The college football season is set to begin this week with a number of exciting games that will kick of the 2013 season and as the NFL is getting through its preseason, the NCAA schedule is ready to ramp up and the first big game of the year with be South Carolina hosting North Carolina on Thursday night in a game that will air live on ESPN.
The Gamecocks and the Tar Heels will kick off the season and that is by far the biggest game on the schedule on Thursday, while the next best one is Ole Miss and Vanderbilt along with Rutgers playing Fresno State. Teams usually try to book easy-ish opponents to start the season, including Ohio State, who is playing Buffalo, but Alabama took a different route the past two years, playing Michigan and Virginia Tech this season.
Some of the other games broadcasting on ESPN and other channels include Utah and Utah State playing each other, while USC will travel out to Hawaii to take on the Rainbows. Tulsa and Bowling Green will get some MAC action going on, while Akron and UCF could be an entertaining game after with what the Knights did last season, while Sacramento State and San Jose State could also be a solid matchup.
The most anticipated game obviously is the Gamecocks and Tar Heels and that game will have the season debut of Heisman favorite Jadeveon Clowney, who is considered by many to be the player who will get the number one overall pick in the draft. Clowney is seen by many as the most athletic player in college football and after the way he played last season he should be ready for another big year before jumping to the NFL draft in 2014.
During his sophomore season last year, the defensive end finished with 50 tackles and 13 sacks, as well as two forced fumbles and 37 solo tackles. Clowney had some beast stretches last season and made seven tackles in one game and he also had over four sacks in a game against Clemson and QB Tajh Boyd, another player that could be a Heisman candidate this season.
Last season the Gamecocks went 11-2, including 6-2 in the SEC and 5-1 in the SEC East and now the team is coming in with even higher expectations. The team will play the Tar Heels before travelling to play Georgia, who are ranked number five in the nation. That game could be one of the most entertaining of the season as Aaron Murray goes up against Clowney and it could have SEC and national title implications down the line.