COLLEGE FOOTBALL FEVER - It's never too early to catch it. Especially now that the Sports USA Radio Network's 2009 College Football schedule has been released. In the eight years we've broadcast the College Football Game of the Week, the two teams who eventually met in the BCS National Championship Game have never failed to first grace our national airwaves. In several seasons, it was multiple appearances. The chase for the crystal football promises to be even more wide open than ever in 2009. Just as compelling will be the season-long battle for the Heisman Trophy. With Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford returning for his senior season in Norman, and Florida's Tim Tebow back to cap his brilliant career in Gainesville, we'll have the unprecedented situation of TWO active former Heisman winners when the season kicks off on Sept. 5. (True, the BCS title games in Miami in 2005 and Pasadena in 2006 featured multiple Heisman laureates; but each one included that season's Heisman winner.) Bradford, the incumbent Heisman winner, will make multiple appearances on the largest college football play-by-play network in the nation in 2009. He'll challenge Bo Pelini's resurgent Black Shirt Nebraska defense in Lincoln Nov. 7, then come back two weeks later facing a Texas Tech crowd in Lubbock on Nov. 21 hungry to avenge last year's 65-point facial at Owen Field. Tebow will be heard from Oct. 17, when Bobby Petrino's Arkansas Razorbacks come into The Swamp to challenge the defending national champions. Florida's remarkable quarterback could bow out next Jan. 8 at the Rose Bowl with two Heismans and three national championships, which would make him unquestionably the greatest player in College Football history. Let's not overlook Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who also returns for his senior year. The Longhorns have their chance to avenge the game that cost them a BCS slot when Texas Tech comes to Austin Sept. 19. Texas will also challenge Lott Trophy Watch List linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and Gary Pinkel's rebuilt Missouri Tigers in Columbia on Oct. 24. The ongoing war of words between the Pac-10 and the Southeastern Conference will be road-tested in three of the first four weeks of the new season. LSU makes a rare visit to the West Coast to take on Washington and Huskies junior quarterback Jake Locker to kick off the season in Seattle on Sept. 5. Locker, one of the Pac-10's most explosive physical talents the past two seasons, is now working under the tutelage of head coach Steve Sarkisian, the former Trojans quarterbacks coach who helped tutor Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC. Another former Leinart coach, Lane Kiffin, will have his Tennessee Volunteers hosting UCLA on Sept. 12. The Vols go to Florida a week later. On Sept. 26, Arizona State reciprocates Georgia's visit to Sun Devil Stadium last September. Georgia coach Mark Richt has a huge rebuilding job to do after losing quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno to the NFL. ASU plays a game without Rudy Carpenter at quarterback for the first time in three years. Two other classic SEC rivalries will be available for your listening pleasure. Alabama visits Ole Miss on Oct. 10. Coach Nick Saban had another monster haul of prep talent last February, which will only help as he breaks in a new quarterback to succeed John Parker Wilson. Houston Nutt wasted no time fortifying Mississippi after getting chased out of Arkansas, leading the Rebels to a 9-4 record that included Florida's only loss of the season (in The Swamp, no less), a 31-13 pounding of LSU in Baton Rouge, and a 47-34 Cotton Bowl thumping of Texas Tech. Quarterback Jevan Snead is back. He led a big second half comeback that only ensured an Alabama victory when his fourth down pass fell incomplete with 61 seconds to play at Tuscaloosa. On Nov. 28, Arkansas and LSU will renew their traditional Thanksgiving weekend SEC West rivalry at Tiger Stadium. The Big Ten checks in with Penn State at Illinois, the conference's last two Rose Bowl representatives, on Oct. 3. Iowa challenges Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 14. Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz was reportedly on his way out in Iowa City before the huge upset of Penn State last Nov. 2. That win, and a 31-0 Outback Bowl blowout of South Carolina gave Iowa a four-game winning streak, momentum into 2009, and a new contract for Ferentz. The Buckeyes are now sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor's team, after the graduations of perennial stars running back Beanie Wells, wide receiver Brian Robiskie, 2008 Lott Trophy winner and three-time Associated Press All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis and All-America cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. The other confirmed game on our national schedule could have huge national championship implications. USC visits Oregon on Halloween, Oct. 31. Talk about trick or treat. The game comes one week after a scheduling challenge that has the Trojans at Notre Dame Oct. 17, and vs. Oregon State on Oct. 24. Coach Pete Carroll's team has lost its last three games in the state of Oregon. The last two directly cost Southern California a berth in the BCS national championship game. The Trojans are just 1-3 in their most recent four appearances on the Sports USA Radio Network. That includes national championship-aborting losses to UCLA in 2006, at Oregon in 2007 and at Oregon State in 2008. After a wild card game to be determined on Dec. 5, we'll also bring you the Las Vegas, Independence, Sun and Capital One Bowls. Network president Larry Kahn has an uncanny knack for selecting games that help shape the national championship picture. This season doesn't figure to be any different.

LOTT TROPHY IMPACT PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - We invite you to join us each week on the GEICO Halftime Report to hear from the Lott Trophy IMPACT Player of the Week, presented by Wells Fargo. The Legends Coaches, including our own John Robinson, Terry Donahue and Gary Barnett, select a winner each week, and you'll hear from him the following Saturday. Among our guests last season were eventual winner Laurinaitis, Texas DE Brian Orakpo, Wake Forest LB Aaron Curry, Tennessee's SEC Defensive Player of the Year Eric Berry, and Florida State's Rhodes Scholar honoree Myron Rolle.

THE ROAD TO THE ROSE BOWL - With the national championship game headed here to southern California, the home of the Sports USA Radio Network, we're planning season-long features to build up to the BCS showdown at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 8. One feauture here on our website will feature distinguished Rose Bowl historian Todd Erickson, whose colorful Rose Bowl history text of 2007 is a must-have addition to any college football fan's library. Todd also handles publicity for Lawry's The Prime Rib, the legendary Beverly Hills restaurant that annually hosts the two Rose Bowl teams in "The Beef Bowl." Says Erickson: "This year, we're hosting the Beef Bowl for the two teams in the Rose Bowl, and then a SECOND Beef Bowl for the two teams in the BCS National chanpionship game one week later." Our appetite for college football is already building!