Gary Brown: Time to avidly watch the big college games

College football season finally has begun.

Looks like I won't be mowing my grass on Saturday afternoons anymore this year. Or Saturday evening. There also are a bunch of broadcasts of games on Thursdays and Fridays this season, and a few networks are telecasting Sunday games. I wouldn't be surprised if some games showed up on Tuesday, too.

So, if you happen to see my grass is newly mowed on Wednesday – not too early because I have to check the polls and schedules in the morning – you'll understand.

I'm a college football junkie.

All other pursuits will take secondary status until the games of the day are viewed. No game is too insignificant to consume. No team is too untalented to watch.

Ask my loved on. She'll nod and roll her eyes.

Conference games come first

My television remote control is my friend and companion as I switch back and for the between telecasts.

Ohio State is my team of choice, and I have an assortment of hats and OSU shirts to provide evidence of my preference. I suit up for game day.

I once was wearing one of my prized Ohio State caps on a vacation trip to Hawaii. My loved one and I were walking along a path within sight of the ocean when a passerby stepping in the opposite direction – and Ohio State fan, no doubt – recognized it and said "O-H."

"I-O!" I replied as he passed.

I know I should be embarrassed by also admitting this, but on the day of a big game it has crossed my mind to bend my rule about not mowing grass on game day, and carve script Ohio into the front yard with the lawn mower. I'd cut the grass to the sound of the "Fight the Team," the song that the OSU marching band plays as it steps off the formation. A Briggs & Stratton or Lawn Boy is a far cry from a tuba, but I might even bow beside my mower when I dot the "i."

More than just the Big 10

Even though I root for Ohio State, I also root for all the teams in the Big 10, when they're not playing the Buckeyes – even "That Team Up North." I want a victory against them to mean something in the last conference game of the season.

And, let's face it, there is plenty of opportunity to watch Big 10 games.

In an ongoing discrepency between the name of the conference and the number of teams in it, there are 14 Big 10 teams this season. Next season conference expansion will continue – USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon will be added – and the Big 10 name will become even more of an oddity.

They could change the name, I suppose. But, "The Big 18?" Are there that many teams which are truly "big?"

I root for my alma mater, Bowling Green, of course, unless they are playing OSU. Hey, I value my education, but I don't want an accidental upset to ruin the Buckeyes' season.

And, I root for Notre Dame when they aren't playing Ohio State. I went to a parochial school. Knowledge of "The Fighting Irish" football was almost part of the Catholic curriculum.

Lastly, I root for the Syracuse Orange. I grew up in western New York. Syracuse was on TV a lot. Relationships linger, long after the breakup.

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Gary Brown: Time to avidly watch the big college games