The sounds of drum cadences are in the air, which can mean one of two things: AJ is playing EA Sports College Football 25 nearby or college football is back, baby. (Actually, who are we kidding? Both things are true.)

Yes, friends, welcome to Week 0, otherwise known as the “What the heck is my Fubo password?” weekend. (Seriously. Go find your passwords. Set up your football-watching environment. This is your practice run. You’ve been warned.)

Before we get to actual football, we catch up a bit on what we did on our summer vacations. Carla chased down new MTSU football coach Derek Mason and signed a beam, AJ began a Hawaii dynasty (of course) on that aforementioned video game, and Crappy is super excited about DIII football. (Yes, really. Listen to understand why.)

Then, AJ doles out a “Where are they now?” pop quiz. Spoiler alert: This was harder than it sounds. We didn’t do well. Also, SMU is in the ACC. Because that’s a thing and everything is weird.

Up next? Real. Live. College. Football. There are seven games in Week 0 on Saturday, and we preview all of them. In chronological order, they are:

No. 10 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland (Noon ET, ESPN)

McNeese State at Tarleton State (2:30 ET, ESPN2)

FCS No. 2 Montana State at New Mexico (4 ET, FS1)

North Alabama vs. Southeast Missouri (7 ET, ESPN)

MEAC/SWAC Challenge: FAMU vs. Norfolk State in Atlanta (7:30 ET, ABC)

SMU at Nevada (8:30 ET, CBSSN)

Delaware State at Hawaii (Midnight ET, Team 1 Sports App)

We wrap things up by making our attempts at prognosticating the College Football Playoff brackets, which makes for scintillating audio, we promise. Remember: There are 12 teams in the CFP this year; the top 4 conference champions get byes, the 5th highest rated conference champion gets in, and the rest are at-large bids. Got all of that? Yeah. It’s weird. But kind of exciting in a new college football world that feels … remarkably wide open? Maybe we’re being optimistic.

So, yes, everything is weird but it’s going to be a fun season. Enjoy our 2024 season opener and get ready, because next week? It’s time to get weird and serious at the same time. Why not?

Cheers, yinz.