I love this time of year. The morning air is starting to crisp up on occasion. The leaves are a' fallin'...we'll I took care of that problem by finally taking down the multitude of Christmas light strands that were choking the trees in the front yard. I digress. The familiar he-men are finding their way on TV to prognosticate their take on the gridiron struggles taking place on campuses around the country. It's finally here. Da Da Da Da...Da Da....NC-Double A Football.

Admittedly the BCS is completely stupid. We need a playoff system. If every other form of collegiate football can succeed in doing this, the big boys can do the same. This is another post altogether.

My lineage is 1/2 Missourian, and 1/2 Texan, but I grew up solely in Missouri. It would be natural to be a big fan of Mizzou, right? Wrong. It would somehow be permissible to root for Texas, right? Wrong. To root for UT and not be 100% Texan, or at least live within the state borders seems odd for some reason. Getting back to MO. Not that I don't like Mizzou, but during my impressionable years, they were always about to "turn the corner". I even tried to like Mizzou Basketball. Norm even spoke at our Freshman Awards Banquet. He saw me get my coveted golf and football letters. Alas, Naaah. His temper and foul language hastened my cause to look elsewhere. That elsewhere was OU. My wife gets livid when I refer to Barry Switzer as "The King". But he is! She also has a problem about me hanging an OU flag off our front porch. I love their tradition of winning (let's forget the 90's), and how most of the state gets behind the Sooners. As for my wife, she thinks her statehoods obsession about OU and OSU borders on Idolatry. I'm glad she's not a preacher. She would make that into a series of lessons.

Watching the Sooners in the 80's were fun. Watching the Sooners were fun and painful. Watching the Sooners this century has been a blast (with the exception of 4 games in the past 3 seasons). Going forward I am somewhat fearful of the year. Two of those painful games have been the start of this year. They were lucky to win against Tulsa. If I were listening to The Sports Animal (WWLS in OKC), I am sure the fans are in a panic.

Conversely, watching the Longhorns have been fun over the years. I love to see them lose to OU at the Cottonbowl. This year is different. The Texas vs Ohio State game was one of the best games I have ever seen. What a defensive show! I will not be a Texas fan come October 8th, but it'll be fun trying to sneak a peak at them throughout the season. My prediction is they will win the Big 12, and seriously contend for the Championship. That's not much of a stretch is it?

Tonight we are heading out tonight to meet the STL Rams for a fundraiser. Heck maybe I can meet Corey Ivy who spent 2 years at OU.