College football season begins with early tests for powerhouse teams

College football kicks off over Labor Day weekend, highlighted by early tests for some of this year's strongest programs. No. 3 Oklahoma will open their season against No. 15 Houston on Saturday, followed by a matchup between No. 1 Alabama and No. 20 USC that will test whether the defending champion Crimson Tide can effectively replace graduated quarterback Jake Coker under center. Also Saturday, No. 6 Ohio State will take the field against Bowling Green, while their hated rivals No. 7 Michigan will start things off against Hawaii.

On Sunday, No. 10 Notre Dame will take on the Texas Longhorns, with the Fighting Irish aiming to perfect their two-quarterback system and test a largely new receiving corps. Meanwhile, No. 11 Mississippi will face No. 4 Florida State — an early championship contender — in a Labor Day matchup.

Action began in earnest Thursday, as No. 9 Tennessee eked out a 20-13 overtime victory against un-ranked Appalachian State in a dramatic start to the college football season. No. 8 Stanford, No. 12 Michigan State, and No. 23 Baylor will all make their 2016 debut Friday.

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You can see the entire Week 1 schedule here — but really, the only game worth setting an alarm for this weekend is the 12 p.m. ET matchup Saturday between, yes, un-ranked Northwestern and un-ranked Western Michigan. Of course, as a Northwestern alum and long-aggrieved Wildcat football fan, I might be biased — but what can I say, we've got a starting quarterback in the NFL this year, and even President Obama is on our side.