With 100 days to go before the season begins, College Football 24/7 presents 100 things to be excited about for college football in 2017. Here are Nos. 61-80.
Note: Click through the tabs above to see all 100 things.
- Alabama-LSU. A rivalry in which one team has won six straight wouldn't normally ring the must-watch bell, but this annual line-of-scrimmage slugfest is as close to NFL-level physicality as a college game gets.
- Royce Freeman's return to his 2015 form. Look for the Oregon running back to again be one of the game's dominant offensive threats.
- What's in store for Indiana WR Simmie Cobbs under a new coach (Tom Allen) and after a season washed out by an ankle injury?
- Miami LB Shaq Quarterman, who got thrown into the fire as a freshman last year and responded exceptionally well, should be one of the ACC's top linebackers.
- More targets for Oklahoma TE Mark Andrews, a red-zone monster who should become a much bigger part of the Sooners' offense.
- Clemson WR Deon Cain's emergence as a star.
- Geoff Collins, one of the game's better defensive minds, sheds the coordinator role to sit in the big chair at Temple.
- Can Nebraska senior De'Mornay Pierson-El recapture the magic that made him one of college football's most exciting punt returners as a freshman in 2014?
- With Chris Godwin off to the NFL, it's DaeSean Hamilton's turn to step in as Penn State's WR1. With a veteran QB in Trace McSorley, expect him to light it up in the Big Ten.
- They know Boston College DE Harold Landry's name around the ACC. By the end of this year, they'll know it around the nation.
- Will USF play more like Louisville did under Charlie Strong, or more like Texas did?
- Can Alabama upgrade at left tackle from a second-round pick in Cam Robinson? As a freshman last year, right tackle Jonah Williams had the better season of the two, and he'll flop to the left side this fall.
- Fireworks in Gainesville. The Florida Gators' offense hasn't been truly explosive in years. This season, it had better be, or fans will let third-year coach Jim McElwain hear about it.
- Is this the year Oregon WR Charles Nelson establishes himself as a major offensive threat? He stepped up last year with 52 catches, but he's capable of much more in the categories of yards-per-catch (10.7) and TDs (5).
- New offensive wrinkles in the SEC West: More than half the division (Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn) has a fresh face in the offensive coordinator role.
- After being the forgotten man at Notre Dame, QB Malik Zaire has one more year to make a splash as a graduate transfer -- wherever it might be.
- Virginia LB Micah Kiser's decision to stay for a fifth-year senior season sets him up for a serious run at the Butkus Award.
- Let's hope South Florida QB Quinton Flowers gets his due as one of the most exciting talents in the game. What will it take? An AAC title and a New Year's Six bowl would help a lot.
- Can new coach Jeff Brohm breathe life into Purdue football? Believe this: If his teams don't win, they'll at least score a lot.
- The Les Miles Watch. You won't hear his name much in September, but just wait until November when a few high-profile firings become imminent. He'll be hotly pursued.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
