Top Five Must-See College Football Games of 2009

The weather is simmering, the leaves have yet to change colors and baseball is still the hot commodity in the sports world.

But the glorious fall season is this close.

The football pads will soon be popping. College students will soon be tail gating outside their school's respective football stadiums. And sports conversations will soon be dominated by BCS and Heisman talk.

In preparation for the 2009 college football season, here are the top five regular season games you just can't miss.

5. Florida at Tennessee, Sept. 19 at Gainseville

OK, so there's better games scattered throughout the 2009 season. Maybe USC at Ohio State. Perhaps LSU at Alabama. Even high-profiled rivalry games like USC at Notre Dame. But perhaps no game will be this much fun to watch. Since accepting the head coaching job at Tennessee following the 2008 season, Lane Kiffin has ticked off just about coach in the SEC. But no team has been the subject of as much Kiffin bull(stick) than Florida and coach Urban Meyer. As if the defending national champs needed any further motivation. 42-0? 56-0? 63-7? Whatever the score, it will be a full 60-minute pounding (or, should we say, chomping?) when Tennessee travels to the Swamp on Sept. 19 and plays the Gators.

4. Virginia Tech at Alabama, Sept. 5 at Tuscaloosa

They say you can't win the national championship in September, but you can definitely lose it. There are a couple great games to kickoff the college football season in week one. Virginia Tech's trip to Tuscaloosa tops them all. One of these top 10 teams will have their national title hopes all but dashed, while the other will be firmly planted in the national top 10 throughout the year. Don't miss this prime time, nationally televised game. It's the perfect way to bring in the season.

3. Ohio State at Penn State, Nov. 7 at University Park

There's only one Big Ten game between two preseason top 20 teams this season - a very sad realization of how far the conference has fallen - and this is it. Common sense says the Big Ten championship will boil down to this game Nov. 7 at Happy Valley. The Buckeyes will likely be 8-1 - with a lone loss week 2 against USC - and led by a Heisman hopeful in quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The Nittany Lions should be 9-0, ranked in the top five and led by their own Heisman hopeful in quarterback Darryl Clark. It's the type of matchup you'd expect to see in the Big Ten Championship Game ... if commissioner James Delaney were smart enough to allow one to exist.

2. Florida at LSU, Oct. 10 at Baton Rouge

When a matchup that pits the Gators against LSU in Baton Rouge is only the second best game of the season, you know it's going to be a good year. Both teams should be undefeated - Florida 4-0, LSU 5-0 - and neither will have a tougher test during the regular season. For all accounts, this is the only regular season game Florida has a chance of losing. LSU, on the other hand, has the benefit of playing in front of a raucous home crowd, and an upset victory could catapult the Tigers into the national championship discussion.

1. Texas v. Oklahoma, Oct. 17 at Dallas, Texas

Could this pick be anything else? Not selecting this year's Red River Shootout game is like the L.A. Clippers drafting ANYONE except Blake Griffin back in June. It's that obvious. Both teams should be 5-0 when they meet October 17. Quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford will be vying for the 2009 Heisman. And the loser will likely find themselves outside the Big 12 and BCS Championship Games. No other contest has as much at stake.