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We are a week away from the start of a new season in college football. We have spent much time in the off-season focusing on the issues the sport faces. We are consumed with NIL,pay-for-play, collectives, realignment, billion dollar TV deals, the future of the NCAA, the breakways of the P5 or the Super 2, an expansion of the playoff. It goes on and on but today we put aside all the issues and negativity and focus on all that is good in the great game of college football.
Here's 100 things that make this such a great game...
Zombie Nation at a UCF home game(I had to start here)
"Heeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrreeeee come the Gators" onto the field before kickoff
The smoke in the tunnel as the Canes come out
Planting of the spear by Chief Osceola in Tallahassee
Lee Corso's headgear and pick
Rece Davis' open for every GameDay
CBS College Football opening theme
A Notre Dame home game in November with gray skies
The Big House and the Michigan's "Go Blue" banner
Dotting the "I" at Ohio State
The Rose Bowl sky at the start of the 4th quarter
The Iron Bowl
The Hedges at Georgia
The Grove in Oxford
Bevo at a game in Austin
The Backyard Brawl
White Out at Penn State
An 11am central start
A 10:40p kickoff
Night game at LSU
Clemson's run down the hill
The "Jump Around" at Camp Randall
Arkansas' "Woo Pig Sooie"
"Boomer Sooner"
Any Oregon uniform
Iowa fans waving to the children's hospital
Checkerboard end zones in Knoxville
Midweek MACtion Action
Army-Navy
South Carolina's "2001 Space Odyssey" entrance
Chris Fowler and Herbie calling your game
A student section that never sits down
UCLA's baby blue unis
A successful onside kick
Cowbells in Starkville
The "12th Man" in College Station
The mountains behind the stadium at BYU
The triple option
The Uni-Dome
UGA
Harvard-Yale
Punters from Australia
Walk ons who play
Sideline grad assistants holding up signs to call in a play
Marching bands
Mascots with weapons
Thursday night game in Blacksburg
Uncut grass at Northwestern
The blue field at Boise State
The Stanford campus
Tailgating
Useless halftime interviews with coaches
Camera shots of coordinators drinking diet coke
Dozens of people on sidelines with no purpose being there
Duplicate numbers
Rain in Pullman
Replay that's under two minutes
Any story told by Tom Rinaldi
A first down measurement
Scrolling through DIII scores
The Holy War
Named rivalry games
Any game in the snow
Defensive lineman who wear single digits
Steve Spurrier
Will Ferrell and Snoop on the USC sideline
Bedlam
Pitt's throwback light blue unis
Big and Rich opening your pregame show
Mike Leach and a pirate story
Brian Kelly and a southern accent
Nick Saban never being happy
Team walks into the stadium
Going for it on 4th down on your side of the field
A stop at the goal line on 4th and 1
A game at the Naval Academy
The true freshman who runs for 200 yards
The defense that sits in a semicircle of chairs
The strength and conditioning coach wearing the smedium shirt
The waterboy who squirts the water into the starters mouth for them
Friday night on the road going out to eat and meeting fans of your team
Pregame media meals
When North Dakota State is on TV
When GameDay's guest picker comes prepared
A doink on a field goal try
Any offensive lineman who scores
Sailgating before a Baylor home game
When it gets dark earlier and it's the start of the 4th quarter and the game is tied
Matt Campbell coaching rumors
Luke Fickell staying at Cincinnati
PJ Fleck rowing the boat
Memorial Stadium in Lincoln
The Atlanta skyline at Georgia Tech
War Eagle
A 6th year player
An argument over who is number one
1 vs 2
Kentucky...the football school
Week 0
...whenever a new season begins
Final note: The oldest rivalry in college football is Lehigh vs Lafayette. The two have played 157 times