Start The Party
Posted August 27, 2006, 9:44 PM ET

The Dog-Days are over; it is finally the time we've been waiting for...the 2006 college football season is here. There are times when June and July feel like they will never end, but it is time to enjoy the football, tailgating and an awesome lineup of football.

While the NFL and its owners have one more week to rip off their fans and the general public with another painful display of preseason football...the college football season gets cranked up this week with Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks in an SEC game in Starkville.

I know that the high school football season is underway, and even Johnson C. Smith snapped their 24-game losing streak by winning their opener over the weekend...but this week marks the official start of the football season.

I watched ESPN's College GameDay preview show (my favorite show on the network), and it instantly got me in the mood for the season. The one-hour show was followed up by a nationally-televised high school game that involved Byrnes High School (Duncan, SC).

Even ESPN has an itchy trigger finger...they're now televising high school football games....thirteen this season, to be exact. I did happen to catch Willy Korn, the Byrnes quarterback, who has been tabbed as one of the best in the country. Despite the 3 INT's, he showed remarkable poise, touch and smarts that make him a big-time catch for Clemson's Tommy Bowden.

We can get into a debate on whether high school games should be televised nationally, but there is no debating the magnitude of college football and the impact it has on all of us. What should make the college season so fun is that it is wide-open at the top. You can easily make a case for such typical bluebloods as Ohio State, USC, Texas, Notre Dame, etc...But don't count out a team like West Virginia; the schedule sets up perfectly for the Mountaineers and they don't have to worry about a season-ending conference title game in the Big Least.

In the Carolinas, there are tons of storylines. Tobacco Road looks devoid of any team that can be a factor in the ACC....and coaches like Chuck Amato and John Bunting are looking to put their programs over the hump in the 8+ win plateau....anything in the 6-win range (or less) will put either coach on the infamous 2007 "hot seat" list. Wake Forest has a ton of starters back, and Jim Grobe's scheme will cause problems (ask Tommy Bowden). Duke will stink, but nobody will care.

East Carolina has tons of momentum from the end of the '05 season, and Skip Holtz has the Pirate Nation absolutely believing that the program is on the right track....Perhaps the best program in the state resides in the NC mountains. Appalachian State is the defending 1-AA champion, and they are the preseason pick at the top of the poll. They are also opening the season in Raleigh against the Wolfpack.

The Palmetto State is on fire. The Clemson Tigers have been tabbed by various national publications as an ACC dark horse and a solid Top 20 team for 2006. With seventeen returning starters, the hype of Tiger football is as strong as ever. We'll see if Will Proctor, the fifth-year senior, can take over the quarterback spot and win big on the road....Clemson must play at BC, Florida State, Virginia Tech....and at Wake Forest. If the Tigers can win big away from Death Valley, they will be playing in a BCS game.

The Gamecocks are primed for another good year, too. The schedule works out perfectly for Steve Spurrier's second Columbia squad. Other than a trip to the Swamp, the Cocks will be playing most of their big conference games in the comfort of wild Williiams-Brice Stadium. Blake Mitchell will have another year to absorb Spurrier's system and WR Sidney Rice is one of the best in the business....it should be a blast in the entire state all season long.

While all this is going on, the Carolina Panthers have one more week to get the kinks out before they open their NFL season. I don't need to remind the team or anybody else of the projections and expectations of the Panthers....it is "Super Bowl or bust" for almost every media member and Panther employee....sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two.

It all adds up to one great football season...let the games begin.