Over the next five weeks, the sports landscape will be pretty light on the home front. The NBA season will end this week and outside of the Olympics, we will be limited to baseball, golf and tennis.
Collectively, this should seem like enough content to keep most active sports fans satisfied through the dog days of summer. However, what is just beyond the horizon is what makes most American sports fans salivate.
Five weeks from now is when the college football season begins!
Not only does college football begin, but it will be the first time in two years that we will have a full season where all the teams in all the conferences will participate.
After last year's hodgepodge of a season due to COVID-19, virtually no restrictions will be in place this season.
The 2021 season officially kicks off on Saturday, August 28th with a handful of matchups in Week 0. The schedule for that opening weekend could be adjusted a little, but Hawaii at UCLA and Nebraska at Illinois are the early highlights from the Week 0 games.
The first full weekend of games for next season does not lack for interesting matchups. Ohio State at Minnesota, Penn State at Wisconsin, West Virginia at Maryland, and LSU at UCLA are traditional on-campus battles, while neutral-site contests between Georgia and Clemson and Miami and Alabama highlight the Saturday action for Week 1.
The first full week of action also includes Notre Dame at Florida State on Sunday and Louisville vs. Ole Miss in Atlanta on Monday night.
The CFB Playoff takes place on December 31st, as the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host the semifinal matchups. The season is slated to end on January 10th in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium for the national championship.