Labor Day weekend is finally here! Unfortunately for some that means the end of summer. For sports fans, it means college football is upon us. The NFL takes a back seat for one week as the collegiate game gets its time in the spotlight. What a weekend it is going to be. Saturday may be one of the best slates of games for an opening weekend we have ever seen. Monumental matchups get this season started on the right foot, so lets jump right in and highlight what you need to be watching this weekend.

Friday (9/2)

Kansas State vs. #9 Stanford (9:00 PM, Fox Sports 1)

Christian McCaffery is worth the price of admission for this one folks. Last year’s Heisman runner-up dazzled last season en route to setting a new NCAA record for all-purpose yards. That record was previously held by Barry Sanders, just so you get an idea of how impressive that is. Last we saw McCaffery he sliced and diced his way through the Iowa defense, winning the Rose Bowl MVP. He tallied 279 all-purpose yards and a touchdown as the Cardinal trounced the Hawkeyes 45-16. Tonight’s game will be a nice preview of a potentially electric season by the Stanford star running back.

Saturday (9/3)

Wall-to-wall college football all day, everyone has their own teams and allegiances. Obviously I’m not going to tell you to not watch your team in favor of one of the games I think will steal the weekend. Here are some of the games to keep an eye on though.

#3 Oklahoma vs. #15 Houston (12:00 PM, ABC)

Wasting no time on Saturday, we get our first top-25 matchup of the season. The Sooners are the favorite in the Big 12 with national championship aspirations while the Cougars looked to shock the college football landscape. Oklahoma is a double-digit favorite but don’t rule anything out in a road game this early in the season.

#16 UCLA vs. Texas A&M (3:30 PM, CBS)

This matchup features a potential future #1 NFL draft pick in UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen. He leads the Bruins into extremely hostile territory against the Aggies. UCLA is a dark horse national title contender, and we’ll get a good first look at what this team is made of in Rosen’s sophomore year. This will be the best of the 3:30 PM games (yes, I know Leonard Fournette and LSU play Wisconsin, but that’ll be a blowout) so keep an eye on this scoreboard if you’re watching your hometown team.

#1 Alabama vs. #20 USC (8:00 PM, ABC)

The defending national champions open up the season in Arlington, Texas once again this season. Alabama faces a much better opponent this year in the Trojans. USC is one of the most talented teams in the country and could give the Crimson Tide a bit of a run. However, this is Alabama we are talking about. Nick Saban has said he will play both of his quarterbacks in this game, which is a risky strategy but Saban pulled it off last season against Wisconsin. I’m not going to ring the alarm for an upset alert here although I actually don’t think Alabama covers the 11.5 point spread (for you gamblers out there). Sunday (9/4)

#10 Notre Dame vs. Texas (7:30 PM, ABC)

This game has a little bit of everything. Notre Dame is a national title contender with two dark horse Heisman candidates at quarterback. Both are playing in this game in one of the toughest places to play in the country. On the other side is Texas, with head coach Charlie Strong squarely on the hot seat and in serious need of showing improvement. The Longhorns were one of the most inexperienced teams last season and return a ton of starters while the Fighting Irish are replacing key players on offense. While I wasn’t willing to put Alabama on upset alert, I will put Notre Dame on notice here. This is a potential upset waiting to happen.

Monday (9/5)

#11 Ole Miss vs. #4 Florida St. (8:00 PM, ABC)

A long weekend demands another day for the Weekend Viewer Guide. Luckily we are getting served up one hell of a Labor Day clash. Florida State is a favorite to win the national title, and Ole Miss is far from a cupcake. This virtual top-10 matchup (okay top-11 put who’s counting) will be the perfect way to end one of the best opening weekends in recent memory.

 

Everyone have a fun and safe holiday weekend! I’ll working on Monday to get ahead of the NFL season preview in an effort to finish before the season kicks off on Thursday. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon Page on Facebook.