If you’re like me (i.e., a huge nerd), this is the time of year you start poring over the upcoming college football schedule and giving yourself something to look forward to in the dog days of the offseason.
And that’s when you start to find them. No, not the primetime network television clashes of titans. Not the conference-title-deciding rivalry games. I’m talking about the true gems that make college football the beautiful little freak of a sport that we love so much. The games that affect nothing other than the two teams involved. The games that shatter pride, create memories, and remind us of how hard it is to predict the behavior of 18- to 22-year-old college students.
Here are seven games from the upcoming college football season that we think have the best chance of getting weird in the best possible way.