College football technically came back last weekend, as we had one FBS and one FCS game. They were fine, but it was just a taste of the madness that we should expect this weekend. If anything that tiny appetizer only made us want college football even more. Good thing we have this weekend.

Seriously, from Thursday night to Monday night, you are going to have college football, and not silly college football games, but some legitimate slugfests involving some of the best teams in America.

It’s great. Everything is great. The first college football weekend of 2016 is finally here. How can anyone complain?

THURSDAY

Under The Lights

FRONT AND CENTER

7 p.m.: Charlotte at No. 19 Louisville (ACC Network Extra)
7:30 p.m.: Appalachian State at No. 9 Tennessee (SEC Network)

Louisville and Tennessee are really great teams to watch when you’re starting your weekend. Both teams head into the year as the likely third-best squad in their respective conferences, and can make a run at their conference titles if a few (read: a lot) of things go right. The Vols are talented, have a really good backfield in QB Josh Dobbs and RBs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, and made one of the best coaching hires this offseason when they convinced Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop to take the same job in Knoxville. Louisville brings back a ton on both sides of the ball from a team that went 8-5, including Lamar Jackson, who may have more raw talent than any quarterback in America.

Anyway, both of these teams should be pretty good this year. Get in on the fun early.

SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL

8 p.m.: South Carolina at Vanderbilt (ESPN)

Depending on how you look at it, this is the first game of the Will Muschamp era at South Carolina, or it’s potentially the first game of the last season of the Derek Mason era at Vanderbilt. Either way, it’s SEC football!

9 p.m.: Oregon State at Minnesota (BTN)

Oregon State has a good coach in Gary Andersen, but he’s in for quite the rebuilding project in Corvallis. Minnesota recently made Tracy Claeys its full-time coach, and its quarterback, Mitch Leidner, is being mentioned as a possible first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft (much to the surprise of a lot of people).

FRIDAY

Under The Lights

7 p.m.: Northwestern State at No. 23 Baylor (FSN)

Baylor is not going to lose this game, but it is going to put up a whole lot of points, which is always fun. Baylor University experienced an awful offseason that it brought upon itself by being horrible. Now that it’s in the post-Art Briles era, it’s time for the Bears (and new coach Jim Grobe) to get back to football. It’ll be tough to knock off Oklahoma at the top of the Big 12, but Baylor has the offense built around QB Seth Russell, RBs Shock Linwood and Johnny Jefferson, and WR KD Cannon to make a run at a conference title.

The Late Show

9 p.m.: Kansas State at No. 9 Stanford (FS1)

CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY. The worst part of the offseason has been that we’ve gone seven months without watching Stanford’s Heisman-caliber running back unleash the wrath of God on people. Sure, the Cardinal have a new QB coming in as Ryan Burns replaces the perpetually underrated Kevin Hogan, and the offensive line has questions, but McCaffrey is good enough to make life easier on the other 10 dudes on the Cardinal’s offense. Also, Stanford’s defense is still Stanford’s defense. It will be solid-to-good, if not better than that.

On the other side, you have Kansas State, which is going to make this game as ugly as humanly possible, try to keep it low scoring, and hope that the team’s defense and special teams can make up for the fact that the offense has a huge question mark at quarterback (Jesse Ertz will start under center, but don’t be surprised if as many as three dudes take snaps against the Cardinal). This, of course, is the exact kind of team that Bill Snyder magically turns into a 9-3 squad that knocks off a top-10 team that it has no business beating.

SATURDAY

The Early Slate

FRONT AND CENTER

7:30 a.m.: Georgia Tech vs. Boston College (in Dublin, Ireland) (ESPN2)

Will this game be great? Absolutely not. It’s going to be ugly as sin. But you get to wake up at 7:30 in the morning and watch a football game in Ireland, which is always a good time.

Noon: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 15 Houston (in Houston, TX) (ABC)

This has the potential to be the most fun game of the weekend. Oklahoma is the favorite to win the Big 12 and is in a great position to make it back to the College Football Playoff. Houston could, if everything goes right, be the first Group of 5 team to make the College Football Playoff. Whichever team wins this game is going to have one heckuva win on their resume.

Oklahoma is, as always, going to be really good. Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon may be the best 1-2 punch at running back in the nation, Baker Mayfield is a Heisman contender, and the defense is going to be built around a stout line and a veteran secondary. Houston has a coach in Tom Herman who many think is destined to be one of the best coaches in America (if he isn’t already), a quarterback in Greg Ward who can do just about anything, and an awesome front seven. If the Cougars can find a running back and replace a bunch of dudes in the secondary, they’ll be awful dangerous this year.

Anyway, this game will feature lots of points and a few plays that will blow your mind. Watch it and enjoy the hell out of it.

SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL

Noon: Bowling Green at No. 6 Ohio State
Noon: Hawaii at No. 7 Michigan

No disrespect to Iowa or Michigan State or Rutgers (ok, maybe some disrespect to Rutgers), but either Ohio State or Michigan is going to win the Big Ten. Michigan is loaded with proven talent. Ohio State is loaded with young talent. We’ll write about both of them a lot this year, but they’re both probably winning on Saturday, so we’ll move on.

Also, fun note: Hawaii started its season in Sydney, Australia last week. It went home, and now, the Rainbow Warriors have to go to Ann Arbor. That’s … a lot of miles. I flew from Newark to Chicago once and got annoyed at the fact that I was still on a plane after an hour, so the thought of doing Sydney -> Hawaii -> Michigan is terrifying.

Dog Day Afternoon

FRONT AND CENTER

3:30 p.m.: No. 16 UCLA at Texas A&M (CBS)

No one has any idea what to expect out of Texas A&M, which is part of the reason why Kevin Sumlin may be out of a job this year. He fired his offensive coordinator this year and brought in Noel Mazzone, who held the same position at UCLA. The Aggies also bring in former Oklahoma QB Trevor Knight and RB Keith Ford in the backfield, plus its options in the receiving game are insane.

The defense boasts a terrifying line and a ton of experience at linebacker, but the secondary is a concern. No matter what, DE Myles Garrett is going to hit a lot of people very hard this year as he makes a case for himself to be the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

As for UCLA, its offense revolves around the outstanding Josh Rosen, who is going to be a top-5 pick whenever he declares for the NFL. As for the rest of the offense, well, there are concerns, but the team has plenty of talent at running back (keep an eye out for Soso Jamabo, who is 6’3, 210 pounds and has “breakout star” written all over him).

The defense lost the outstanding Myles Jack and a disruptive DT in Kenny Clark, but it brings back a ton, including a secondary that could shut teams down. Basically, this game is going to be awesome, especially because Rosen isn’t convinced that A&M’s crowd will be all that loud. Watch it.

5:30 p.m.: No. 18 Georgia vs. No. 22 North Carolina (in Atlanta, GA) (ESPN)

This game is gonna be fuuuuuuuuuun. Georgia parted ways with Mark Richt and hired former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who is starting former Virginia quarterback Greyson Lambert during Week 1. Fortunately for Lambert, the job of a quarterback becomes really easy when you have a good running back, and the Bulldogs have the incredible Nick Chubb.

He is a little overlooked because his 2015 season ended on Oct. 10, but when he’s on his game, Chubb is in the conversation for the best running back in the country. His backup, Sony Michel, is also super good. Basically my point is that Georgia is going to run the ball a whole heck of a lot. As for the defense, well, it has a lot of talent and Smart isn’t the kind of dude who has bad defenses. Keep an eye on DT Trenton Thompson, who was the No. 1 recruit in America in 2015 and will eat offensive linemen’s lunches all year.

Larry Fedora’s Tar Heels, meanwhile, are going to run and throw the ball a lot because Larry Fedora believes in scoring as many points as humanly possible. The offense has studs at RB (Elijah Hood) and WR (Ryan Switzer), has an offensive line that will win at the line of scrimmage, and has a quarterback in Mitch Trubisky who was insanely good in limited playing time last year.

The defense is still, well, it’s a question mark, but as we saw last year, North Carolina doesn’t need to play a ton of defense because its offense is going to put up points on points on points. When the Tar Heels get going, they may be the most fun team to watch in America.

SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL

3:30 p.m.: No. 5 LSU vs. Wisconsin (in Green Bay, WI) (ABC)

Hey remember how we started the Stanford section? Well…

LEONARD FOURNETTE LEONARD FOURNETTE LEONARD FOURNETTE. We get to watch Leonard Fournette take souls on Saturday, everyone, life is beautiful. Keep this game on your second screen if only for Fournette – and also because LSU is loaded and could end up winning the SEC/the national title when all is said and done. Wisconsin is a fine team (one which has a brutal schedule that you should not look at because it will scare you), but this game is about seeing how the Tigers fare against a solid opponent. Plus, it’s a college football game at Lambeau Field (the first one in 33 years), and we’d watch lawn bowling if it was at Lambeau.

Under The Lights

FRONT AND CENTER

8 p.m.: No. 20 USC vs. No. 1 Alabama (in Arlington, TX) (ABC)
9 p.m.: No. 2 Clemson at Auburn (ESPN)

There’s a whole lot that needs to happen, but no one would be shocked if we got a rematch of last year’s national title game in 2017. The path to ‘Bama-Clemson II starts here, as the Crimson Tide have a neutral site game against a talented USC squad, while the Tigers have to take an always-dangerous trip to Jordan–Hare Stadium to take on Auburn.

Alabama is loaded, but the Crimson Tide’s big question is who will start under center. It sounds like it’ll come down to either redshirt junior Cooper Bateman or redshirt freshman Blake Barnett, and Nick Saban said both will play against the Trojans. But of course, because Alabama is still Alabama, the Crimson Tide have more talent than anyone else. Everyone on their defense is a stud, and the offense has no shortage of freaks of nature. Bo Scarborough will step in at running back, while Calvin Ridley is one of the best wide receivers in the nation.

Hey, on that note: USC has probably the nation’s best wide receiver in JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Trojans also have a ton of skill position talent, former five-star QB Max Browne has all the talent in the world, and the defense should be fine as long as it can replace a bunch of dudes in its front seven.

Clemson has no questions at quarterback – Deshaun Watson may be your Heisman favorite heading into the season – but there are a few questions on how the Tigers will replace some dudes on defense, like Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd, and Mackensie Alexander. As long as they answer those questions by the time Florida State comes to town, they should be ok.

Auburn will make things tough for them, though, as Gus Malzahn’s squad is going to run the ball a ton in front of their home crowd. This is a great test for Clemson and, if Auburn wins, the kind of game that can ease some of the pressure on Malzahn, who is suddenly on one of the hottest seats in the nation.

SECOND SCREEN SPECIAL

Nothing, you’re gonna want to have two screens to watch those two games.

The Late Show

FRONT AND CENTER
10:30 p.m.: BYU vs. Arizona (FS1)

Admittedly this isn’t going to be generation-defining or anything, but this has maybe the best QB matchup of the weekend outside of Oklahoma/Houston. Redshirt junior Anu Solomon is back for the Wildcats, and when he’s on, he is really fun. His arm talent and ability to run when he needs to makes him an awesome fit in Rich Rodriguez’s offense, and assuming he beats out redshirt sophomore Brandon Dawkins, Solomon has the potential to put up some big numbers for the Wildcats in 2016.

Meanwhile, BYU has a two-headed monster at QB in sophomore Tanner Mangum and 45th-year senior Taysom Hill. We know that Mangum can really sling the ball – he completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 3,377 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions last year – but Hill is on of the best stories in the sport. He keeps coming back from injuries to be an exciting dual-threat signal caller. Hill is a solid passer (he’s completed 57.3 percent of his career passes) who is a bowling ball when he runs. This game is going to be fun. Stay up late and watch it.

SUNDAY

Under The Lights

FRONT AND CENTER
7:30 p.m.: No. 10 Notre Dame at Texas (ABC)

This one is going to get weird. Notre Dame is proof that the saying “if you have two starting quarterbacks, you don’t have one” isn’t necessarily true, as Malik Zaire and DeShone Keizer are both awesome. The Fighting Irish also have a bunch of really talented skill guys on offense (including noted son of Torii Hunter, WR Torii Hunter, Jr.) and the defense should be solid even though it has to replace guys like Sheldon Day, Jaylon Smith and KeiVarae Russell.

Texas, meanwhile, is one of the most intriguing programs in America. A good year and the sky is the limit for the program. A bad year and Charlie Strong is quite possibly out of a job. A bad year very well could be defined as 7-5. His seat would go from pretty hot to kind of cool if his Longhorns – which made an interesting coaching hire this offseason when they hired Rice’s Sterlin Gilbert – could knock off the Irish at home.

MONDAY

Under The Lights

FRONT AND CENTER
8 p.m.: No. 11 Ole Miss vs. No. 4 Florida State (in Orlando)

What a perfect way to end college football’s loaded first weekend. Both of these teams have the potential to ruin the season of a top-2 team: the Rebels host ‘Bama later this month, while the ‘Noles host Clemson on October 29. But first, these teams need to get past each other. Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly and FSU RB Dalvin Cook are two Heisman contenders, so ideally this game is just 60 minutes of the two of them trying to score as many touchdowns as possible.

But both of these teams are loaded with talent outside of those two. Even though Ole Miss has to replace the brilliant Laquon Treadwell and a whole bunch of starters along the offensive line, there is talent on offense and the defense is going to be the really good, especially with DE Marquis Haynes anchoring the line.

The ‘Noles have to figure out who is their quarterback (I have no idea, but my gut says redshirt freshman Deondre Francois), but outside that, FSU is awesome. The entire offensive line, all of their receivers, and Cook all return, and while the defense has to replace a handful of guys – especially in the back seven – it is loaded with talented dudes like safety Derwin James and a defensive line trio of DeMarcus Walker/Derek Nnadi/Josh Sweat that are all game-changers.

Go to the store, get yourself some non-perishable food, and prepare to spend your Labor Day weekend watching college football. It’s back in a big, big way. I couldn’t be happier.