Thanks so much to our paid subscribers for making our work possible for a seventh season of Split Zone Duo. If you’re not one yet, we’d love to have you.
Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where we are so back.
We could talk about the news of the week, because it was messy. Georgia’s attorney general suggested that the SEC should kick out LSU if it decides to roster players who were already on an NFL contracts, which it now seems like LSU will be able to do, but we’ll see. We could talk about the concept (which Dabo Swinney denies) of Lane Kiffin feeding Clemson tampering information against Ole Miss. But the offseason is meant to give us something to talk about until kickoff, not to overshadow it. So let’s get to the fun part, which is already underway and really kicks into gear on Saturday. Everything else, especially Congress, can wait.
What matters now is how we’re going to watch our favorite schools and with whom we’re sharing that privilege. Power brokers be damned, every interaction around a game itself is what college football is really about. So if you’re watching at home and posting online about it, or watching in a stadium, just know you’re part of the engine that keeps this sport going.
Keep an eye out on our social channels on Saturday morning, because we’ll want to hear from you. We want to know how you’re watching the games, so send us a photo of your view of how you’re going to experience the first full college football Saturday.
With that said, did you watch UMass-Rutgers last night? Another game?
We have new podcasts for you this week
Justis Mosqueda, Acme Packing Co. writer, joined the show to talk with Richard about how the new rule changes will affect teams this season. They also spend half of the episode breaking down formations and coverages. You’ll learn something new.
Remember how Alex hinted in last week’s newsletter about new Split Zone Duo projects that involve guest hosts? Well, we’re proud to introduce a new series called Team of the Week. Entering the week, Rodger Sherman will predict which team we will be talking about that upcoming Saturday. His pick for the inaugural episode: the North Dakota State Bison, who Rodger and Alex both think can win 10 games this season with what is essentially an FCS roster.
The Tasting Menu is here! Alex is out for a few days, and Rodger sticks around to hang with Richard to examine which games demand more of your attention. They agree that Louisville and Ole Miss could be the game of the weekend. That one takes place on a Sunday, by the way. You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.
New Six Zone Duo! We’ve been so happy about the early response to our national women’s volleyball show hosted by Amie Just and Erin Sorensen.
If you’re still cramming in some season prep, we made a YouTube playlist with all of our conference previews. You can also find them in your podcast app.
Some recommended reading
You still have about 24 hours to submit your picks for our annual FCS Upset draft. You can do so here.
Over at Slate, Alex wrote about the SEC! That’s right: he explained how AI companies like Anthropic and SpaceX are making some shocking claims to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For CBS Sports, Richard wonders if this will be a narrative-defining season for Deion Sanders and Colorado.
Sam Khan Jr. of The Athletic wrote about the next steps for the North Texas Mean Green, who are brand new after everyone left for Oklahoma State.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your first full slate of games this Saturday, and we’ll see you for the first Hurry Up of the season on Sunday.