By PETER KERASOTIS
Florida Today

College football season is upon us and our first thought is ... finally. Finally the sports calendar reaches its best time of the year.

Why's that?

Well, because.

Because the best young quarterback in the country is Florida's true sophomore Chris Leak.

Because Brock Berlin has too good of a name and right arm not to be a better and more consistent quarterback, which, of course, is what Miami is hoping for.

Because college fight songs still give you goose bumps.

Because whether you love or hate Notre Dame, you still feel good about and admire their tradition.

Because there's nothing better than the backyard barbecue atmosphere in tailgating parking lots before college football games.

Because college players are still the most amateur of all athletes.

Because Lou Holtz is still coaching and motivating, though not necessarily in that order.

Because the Miami Hurricanes have one of the worst stadiums in the country, and it's not even on campus, yet they always have one of the best teams.

Because "Rudy" is still your favorite sports movie of all time.

Because, after all these years away, Southern Cal is back to being a perennial football power.

Because Southern Cal's Matt Leinart is going to wow you at the quarterback position.

Because you won't see a better offensive lineman in the country than Oklahoma's 6-foot-6 Jamaal Brown.

Because the ACC just got a lot more interesting with both Florida State University and Miami now in the conference.

Because this is the one sport where you really do root for the jersey, and it's natural to do so.

Because at this level, guys really do play for the name on the front of the jersey, and not the one on the back.

Because there isn't a better atmosphere in all of college football than the annual Florida-Georgia game, where you're always guaranteed to hear professional men and women barking like dogs.

Because "Win one for the Gipper" is still one of the all-time greatest inspirational sports phrases.

Because staid Nebraska has switched from the option to - get this - a West Coast offense.

Because for the first time in its history, the Southeastern Conference has a black head coach in Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom.

Because, dadgummit, Bobby Bowden is as close to a national treasure as we have.

Because Bobby Ross is back where he belongs, coaching college football - and at Army, no less.

Because where else in sports can you root for teams with nicknames like Banana Slugs, Hokies, Utes and Zips?

Because, after all these years, you don't wonder where or why they came up with nicknames like Ramblin' Wreck, Crimson Tide, Green Wave, Cornhuskers, Sooners or Buckeyes. You just accept.

Because love or hate the bowl system, it's great that at the end of the season half the teams playing in bowl games have a chance to end their season with a victory.

Because while the NFL is a profession for its players, college is a passion.

Because there isn't a better sideline mascot in all the land than the slobbering Uga the bulldog at Georgia games.

Because halftimes give Florida A&M's marching band a chance to strut its stuff, and nobody struts it better.

Because the crispness in the air on a Saturday afternoon just feels like college football.