The students are not back in school yet, but the football players sure are! They, the staff and coaches, have been hard at work all summer preparing for the upcoming season, and it won’t be long until all that hard work comes to fruition.
The games are about to begin!
The time for tailgates, marching bands, cheerleaders, and all the revelry that makes college football so special is almost upon us, and for many, it will be none too soon.
Our local teams start the season on the weekend of Aug. 29-30, with Illinois vs. Western Illinois on Aug. 29 and Northwestern vs. Tulane on Aug. 30. Many other teams will kick off even sooner.
One extra challenge this year: It might be a little hard for the average fans, and quite frankly, even the avid followers of the game, to figure out exactly who is on whose team, as the player transfer portal and NIL sponsorships have rendered staying at one college for four straight years almost obsolete.
New faces, new jerseys, new positions—it will all take a little adjusting for the fans, but surely once the games begin, the enthusiasm will be rampant, as it almost always is in college football.
The pre-season rankings are a reading list of top-ranked, powerhouse traditional teams, including Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Alabama, Clemson, and Oregon. But rest assured, along the sometimes curvy and bumpy road that is the 12-game college football season, there will no doubt be some surprise schools coming to the forefront.
Illinois could be one of those teams! The Illini are locked and loaded with a ton of veteran players returning, including nine starters back on what should be one of the better defenses in the country. Adding to the excitement for the orange-and-blue fans is the return of one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Luke Altmeyer.
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The Illini received their highest pre-season ranking in recent memory with a No. 12 posting, so they won’t be able to sneak up on too many teams.
For Northwestern, last year was a bit of a nightmare. Injuries, quarterback issues, and a general lack of speed and depth made it a rough one for the Cats. All this coming off a great season the year before.
Northwestern will look to regroup with a ton of new players, including an experienced quarterback in Preston Stone, who has transferred from SMU. Enthusiasm is high for the team, as they look to make up for the tough season last year.
Want an early-season must-watch game? How about Aug. 30, when preseason No. 1 Texas takes on preseason No. 2 (and defending national champion) Ohio State? This game will be a huge early-season clash of college football titans, which should serve as a great kickoff to another exciting season we’ve been hoping for.
We're not there just yet, folks—but we’re getting close. College football and all of its wonderful revelry are about to begin.
Ready…set….
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