One month from today - college football 2011

OK, the college football season officially starts on Sept. 1, not Sept. 3. Although, the 15 (Thursday night) Sept. 1 games are nothing worth noting.

UNLV at Wisconsin? Please. Montana State at Utah, Western Carolina at Georgia Tech, UC Davis at Arizona State? Nope.

Saturday, Sept. 3 is when it gets rolling. We'll have great matchups like ...

Kent State at Alabama

Utah State at Auburn

Florida Atlantic at Florida

Akron at Ohio State

Indiana State at Penn State

Chattanooga at Nebraska

Tennessee Tech at Iowa

There are two matchups that can be described as must-see for college football fans that day. Neither will be played on a college campus.

The best of the Big Ten's 10 games that day? Northwestern at Boston College or Minnesota at USC. Other Big Ten nonconference opponents in Week 1 are Western Michigan, Arkansas State, Ball State, Middle Tennessee State and Youngstown State.

Boise State is playing Georgia in Atlanta, and Oregon faces LSU in Arlington, Texas. The payoffs from those games must be pretty good for the teams involved to risk BCS title-elimination in the first weekend.

I have foolishly decided to be an Associated Press Top 25 voter again this year. It doesn't matter what my joke of a preseason Top 25 ballot may be. My No. 1 team on after Week 1 will be either Boise State, Georgia, Oregon or LSU.