In the United Stages, NCAA College football officially kicks off Saturday with a handful of games that lead up to next weekend's full slate of opening games for teams across the country. This weekend there are only four games, which are not important, and not broadcast by any of the major networks. This weekend is considered part of next weekend's first round of games. Yes, it does get a bit confusing. The biggest game today, broadcast by ESPN, which has an every decreasing viewership, is a rivalry game in Florida, between two of the state's most notable teams. The University of Miami Hurricanes will face the University of Florida Gators at the crossroads of the state — Orlando, neutral territory. The Hurricanes and Gators will meet at Camping World Stadium for a primetime matchup that not only has Sunshine State fans giddy, but those from the SEC and ACC clamoring to see which conference gets the upper hand in early-season trash talking. The Miami Hurricanes were the team of the 1980s with national championships in 1983, 1987 and 1989, with more wins in 1991 and 2001. The Florida Gators won their first national championship in 1996, and followed by titles in 2006 and 2008. And though the two schools fight for state supremacy with Florida State University, other teams with up-and-coming programs have already established themselves as contenders, like Central Florida and South Florida. Also playing today is Philadelphia's Villanova, playing at Colgate, Ohio's Youngstown State playing at Samford, and Arizona at Hawaii. In Spain, the Vuelta kicks off today! This is not cycling's most famous race, but some would argue, it is the best. The 2019 Vuelta a España is a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place in Spain, Andorra and France between today and 15 September 2019. The race will be the 74th edition of the Vuelta a España and will be the final Grand Tour of the 2019 cycling season. This year's Vuelta will consist of 21 stages, totalling over 2000 miles (actually 3272.2 kilometers!) The 18 UCI teams are automatically invited to the race, of course, and this year there are four Wild Card slots, filled with Continental Teams. These last should be well known to any fan of cycling, and this year they include Burgos BH, Caja Rural–Seguros RGA, Cofidis and Euskadi–Murias. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo- Visma), Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma), Miguel Ángel López (Astana), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), all well known to readers of this space, are considered among the pre-race favourites. In addition, riding for strong teams who can support their bids are Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe). Kruijswijk is riding in the Vuelta after having placed third overall in this year's Tour de France. Another Grand Tour finisher, Primoz Roglic, who took third in this years Giro d'Italia, is also out for all the glory. López was on the podium in both the 2018 Giro d'Italia and the 2018 Vuelta a España. There will be three previous winners of the Vuelta among the participating cyclists : Alejandro Valverde (2009), Fabio Aru (2015) and Nairo Quintana (2016). The race is scheduled to start with a team time trial in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca, in southeastern Spain. The initial evening Team Time Trial has become a standard fixture in recent Vueltas. The stage is only 18 kilometers (11.2 miles), so it is essentially a showpiece of the teams and riders. It will be a good opportunity for those who are able to follow it live. In Aussie Rules weekend, it all comes down to this, the final weekend of regular season play. After 22 rounds, there are still four teams gunning for the last remaining finals berth in a very tight race. One of those four will make it. Even for the seven teams already assured of a spot in the playoffs, there is so much to play for, including home field advantage, and the glory. Ah yes, the glory. The Magpies could finish as high as third depending on West Coast and Richmond's results. The Bombers will finish seventh or eighth depending on the Western Bulldogs' result. The Geelong cats could lock in a top two spot with a win, and might take the top spot for the season if Brisbane loses their game this weekend. Should Carlton win their game this weekend, Geelong could finish as low as fourth. Everything is still in play for many Aussie Rules teams, it should be an exciting weekend. As Always, Eric http://speedorex.blogspot.com/ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/omnisporthttps://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Triathletepix/info -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/omnisport/1699067065.1077095.1566627364474%40mail.yahoo.com.
