It's that time of year again.
The leaves start turning different colors. The hot summer air turns into a cool fall breeze. Notre Dame fans tell everyone how good their team is going to be.
Yep, it's college football season, baby!
The 2006 season kicks off today with 16 games on the slate, but perhaps the biggest game of the weekend comes on Labor Day, when Florida State University takes on the University of Miami. If that 11-12 matchup isn't to your liking, No. 9 University of California takes on No. 23 University of Tennessee in a Saturday barnburner.
Here are some running subplots to look for this season:
Who takes over Matt Leinart's role as "College Football God"?
After having a senior year every college student wishes they could have, he's now with the Arizona Cardinals.
Nomination to replace Leinart: University of Notre Dame's Brady Quinn.
The Chris Simms/Chris Rix factor fans like seeing great athletes fail. Alex Rodriguez and Peyton Manning come to mind. While he was at the University of Texas, Simms was the epitome of failure in big games. Even though Simms left there in 2002, his legacy lives on. Against the University of Oklahoma, he threw zero touchdowns and eight interceptions in two starts. Against Top 10 teams, he went 0-4 in his career with zero touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.
Rix was a model of inconsistency at Florida State. He had all the talent in the world, but was a terrible decision maker. So bad, in fact, that his last name was turned into a verb last season, as in, "You don't want your quarterback Chris Rix'ing it out there." Ouch.
Nomination to replace Simms: University of Louisville's Brian Brohm Nomination to replace Rix: Oklahoma's Paul Thompson Who will hit Rhett Bomar the hardest this year?
This isn't happening anymore since Bomar was kicked off the Oklahoma team for accepting money from a bogus job. If you like seeing quarterbacks get hit hard, Bomar's your man. Last year against UCLA, linebacker Dennis Keyes came through unblocked on a blitz and knocked Bomar silly. In the Texas game, Brian Robison plastered him, forcing a fumble. Both of these hits are on YouTube if you're bored.
Nomination to get Bomarized the most: University of Tennessee's Erik Ainge.
Who wins the Heisman Trophy?
Can you believe the Fighting Irish have only one Heisman winner in the past 41 years? You can make it two in 42, as Quinn will put up phenomenal numbers in Charlie Weis' offense. But it won't be enough to make it to the national title, as Notre Dame's schedule is horrendous.
Who's winning the national championship?
Ohio State University over West Virginia University. If the Buckeyes offense plays like it did against the Irish in last year's Fiesta Bowl (617 yards of offense) that will offset the loss of nine defensive starters.
For the Mountaineers, it's the schedule. They have an easy schedule, with the only potential backbreaker being Louisville on Nov. 2. However, West Virigina was supposed to be awesome in 2004 with Rasheed Marshall at quarterback and finished 8-4.
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