Joey Johnston

For the East Coast fans, it’s a noon-to-midnight kind of day. For the West Coasters, it’s breakfast-to-dinner. For residents of Hawaii, set the alarm clock.

For everyone, get some extra batteries for the clicker.

Saturday is a great time to follow college football. The only drawback: There isn’t enough time in the day to watch everything and absorb all the ramifications. You need a game plan.

Here’s mine, from top to bottom:

1. S-E-C, S-E-C: You can’t go wrong focusing on the SEC doubleheader, featuring a quartet of unbeaten teams. LSU at Auburn by day. Florida at Tennessee by night.

LSU-Auburn has developed into the SEC’s showcase case, certainly the de facto West Division championship game. The Tigers vs. Tigers matchups have grown so compelling, they are known by nicknames. In 2004, it was “The Extra-Point Game” (Auburn’s 10-9 win was propelled by a second-chance PAT that followed a miss — and an LSU personal foul). Last season, it was “The Field-Goal Game” (LSU prevailed 20-17 when Auburn’s John Vaughn missed his fifth field-goal attempt).

Florida-Tennessee is on its way back as a premier SEC game. The quarterback matchup of Chris Leak vs. Erik Ainge might be reminiscent of the old Danny Wuerffel vs. Peyton Manning games. Leak is off to a superb start for his second season in Urban Meyer’s offense. Ainge looks like a completely different player now that David Cutcliffe has returned as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.

2. Pluck Of The Irish: Notre Dame’s defense, maligned in the offseason, has been unexpectedly sensational in defeating Georgia Tech and Penn State. Now Michigan visits the Irish, and a 3-0 sweep would be impressive. Michigan never recovered from last season’s home loss to Notre Dame and QB Chad Henne, particularly, needs to play well for the Wolverines to have a shot. So far, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn has been as good as advertised.

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3. Make Room For Daddy: Clemson at Florida State. Bowden Bowl VII. Daddy (Florida State’s Bobby Bowden) leads Tommy (Clemson’s Tommy Bowden) 5-2 in the father-son series. This game is at Tallahassee, where Tommy has never won. That might seem scary, unless you consider Florida State’s last home appearance (the Seminoles had to rally for a win against Troy). Clemson is coming off a crushing 34-33 overtime loss at Boston College, missing a PAT attempt in the extra session. Clemson has been talking ACC title, but it had to defeat Boston College. Now the Tigers must win at Florida State, or else there could be some backsliding.

4. Bring The Earplugs: Oklahoma at Oregon. Autzen Stadium will be rocking. It’s a rematch of the Holiday Bowl, where Oklahoma won 17-14 and Sooners QB Rhett Bomar (dismissed from the team in August) was named MVP. Oklahoma’s weapon: RB Adrian Peterson. Oregon’s weapon: Crowd noise.

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5. The Cane Mutiny: Yes, it’s early. But Miami is at Louisville. And if the Hurricanes lose — a distinct possibility — the Hurricanes will be 1-2. The heat will intensify for Coach Larry Coker, who shook up the staff in the offseason, potentially painting himself as an eventual target. The Hurricanes were awful in a 13-10 season-opening loss to Florida State. They can’t afford sluggishness against the point-a-minute Cardinals and QB Brian Brohm.

6. The Brand Names: Nebraska at USC. Sounds like a mammoth game, right? Well, not exactly. Nebraska is still rebuilding its reputation and probably isn’t up for this task. In the post-Leinart, post-Bush era, the USC Trojans are getting along just fine. John David Booty, the USC QB, looks like he was worth the wait.

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7. BCS-Buster: Texas Tech at TCU. Here it is. TCU’s shot to climb up the BCS ladder and make a play for major-bowl status. The Horned Frog defense will be severely challenged by Texas Tech’s offensive scheme and the latest quarterback, Graham Harrell.

There you have it. A complete day (and night) of viewing for the best date on college football’s calendar. No matter what, you can’t lose.