It's not a coincidence that winter weather blanketed much of the country this week. Sub-zero temps in the Midwest, a full-on blizzard in Buffalo, even single digit temps here in SEC country.
The beginning of meteorological winter? No, my friends, that was God taking a vacation after His favorite sport wrapped up last Monday.
College football's offseason lasts eight long months, but it's getting shorter.
We'll have real-deal games in August this year and, this time a year from now, we'll still be three days out from the 2024 national title game.
The 2024 will be unlike anything we've seen before: the Red River Rivals in the SEC, LA as Big Ten Country, the Atlantic Coast stretching to the Bay Area, and the Big 12 map stretching from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rockies, all of it building toward a 12-team Playoff.
December and January will be a new frontier, but August through November will give us plenty of intriguing games to watch until then. (All rankings via the ESPN way-too-early Top 25.)
WAIT, THAT'S A CONFERENCE GAME?
7. UCLA at Rutgers (Oct. 19)
This game was the obvious endpoint arrived at when pointing out the absurdity of the LA schools joining the Big Ten two summers ago, so props to the Big Ten for leaning into it early. Yes, UCLA really is traveling 2,700 miles and three time zones for a conference game. This is indeed happening.
6. No. 16 Florida State at No. 24 SMU (TBA)
There are three meetings of 2023 conference champions in the 2024 season. One is now a Big Ten game, another comes in the form of a non-conference matchup, and this is the third, an ACC intraconference contest.
5. No. 12 Penn State at USC (Oct. 12)
This is the midpoint in a 7-week stretch that will see USC visit Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington, and host Wisconsin, Penn State and Rutgers.
4. No. 4 Alabama at No. 15 Oklahoma (Nov. 23)
Instead of a glorified scrimmage the week before the Iron Bowl, the Tide gets a visit to Norman. As for OU, the Sooners close their first SEC season with five preseason top-15 teams in eight weeks, and Alabama is the only one that comes to Norman -- vs. No. 2 Texas in Dallas, at No. 7 Ole Miss, at No. 8 Missouri, and at No. 14 LSU.
3. No. 6 Michigan at No. 11 Washington (Oct. 5)
A rematch of last season's national championship game, in name only. Jedd Fisch did not coach Washington to the 2023 title game, and we'll see if Jim Harbaugh makes the trip to Seattle with the Wolverines.
2. No. 5 Ohio State at No. 3 Oregon (Oct. 12)
Next to Georgia, no one will enter the fall with better national title odds than the Buckeyes and the Ducks. It's possible this is the first of two meetings, or perhaps three.
1. No. 1 Georgia at No. 2 Texas (Oct. 19)
The week after playing Oklahoma in Dallas, Texas returns home to face the consensus No. 1 team in the country. Welcome to the SEC. As if Georgia's first visit since 1958 isn't enough, there's also a Formula 1 race in Austin that same weekend. If you don't have a hotel room now, it's probably already too late.
WAIT, THAT'S A NON-CONFERENCE GAME??
3. No. 9 Arizona at No. 21 Kansas State (Sept. 14)
The speed at which the dominoes fell last fall left Arizona and Kansas State unable to unwind their home-and-home now that they're Big 12 bunk mates. K-State AD Gene Taylor said in September it would remain a non-conference game, but at last check that wasn't officially official, partially because the Big 12 has so many non-conference games between conference opponents now on its books (Baylor at Utah is another one this season). We're still waiting on the Big 12 conference schedule, so the Wildcat Bowl may count toward the Big 12 standings and it may not.
1b. No. 3 Oregon at Oregon State (Sept. 14)
1a. No. 11 Washington vs. Washington State at Seattle's Lumen Field (Sept. 14)
Oregon and Oregon State have played annually since 1894; they've been playing so long, no one knows exactly what day the 1895-97 games occurred. The Apple Cup was born with a 5-5 tie in 1900.
Who knows how long these games continue, but let's give thanks they'll survive at least through 2025 (Civil War) and 2028 (Apple Cup).
NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
13. Arkansas at No. 18 Oklahoma State (Sept. 7)
These teams, just three hours apart, played consistently from the 1940s through the 70s (almost always in Little Rock), but haven't met at all since 1980. Put it this way: this'll be the 47th time the Cowboys have attempted to corral the Razorbacks, but only the 10th in Stillwater.
12. UCF at Florida (Oct. 5)
Florida AD Scott Stricklin recently denied Billy Napier enters Year 3 on the hot seat. We'll see what tune he's singing if the Gators manage to lose this game.
11. UCLA at No. 14 LSU (Sept. 21)
LSU gets the unique pleasure of playing both LA teams in September. See below.
10. West Virginia at Pitt (Sept. 14)
9. No. 12 Penn State at West Virginia (Aug. 31)
If I was your college football czar, these would be annual Big East games. As it is, we'll consider ourselves lucky the Big 12 Mountaineers found time for their Big Ten and ACC neighbors. It's the Nittany Lions' first trip to Morgantown since 1992.
8. Colorado at Nebraska (Sept. 7)
After getting trounced in Boulder last season, former-rival Colorado's visit will be an opportunity for Matt Rhule to show how much the Huskers have grown in a year's time, and it's probably the nation's first look at Dylan Raiola as well.
7. No. 17 Tennessee vs. No. 20 NC State at Charlotte (Sept. 7)
A meeting of 9-game winners from 2023, and our first true look at the Vols with Nico ImaIamaleava at quarterback.
6. Miami at Florida (Aug. 31)
This game will have a postseason type atmosphere on opening day. Either Billy Napier will be 11-15 with a 6-game losing streak, or Mario Cristobal will be 12-14 with one win in his last six outings. No pressure, guys.
5. No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin (Sept. 14)
Alabama started playing non-conference road games again of late, visiting Texas in 2022 and South Florida last season. The Tide nearly lost both games. So this visit North -- their first since 2011 at Penn State, and their first to Madison since 1928 -- should give us some interesting football theater.
4. No. 10 Notre Dame at Texas A&M (Aug. 31)
No soft launches for the Mike Elko era. The new Texas A&M head coach begins his tenure against a program he spent 2017 working for, as Brian Kelly's defensive coordinator. The '24 campaign will also see A&M's biggest rivals (LSU and Texas) come to Kyle Field, so this is an opportunity for Elko to establish a home field advantage right off the bat.
3. No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 17 Clemson at Atlanta (Aug. 31)
Dabo told us all to buy Clemson stock while the price was low. We'll see how much his team, winners of their final five to close 2023, has grown right off the bat.
2. USC vs. No. 14 LSU at Las Vegas (Sunday, Sept. 1)
For everyone fearing the 12-team Playoff will sap the drama out of the regular season, consider that whoever loses this game will leave the desert feeling horrible about themselves. Both teams are looking to replace their Heisman-winning QBs, and both are looking to show competence on defense under new coordinators. So either USC will lose to a Jayden Daniels-less LSU, or LSU will lose to a Caleb Williams-free USC. College football, everybody.
1. No. 2 Texas at No. 6 Michigan (Sept. 7)
In a series first announced in 2014, when Charlie Strong coached the Longhorns and Brady Hoke the Wolverines, this game was originally slated for Austin, but moved to Ann Arbor to get Texas out of the Big 12 a year early. This allows one of college football's most incredible, under-the-radar streaks to continue: all told, the Wolverines will play 18 straight non-conference games at the Big House, from their Sept. 1, 2018 visit to Notre Dame until their Sept. 6, 2025 trip to Oklahoma. And who knows, maybe the friendly confines of Michigan Stadium will allow their national-best 16-game (they're beating Fresno State to open the season... no offense to Fresno State) overall winning streak to continue as well.