Flickr/bobafred

If you want to catch the best college football games in-person, you usually have to pay a pretty penny – especially early in the year. Before the season starts, every fan base has hope that their program is going to have a magical season and hoist the BCS National Championship trophy in January. Then, after a few losses, expectations (and ticket prices) start to come back down to earth.

There are some great matchups slated for the first weekend of the college football season. But which do fans want to attend the most, and how can that be determined? We took a shot at it by looking at the cheapest ticket prices still available for every college football game during the first week. It turns out there are quite a few games fans are looking forward to.

Here are the top 10 priciest college football opening weekend games, in reverse order, according to StubHub:

"Cheap" Tickets for Buffalo vs Ohio State

10. Penn State vs. Syracuse
Cheapest Seats: $99
Met Life Stadium
East Rutherford, NJ

9. Buffalo vs. Ohio State
Cheapest Seats: $108
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, OH

7th-Tied. USC vs. Hawaii
Cheapest Seats: $115
Aloha Stadium
Honolulu, HI

7th-Tied. North Carolina vs. South Carolina
Cheapest Seats: $115

"Cheap" Tickets For Rutgers vs. Fresno State

Williams Brice Stadium
Columbia, SC

6. Boise State vs. Washington
Cheapest Seats: $118
Husky Stadium
Seattle, WA

5. Rutgers vs. Fresno State
Cheapest Seats: $135
Bulldog Stadium
Fresno, CA

4. LSU vs. TCU
Cheapest Seats: $156
Cowboys Stadium
Arlington, TX

"Cheap" Tickets For Georgia vs. Clemson

3. Temple vs. Notre Dame
Cheapest Seats: $165
Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame, IN

2. Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
Cheapest Seats: $226
Georgia Dome
Atlanta, GA

1. Georgia vs. Clemson
Cheapest Seats: $237
Clemson Memorial Stadium
Clemson, SC

He has a website dedicated to his recruitment, although it is not run by Kief himself, but rather his uncle. Today, Kief decided to release his list of top five schools that he is considering for college — as you can see below, those five schools are Notre Dame, Kentucky, Ohio State, Northwestern, and Alabama (in no particular order):

Photo via derekkeif.com

If you’re wondering where that quote comes from, it’s actually from a rap song, written about Derek Kief. The rap was written by a friend, Woo Bino, and accompanies one of his highlight reels. You can check it out below:

It looks like Kief is very much enjoying the recruitment process.

Hat tip to Tyler James of the South Bend Tribune.

florencefreedom.com

Manti Te’o may have moved on to the professional ranks, but he can’t escape the biggest story of his college days – the fake girlfriend hoax. Right after being drafted by the Chargers, a San Diego newspaper mocked him with a cartoon. A few weeks back, Maxim included “Lennay Kekua” on its Hot 100 list and invited Te’o to the party – which he actually attended. And now, we’ve got another jab at Te’o, courtesy of the Florence Freedom, an independent minor league baseball team.

The club is hosting a “Manti Te’o Girlfriend Bobblehead Giveaway” today, gifting the first 1,000 fans in attendance with a Lennay Kekua bobblehead, which, as you probably guessed, will have nothing inside. Original? Not really. But it’s making waves, because, honestly, people are still going for these fake girlfriend jokes.

Oh, and if you wind up making the trip to the game, make sure to check out some of the best sightseeing Florence has to offer.

florencekyonline.com

A fun-filled day.

Twitter

Back in early February, five-star defensive tackle recruit Eddie Vanderdoes chose to play his college football at Notre Dame over UCLA and USC. It was a huge get for the Irish, considering Vanderdoes is a native Californian and had two other viable options if he wanted to play close to home. But it appears it may have been a situation too good to be true.

Multiple reporters indicated last night that Vanderdoes may not actually wind up playing a single down for the Irish – though that’s about the only thing they agree on. According to SB Nation, Lou Somogyi of 247Sports says he has an academic issue. Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee, however, exchanged text messages with Vanderdoes’ father, who said it doesn’t have to do with schoolwork.

Others are speculating that he does, in fact, want to play closer to his hometown. But regardless of the reason, Vanderdoes decommitting isn’t all that simple.

Vanderdoes signed a binding contract with Notre Dame. Would need ND to release him if he wanted to head elsewhere – like UCLA. Tracking

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) May 21, 2013

Because Vanderdoes signed a letter of intent to play for the school, Notre Dame would actually have to release him to allow him to play for another program. And even then, the Irish might have the option to block certain schools – like USC, or Alabama. 

Again, nothing is set in stone, but it’s looking more and more likely that Vanderdoes’ time in South Bend may be up before it even started.

und.com

Notre Dame tight end Jake Golic, son of ESPN’s Mike Golic, will be transferring to the University of Cincinnati for his final year of eligibility. Golic graduated from ND this past year, and therefore will be able to play for the Bearcats immediately. 

His father announced his son’s decision on his radio show, “MIke & Mike in the morning”.

Jake himself then tweeted out the news:

Can’t thank the ND family enough for all the love and support over the last 4 years at ND. You have made it a pleasure to be Irish!

— Jake Golic (@JGolic88) May 21, 2013

With that being said, I am incredibly excited about the opportunity of attending the University of Cincinnati and being a #bearcat!

— Jake Golic (@JGolic88) May 21, 2013

Golic played sparingly in his time with the Irish, making appearances in just four games in his four seasons. He’ll surely be looking to make a bigger impact at Cincinnati this upcoming season.

Hey Elisha Shaw…. Wanna #fighton #trojan

— Isis Taylor (@IsisTaylor) May 16, 2013

A few days later, Taylor was on the offensive again, this time going after Louis Nix III, a Notre Dame defensive tackle. For those unaware, the Irish are one of the Trojans’ biggest rivals. 

@1irishchocolate #fighton #trojanlife

— Isis Taylor (@IsisTaylor) May 19, 2013

Once Nix responded, she went for the knockout blow:

@1irishchocolate u guys failed in CHAMP GAME so no #fighton

— Isis Taylor (@IsisTaylor) May 19, 2013

I guess going 12-1 and reaching the BCS National Championship Game isn’t enough for Miss Taylor.

Jay-Z and @rocnation recently surprised Skylar Diggins (@skydigg4) with a new mercedes. ow.ly/i/29tdy

— Hub: Sports + Music (@TheHubSM) May 19, 2013

Naturally, Diggins was excited. Check out her tweet:

I got 99 problems, but a BENZ ain’t one.

— Skylar Diggins (@SkyDigg4) May 19, 2013

Diggins was recently selected by the Tulsa Shock as the No. 3 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. No word yet on whether she’ll prefer to drive herself to away games.

Melanie Collins, a sports broadcaster for Yahoo!, posted a picture of herself and Te’o at the event last night:

This is certainly unprecedented – he has to be the only man to ever attend the Maxim 100 party on behalf of the actual honoree (who doesn’t exist), right?

[Lost Lettermen]

Flickr/hutchike

The ACC may not be finished insulting the Big East. The conference began its spring meetings yesterday, and one of the items on the table was the men’s basketball conference tournament – currently being held in Greensboro, North Carolina.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon were both lobbying for the conference to consider Madison Square Garden for its future tournaments.

“Obviously, coach Boeheim and I are excited about New York, but I also know that Greensboro has a strong, strong presence here at these meetings,” Dixon said. “I think [Madison Square Garden] would be the best thing for the conference. I hope that’s the way they’re headed, but I don’t know that it is.”

Today, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy reported that momentum is gaining for the potential move.

Momentum gaining for ACC to hold future hoops tourneys at Madison Square Garden, sources told @espn

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) May 15, 2013

The ACC’s contract to keep the tournament in Greensboro runs out in 2016, so the earliest this could potentially happen is for the 2016-2017 season. And of course, the (new) Big East is still in the mix as well. But with the size and draw that the ACC now has, it could potentially look like the better option for MSG. We’ll find out soon enough.

Hoke says Notre Dame is “chickening out” of its series with Michigan. Notes ND is still playing Michigan State.

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 13, 2013

Notre Dame and Michigan have one of the best rivalries in college football. These two universities have taken the field against each other every season since 2002, and 40 times total. According to MLive Michigan football beat writer, Kyle Meinke, the teams have been on a three-year contract in which either program could cancel the series. 

From what we can see, it looks like series won’t be continuing past 2014. 

[mlive.com]