25 college football games to be excited about in 2017

When the clock hit zeroes on Clemson’s comeback win over Alabama in the National Championship, the 2017 season was on. Now it’s merely six months away. (Sigh.)

Without further ado, I give you 25 games to start looking forward to in 2017, grouped by game type (rivalry, neutral-site, non-conference, and more). They’re in no particular order, and believe me when I say there are some good ones here.

Alabama vs. Florida State (Sept. 2 in Atlanta): Florida State beat Michigan in an unforgettable Orange Bowl, and Bama — well, you know what happened. Bama will have its usual ton of talent, and FSU will too. This game has some huge national title implications and might be the biggest season-opener ever.

Florida vs. Michigan (Sept. 2 in Arlington, Texas): This game is evidence that both teams have taken note of the Playoff committee’s emphasis on out-of-conference scheduling. Florida will once again have a quarterback situation to sort out. Michigan will be breaking in a bunch of new talent on defense.

Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee (Sept. 4 in Atlanta): Tech head coach Paul Johnson was 3-0 against SEC East teams in 2016, so beating Tennessee would just be a continuation of a trend. He’s aware of this fact.

Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia (Sept. 2 in Landover, Md.): This actually used to be a pretty big rivalry that was played in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, and the two campuses lie just about four hours away from each other. The last time these two played was back in 2005. Winner gets the Black Diamond Trophy, which was introduced in 1997. It’s meant to symbolize the Appalachian region’s coal roots.

Auburn at Clemson (Sept. 9): Last season, Auburn was able to hold Clemson to the fewest points it put up all season in a 19-13 Clemson victory, but it got really tight at the end. Rematch, shall we?

Georgia at Notre Dame (Sept. 9): The Fighting Irish were a good bit better than their 4-8 record last season, and the Dawgs capped off an up-and-down first season under Kirby Smart with a Liberty Bowl win over TCU. Georgia gets quarterback Jacob Eason and running back Nick Chubb back, and ND’s Brian Kelly hired new offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason.

Oklahoma at Ohio State (Sept. 9): Last season, this game showed us that 2016 was far from a rebuilding year for the Buckeyes, who won by three touchdowns in Norman. Both teams get a lot back on both sides of the ball, including quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and J.T. Barrett. This time, the Sooners travel to play in The Shoe.

Texas at USC (Sept. 16): A rematch of the incredible 2006 BCS National Championship? Yes, please, and for the first time since Vince Young was taking on Reggie Bush. Plus, we get to see new Longhorns head coach Tom Herman take on the challenge of an incredibly talented Trojans team that hasn’t lost since its fourth game of 2016.

Florida-Georgia (Oct. 28): Florida’s won the last three in this rivalry, and it’s helped the Gators make it to the SEC Championship Game for the last couple of seasons. The Gators lose a lot of talent on defense, and Georgia looks like the SEC East favorite. If Georgia wants to make it back to the SEC title game for the first time since 2012, beating Florida would be a start.

Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (Nov. 4): The Big 12 title has been decided by Bedlam for the last two seasons, and these two squads will likely be the Big 12’s two highest-ranked teams entering the season. This game should be great, but the Big 12’s insistence on holding a league title game might take some shine off it.

LSU at Alabama (Nov. 4): Alabama has won the last six in this series, a factor in Les Miles’s firing from LSU. Ed Orgeron gave Alabama arguably its toughest test of the regular season last year, but Jalen Hurts was able to lead the Tide to a 10-0 victory with a couple of key plays he made with his legs.

Florida State at Clemson (Nov. 11): This game has been great for quite a while now, so there’s no reason why I wouldn’t include it here. This one has also predicted the winner of the ACC Atlantic for the past eight seasons, so yeah, it’s pretty big!

Ohio State at Michigan (Nov. 25): This matchup was easily one of the best games last season, and it marked the first-ever overtime in the 119-year history. Will Michigan and Ohio State fans still be arguing about The Spot?

Alabama at Auburn (Nov. 25): Alabama has beaten Auburn five out of the last six meetings, with the one loss coming by way of the Kick Six.

Depending on how the SEC West shakes out, this could be the game that decides who makes it to the SEC Championship, which Auburn hasn’t been to in three seasons.

Army-Navy (Dec. 9): Army beat Navy last season 21-17 in a game that ended 14 long years of frustration. Army went on to beat North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl to cap off its best season since 1996.

Clemson at Louisville (Sept. 16): There won’t be any Deshaun Watson this time around, but we still get to watch Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was lights-out, even in the 42-36 loss his team suffered to the Tigers. He threw for 295 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for another 162 and two scores last year.

Penn State at Ohio State (Oct. 28):

Their 2016 loss in Happy Valley didn’t knock the Buckeyes from the College Football Playoff, but it still hurt. In revenge games, Urban Meyer has a 13-2 record, with the two losses coming from Auburn in 2007 and Alabama in 2010. He avenged the latter in the 2014 Playoff. This will be a revenge game.

Stanford at USC (Sept. 9): Stanford has been able to win the last two games in this series by a combined 36 points. USC’s chances to make it to the Pac-12 title game ride heavily on beating Stanford early in the season.

Boise State at Wyoming (Oct. 7): Wyoming upset undefeated, then-No. 13 Boise State 30-28 last season. The highlight was Cowboys defensive end Josiah Hall’s safety dance after his team recovered a safety in Boise’s end zone to seal the victory.

Boise is back in 2017 as the likely Mountain West favorite, and Wyoming’s depth chart was very young last season. Returning is Pokes quarterback Josh Allen, who threw for 3,203 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.

Auburn at LSU (Oct. 14): Last year’s Auburn victory over LSU was the final nail in the coffin for Les Miles’s career in Baton Rogue. The ending was wild, and it led to Miles’s firing and Ed Orgeron’s hiring.

FSU vs. Louisville (Oct. 21): Louisville took it to Florida State last season, dismantling the Noles 63-20, marking the first win for the Cards over FSU since they joined the ACC.

Washington at Stanford (Nov. 10): UW had a big moment against Stanford last season. The Huskies were just 3.5-point favorites, but they were able beat the Cardinal 44-6, the first UW win over Stanford since 2012. Whoever wins this one will likely have the edge in the Pac-12 North race.

Houston vs. USF (Nov. 4): This one’s a huge AAC matchup, and we’ll get to see some new head coaches in action, as USF’s Charlie Strong and Houston’s Major Applewhite make their debuts. Both should be fairly well-settled by November, and the game should be good.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Nov. 18): The Wolverines beat the Badgers last season, 14-7. Wisconsin being a likely favorite for the Big Ten West makes this game important if the Badgers want to make it back to Indianapolis. And it’s possible that Michigan won’t be able to afford a loss here and still come out of the East.

Miami at Arkansas State (Sept. 9): The Hurricanes’ bizarre tour of Sun Belt stadiums continues, but this could be a good game. ASU has had six winning seasons in a row and has a rowdy home environment. Then again, that didn’t work out too well for Appalachian State against the Canes last year. Miami won, 45-10.