The college football season has become a year-round affair. College football constantly produces headlines, from the transfer portal to recruiting to spring practice.
As we've now entered April, many teams are in the thick of their spring training schedules and top football programs are preparing for their annual spring games.
Spring games are inter-team scrimmages that are open to fans, the public, and the media.
These televised scrimmages often make for fun viewing and are a nice way to quell your football cravings this time of year. But these games are vitally important to coaches and players.
It's the closest replication programs will experience to the real thing in the fall.
It's the first time we get to see top-rated freshmen in action, and the first time we get to see coaches in new roles and transferees in new uniforms.
High-profile positional battles will also be on open display.
And with the new transfer portal windows, this could be an insight into who could be heading to the portal come May.
Below are just some of the spring games with the most intriguing headlines you should pay attention to this month.
Georgia Bulldogs — April 15th
Arguably, the most noteworthy quarterback battle in the country is happening right now down in Athens as Kirby Smart is looking to replace his back-to-back National Championship-winning quarterback, Stetson Bennett.
Carson Beck served as Bennett's backup last season and even saw playing time in the National Championship blowout victory. So, he's the current front-runner to be named QB1.
But, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton are highly touted prospects who will most likely split even playing time with Beck during Georgia's spring game.
Outwith the quarterback battle, it will be interesting to see new stars emerge for the Bulldogs.
Jalen Carter, Kelee Ringo, Nolan Smith, Darnell Washington, Broderick Jones, and many more key players from the past two seasons have left the team.
There's no doubt Kirby Smart and Co. have prepared for this. So, remember the names you hear during Georgia's “G-Day” spring game. They will most likely be college football's next superstars.
Texas Longhorns — April 15th
The eyes of the college football world will be watching as Arch Manning dawns a Texas uniform and walks onto Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium for the first time.
Since he arrived in Austin, there has been a constant buzz and excitement for the future of the Texas football program.
But even though the media will be in awe of every throw he makes during the Orange and White spring game, the starting quarterback job is firmly in the hands of Quinn Ewers.
Ewers is expected to make massive strides in his performance after his first season as a starting quarterback. And the Texas spring game will be a showcase for him and an offense that has to deal with the departure of Bijan Robinson.
The Texas football program cannot afford to squander these next five to six years.
With Ewers, Manning, and a top-25 defense, the opportunity to reclaim their position near the top of the college football rankings is now. And the orange and white spring game is the first step to that reclaimed success.
Ohio State — April 15th
Ohio State was a missed field goal away from reaching the National Championship last season. And the rebuild back to the playoff starts now for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. It starts by replacing two-time Heisman finalist CJ Stroud.
Former four-star recruits Kyle McCord and Devin Brown are vying for the starting quarterback position. McCord looks to be the front-runner at the minute, but that's because he has the experience over Devin Brown.
But the role is still up for grabs, and the Scarlett and Gray spring game will be the best look-in as to who is currently leading the race.
Marvin Harrison Jr is expected to be the best wide receiver in the country next season. He'll be on full display regardless of who's throwing him the ball.
The Buckeyes will once again be at the top of the rankings this pre-season. But the spring game will give us a nice foresight into the season ahead.
Colorado Buffaloes — April 22nd
Everything the Colorado football program has done since the hiring of Deion Sanders has been newsworthy. So, when Coach Prime takes the sidelines in Colorado for the first time, unsurprisingly, it will draw a lot of attention.
So much so, that the Black and Gold game will be the only spring game broadcast on ESPN's flagship station.
The game is also sold out — something very rare for spring games as even SEC schools struggle to draw high attendance for scrimmages.
Beyond the draw of Deion Sanders, there are legitimate questions to be answered on the field.
Deion took two of Jackson State's top players to Colorado with him: Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. In doing so, both are projected to make over $1 million in NIL deals, ranking them among the top players in the country.
Can Shedeur be a capable quarterback in a Power-5 conference?
And how will Travis Hunter be utilized after being an ironman for Jackson State last season?
Wisconsin Badgers — April 22nd
For years, Wisconsin has been a hard-nosed, hard hat and lunch pail-type team. Two tight ends a full back and a run between the tackles.
But college football has evolved.
That type of offense cannot keep up with the likes of Ohio State who are capable of scoring on every possession. But finally, it seems like Wisconsin may be changing its deep-rooted offensive philosophy.
Wisconsin hired Luke Fickell to be their new head coach in the offseason and is already implementing his scheme.
The Badgers also added a bunch of talent through the transfer portal like CJ Williams from USC and Quarterback Nick Evers from Oklahoma.
The Wisconsin spring game will be an interesting watch to see how the Badgers are developing under Coach Fickell and how this new-look offense stacks up against a very stout, and still intact, Wisconsin defense.
