Satellite's aligning.

Guess who just splurged for the ESPN Gameplan package? Oh yeah.

Blog practice continues...

Have a good trip, Jake.

Fort Valley State at Valdosta State, Aug. 23, 7 p.m. Central Time to kick things off...

Tick, tick, tick.

Carolina scouting mission

Gentlemen, I will be incommunicado for the next week as I roam the North Carolina coast on a family getaway. But I will take the opportunity to soak up training camp intel on Coastal Carolina, UNC-Wilmington and all those other area gridiron powerhouses. Looking forward to more blogging in August!

New NCAA rules to watch for

You're going to see big changes this year, most noticeably with the clock. But there are some other gems from our pals at the NCAA. Nothing as heinous as the failed halo rule enhancement of 2002, but a boneheaded idea or two in there. If you want to read all 266 pages, be my guest.

Thanks, Roy Williams: Rule 9-1-2-p, which brings the prohibition on horse collar tackles to college ball. Though the rule doesn't apply to QBs in the pocket or runners inside the tackle box.

Touch but don't twist: Rule 9-1-2-q, which eliminates the 5-yard penalty for facemasking. What makes me wince is this line: "It is not a foul if the face mask or helmet opening is not twisted, turned or pulled," which is essentially an invitation for disaster.

Playing with the clock: Alters pretty much all of Rule 3. This could make for a mess early in the season, especially with some of the smaller conference officials. Essentially, a 40-second play clock starts when a play is blown dead. If the ball isn't set by the time it reaches 20 seconds, the referee stops the clock, resets it to 25 seconds, and it starts ticking down once the ball is set for play. A 25-second clock remains in effect after certain kinds of play stoppages. Seriously, I wouldn't want to have to be in charge of the clock this year.

Sideline control: As the rulebook states, "No job means no sideline pass." Apparently, the NCAA wants to strip boosters and high-profile alums of their God-given right to wander the sidelines. Also, in Rule 9-1-6, the "sideline warning" has been eliminated, replaced with a 5-yard penalty. After two violations, it increases to 15 yards.

Hot and Bothered.

So, maybe you feel the same way I do. The first news stories about college football's new season have begun appearing, fueled by the media days of the major conferences this week. Call me crazy, but even as a serious fan (um, the name of our blog says it all...) I have trouble getting jazzed about football when it's July and temperatures are Frozen-Tundra-plus 90. Call it, I dunno, Arena Football Syndrome.

Ohio State v. USC? Maybe later. BYU crashing the BCS? I'll scratch my Mountain West fetish later. Kansas v. Mizzou on Nov. 29? Plenty of time to rag on The Chasemeister in September and October. Frankly, I'm just trying to get through the month without rats cramping my style.

June cometh.

That's the slogan I saw plastered on the walls at the SMU student union last week. After a quick double-take -- "Wait a sec. It's July and they're still talking about June?" -- I realized they're talking about June JONES, the gridiron guru who is expected to bring the Pony Express glory days of the 1980s back to the Hilltop. As distinguished connoisseurs of college football, we must bear witness to this high-stakes experiment. Here's the SMU schedule. What do you say -- should we shoot for the TCU game?

What's on and when...

First things first. Where to watch each game? The absolute best and most up-to-date list of consolidated television listings can be found here: http://www.lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm

It's an LSU fan site, but it seems to have every listing out there, even the obscure games. Enjoy.