Sports Network): Timmy Chang and the Rainbow Warriors will have two games in the books before roughly 70 percent of FBS teams have played their first game.
-- East Carolina at No. 2 Michigan (noon ET, Peacock): The Wolverines will have to attempt to beat the Pirates after taking a "baseball to the kneecap" with Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore suspended. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will have to attempt to cover the 36-point spread.
-- Utah State at No. 25 Iowa (noon ET, FS1): The Drive to 325 for Brian Ferentz begins. This story will not go under-covered by the college football media this season.
-- No. 3 Ohio State at Indiana (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Ohio State looks to run its winning streak in season openers to 24. The Buckeyes last started 0-1 way back in 1999.
-- Boise State at No. 10 Washington (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC): According to my research, the Coach Pete Bowl is the No. 2 matchup of the weekend, judging by combined 2022 wins (21). Five points if you accurately and honestly predict the winner.
-- Rice at No. 11 Texas (3:30 p.m., Fox): Quarterback JT Daniels will play as a visitor at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium for the third time, which is odd enough in college football, but it'll be his third different uniform to wear onto Campbell-Williams Field. Daniels went 30-of-48 for 322 yards with a pick in USC's 37-14 loss on Sept. 16, 2018, and then hit 29-of-48 throws for 253 yards and a touchdown in a 38-20 West Virginia loss last October.
-- Cal at North Texas (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU): Cal becomes just the second Power 5 team to play at UNT's new-ish stadium, the freshly re-named DATCU Stadium. The Mean Green are 1-0 against Power 5 foes inside their stadium, defeating Indiana 24-21 back on Sept. 24, 2011.
-- UT Martin at No. 1 Georgia (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+): A win sets a new Georgia record for longest winning streak, breaking the current tie of 17 originally lasting from Nov. 3, 1945 through Sept. 19, 1947. I wonder if they'll do it!
-- UTSA at Houston (7 p.m. ET, FS1): A rematch of one of the wildest games of Week 1 in 2022: UTSA led 21-7 entering the fourth; Houston took a 24-21 lead with 43 seconds left; UTSA tied it as time expired; and Houston finally pulled ahead for good with a 2-point conversion to win 37-35 in triple overtime. Here's hoping the rematch is half as good.
-- Washington State at Colorado State (7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network): A future Mountain West game? A future Pac-XX game? Maybe?
-- Texas Tech at Wyoming (7:30 p.m. ET, CBS): I don't have a note here except to say it's pretty neat that Wyoming gets a home game on CBS prime time.
-- West Virginia at No. 7 Penn State (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC): It's the first non-Notre Dame FBS game on NBC's airwaves since, uh, I think they used to air the Gator Bowl around 20 years ago? Big Ten Saturday Night commences with the renewal of what used to be an annual series back when both Appalachian/Upper Midwest schools used to be independents. Penn State leads 48-9-2 all-time and went 32-2 from 1959 to 1992.
-- Middle Tennessee at No. 4 Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Not quite as long as Ohio State's streak, but Bama hasn't dropped an opener since Sept. 1, 2001.
-- South Alabama at No. 24 Tulane (8 p.m. ET, ESPNU): By my count, this game pits the most combined 2022 wins (22) of any game on the opening weekend of 2023.
-- Old Dominion at Virginia Tech (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network): Virginia Tech played in 10 New Year's Six bowl games from 1995 through 2011; Old Dominion didn't re-start football until 2009. It doesn't matter. On the field, the Hokies and Monarchs are tied 2-2, with ODU winning 20-17 last September in Norfolk.
-- Sam Houston at BYU (10:15 p.m. ET, FS1): Officially, it's Sam Houston's first game as a full-fledged FBS member.
-- No. 9 Clemson at Duke (8 p.m. ET Monday, ESPN): We'll close Week 1 by seeing if I can continue my streak of falling asleep on the couch to the ACC Labor Day game for the 10th year in a row.