(Photo: Clutchpoints)
Tiger Talk: It feels like déjà vu all over again, doesn’t it? The Clemson Tigers and LSU Tigers met in Week 1 before, and now they’ll once again kick off the season against each other over a year later. I feel like both teams are still trying to figure themselves out. Baton Rouge will be alive and rocking for this game, and it will also mark Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut as head coach.
Already Home: I remember the last time the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Wisconsin Badgers met. It was in 2021, when Brian Kelly became the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. Five years later, they’ll square off under the lights on a Sunday night at legendary Lambeau Field in Green Bay. This should be an electric atmosphere at one of the most iconic venues in the sport.
Switch: In Week 2 last season, the Michigan Wolverines traveled to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners and got trounced in the process. In Week 2 of this upcoming season, these blue bloods will meet again, this time in Ann Arbor at the Big House. The Sooners were a playoff team last season, while Michigan is looking to get back to its dominant ways under new head coach Kyle Whittingham. This will be just the third meeting between these two programs.
Bloodline: The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns just can’t get away from one another, can they? They met in the College Football Playoff a year ago and also kicked off the regular season against each other at the Shoe in Columbus. Now they’ll face off again, this time in Austin. Ohio State’s defense stifled Arch Manning last year, and I’m curious to see what the game plan will look like this time around.
Lane Violation: I thought Lane Kiffin had a good thing going in Oxford. He’s a good football coach, and things were flowing very well for him with the Ole Miss Rebels. Then the in-season rumors started swirling about him taking another job, and on November 30th, he accepted the job in Baton Rouge to become the next head coach of the LSU Tigers. For the first time since taking the job, Lane will return to Oxford in what should be a must-watch matchup. I can’t wait to see all the storylines surrounding this game.
Another Tussle: It’s never a dull moment when the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide face each other. They’ve met countless times in the regular season, twice in the National Championship, and many times in the SEC Championship Game. Just last year, the Tide went into Athens and snapped Georgia’s home winning streak. Now they’ll meet again, this time in Tuscaloosa. This could be another preview of what’s to come in December on conference championship Saturday.
Title Talk: When it was announced that the Ohio State Buckeyes would host the Indiana Hoosiers in last year’s Big Ten Championship Game, nobody gave Indiana a chance to win — myself included. Indiana beat Ohio State at its own game and handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season. Now they’ll meet in Bloomington for a regular-season showdown between the last two national champions. Ohio State will be looking for revenge, while Indiana hopes to continue its regular-season winning streak. Also, guess who the last team was to beat Indiana in the regular season? Ohio State.
One For The Books: November 7th could be a day for the college football history books. Just look at this lineup: Alabama vs. LSU, Georgia vs. Ole Miss for the first time since their playoff matchup in January, Ohio State vs. Oregon, and Notre Dame welcoming Miami to South Bend. This will be tremendous for the sport, and I could easily see many of these teams appearing in the first playoff rankings.
Part Of The Game: What makes college football so exciting is the rivalries. The final Saturday of the season has been dubbed “Rivalry Day,” and that’s when we get the legendary matchup between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes. The “Team Up North” had won four straight in this series until last year, when the Buckeyes went into the Big House and defeated their rivals for the first time since the 2019 season. It was also Ryan Day’s first career victory against Michigan. It’s always a war when these two programs meet, and I expect nothing different this time around.
