The Rooster Is Getting Ready to Crow: Get Ready College Football Fans

We are just 56 days from college football kicking off once again. 

From Ann Arbor Michigan to Washington State, fans of the purest and greatest sport on Earth are slumbering away their summer. Yeah, many are on the lakes, taking vacations with family, or setting idle ally by waiting for their stimulus check to crash the mailbox. 

Sure, their eyes maybe open, but how many are truly awake? 

Nowhere in the country does college football mean more than in the Deep South. 

No, I’m not referring to the ACC. I’m talking about the undisputed champion, the SEC, where nothing including the roar of engines screaming around a large circle of asphalt can compare. 

Yeah, there are other college towns and big cities that sport their own brand of the game and the festivities surrounding it. But none compare to the tailgating in the grove at Ole Miss, listening to nearly 90 thousand yell "War Eagle" in unison while watching a golden eagle circle the stadium in Auburn, or calling the hogs in Arkansas. Let’s not forget the Gator Chomp in Gainesville, or the getting your picture taken next to a statue of “The Bear” in Tuscaloosa. 

These are all great places to be on any given game day, but the SEC offers seven more equally majestic and exciting places to be.

Let’s take a look, however, at some of the best matchups we will see in 2009 outside SEC conference play.

Speaking of roosters crowing, the South Carolina Gamecocks will be the first SEC team to kick off for a Thursday night headliner at North Carolina State. The game will be aired nationally Sept. 3 on ESPN at 6 p.m. 

As Saturday rolls around, the matchups get even better.

Complimenting the season Kentucky had in 2008, it’s worth mentioning the Wildcats host Miami of Ohio for an early morning kick-off on ESPNU at 11 a.m. 

The Georgia bulldogs will be busy taking a bite or two while visiting Oklahoma State on ABC at 2:30.

If you still have a hunger for more, a few million will witness Alabama try to cook up some southern style turkey when the Crimson Tide take on highly-ranked Virginia Tech on ABC at 7 p.m.   

LSU will travel to Washington for a classic cat and dog fight to close out the evening on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. 

Then, last but not least, the surprise team in the SEC last year, Ole Miss, will travel to Memphis Sunday Sept. 6 for a 2:30 kick-off on ESPN. The Tigers will attempt to spoil the momentum that Houston Nutt and the rest of the “Hotty Toddy’s” will be looking to continue in 2009, while the Rebels hope to march straight to Atlanta for glory and a conference crown. 

Tennessee will be looking to put its money where its mouth is, as the Volunteers host the Bruins of UCLA at 3 p.m. on ESPN. Because of all the recent talk coming out of Knoxville from the Vols coaching staff, that's enough said. 

West Virginia will be leaving its mountain top to travel down to the most beautiful village on the plains, as Auburn will be looking for payback from last season’s embarrassment in Morgantown. Something tells me the Auburn fans will show some good ol’ fashioned true southern hospitality, until the Tigers are unleashed inside the “not so friendly” confines of Jordan Hare Stadium. 

Two old foes will collide in a made for TV classic when Texas A&M goes on the hunt for the Razorbacks of Arkansas. The Aggie faithful will be wondering who let the Hawgs out, but the only problem is that the rest of us may not get to see it.  

Where are you on this one CBS? 

So there you have it—just a few of the best games we will see in 2009.  Until then, just hit the snooze button a few more times.