Editor’s Note: For better or worse, it’s that time of year again. Football time. So today, we resume our regular Friday feature from legendary columnist Knute Bryant on what’s coming up for the weekend, including TV times and stations.

by Knute Bryant

The list of things that could be foremost on the minds of people this weekend is long. Some of them include the Iraq war, global warming, the failing housing market, the failing health care system, and more.

But here in the South, most males - and a goodly number of females - will be thinking (What else?!) football. After all, this is the opening weekend of the 2007 college grid season.

Southeastern Conference fans have been looking forward to this weekend all through the long, hot summer as it looks to be a very interesting season indeed.

Don’t know for sure about the players or the teams, but the SEC coaching lineup is surely one of the best, if not the best, in the country with championship coaches galore. And only one of them can win the SEC title and challenge for the national crown.

Which one will it be?

The most intense preseason interest has been focused on Tuscaloosa, where multi-million dollar coach Nick Saban will begin his quest to bring the Alabama Crimson Tide back into the SEC championship discussion.

Fans will pour into Bryant-Denny Stadium by the thousands, eager to see the “new” Tide’s first game under it’s celebrated new coach. Saban’s debut on the Alabama sideline - when the Tide hosts Western Carolina - will probably be the top storyline Saturday (6 p.m. kickoff).

But Saban isn’t the only head coach in the SEC to sport national championship jewelry. The league is jam packed with proven championship caliber coaches.

Steve Spurrier, the visor-wearing head man at South Carolina, won a national title at Florida. So did current Gator boss Urban Meyer. The Big Orange, Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer, did it in 1998 when his Vols defeated Bobby Bowden’s FSU Seminoles in the national championship game.

Fulmer is the only one of the four that can brag his team was undefeated the year it took home the big prize. He does have company in the undefeated category however. Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville didn’t win the national title, but his Tigers went unbeaten (13-0) in 2004, finishing second in the polls to national champ Southern Cal.

Tuberville, Spurrier, Meyer, Fulmer and Saban - at LSU - have all led teams to SEC titles. Add to that list Georgia’s Mark Richt, who led the Bulldogs to a league title and a win over FSU in the Sugar Bowl in 2002.

Arkansas’ Houston Nutt and current LSU boss Les Miles have guided their teams to the league title game, but have yet to claim a championship.

Season openers for SEC teams traditionally feature non-conference foes of the creampuff variety. Five of Saturday’s openers - Western Carolina at Alabama, Western Kentucky at Florida, Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky, La. Lafayette at South Carolina and Richmond at Vanderbilt - fit into that category.

In some years past, both the Arkansas and Ole Miss opening games would have also been classified as “traditional” - but Troy and Memphis have emerged as strong programs and the Hogs are expecting a battle when they host the Trojans. The Rebels also know they are going to be tested, especially since they have to take on Memphis on the road.

Auburn and Georgia are both playing at home Saturday, but neither is hosting a cream puff or any other pastry dish. Instead, they will entertain Big 12 visitors - Kansas State playing on The Plains and Oklahoma State taking on the ‘Dogs between the hedges’.

The Tennessee opener will perhaps be the most meaningful of the weekend - especially for their opponent. The Vols will travel cross country to take on the California Golden Bears. California is expected to be one of the top challengers to USC for the Pac 10 crown. But that was the case last year when the Bears came to Rocky Top to kick off their season. They went back home with a licking that took them out of the championship picture and ruined their confidence for the first part of the season. Look for California to come out inspired as the Bears will try and make sure there is no déjà vu - especially in front of their home fans.

Perhaps the most unusual season opener happened in Starkville, Miss., last night. It is seldom indeed when SEC squads kick off their seasons with a league contest. But that’s what happened Thursday when LSU, ranked No. 2 nationally in preseason polls, opened what it hopes to be a championship season with a 45-0 win over still hapless Mississippi State in a game televised on ESPN.

The Tigers started slow and the home Bulldogs fans were still happy when LSU led by just 3-0 midway through the second quarter. But LSU punched in two TDs in the final six minutes of the first half and cruised from there.

This weekend’s college football TV schedule kicks off tonight, Friday, with a Pac 10-Big East matchup as Syracuse hosts Washington at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The ever-expanding college TV schedule also features a pair of Monday contests - an ESPN afternoon-evening twinbill featuring Texas Tech at SMU at 3 p.m. and an ACC battle between Florida State and Clemson at 7 p.m.

Saturday’s weekend TV lineup, other than pay-for-view is as follows:

East Carolina at Virginia Tech, 11 a.m., ESPN
Colorado at Colorado St., 11 a.m., FSN South
UAB at Michigan State, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Marshall at Miami, 11 a.m., ESPNU
Virginia at Wyoming, 1 p.m., VS
Southern at Florida A&M, 2 p.m., ESPN Classic
Wake Forest at Boston College, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC
Washington St. at Wisconsin, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA at Stanford, 2:30 p.m., FSN South
Iowa at N. Illinois, 2:30 p.m., CSS
Ole Miss at Memphis, 2:30 p.m., CSS
Arizona at BYU, 4:30 p.m., VS
Oklahoma St. at Georgia, 5:45 p.m., ESPN2
Presbyterian at Furman, 6 p.m., CSS
North Texas at Oklahoma, 6 p.m., FSN South
Purdue at Toledo, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Kansas St. at Auburn, 6:45 p.m., ESPN
Tennessee at California, 7:05 p.m., ABC
Texas Southern at Prairie View A&M, 9 p.m., ESPNU
Idaho at Southern Cal, 9:15 p.m., FSN South

Tags: College Football

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