The wait is almost over

This is gonna be your team’s year.

Your team brings back a lot of experience. Your team has the right weapons on offense to light up the scoreboards with like no other team can. Your team has defensive stalwarts that, like a kaiju invading downtown Tokyo, are monstrosities upon the Earth you’re glad are part of your squad because you’d hate to have to face them.

You team’s coach is a master strategist. The Bill Gates or Steve Jobs of his craft; a full-on innovator whose research and constant development on current and future trends will enrich your team’s success on the gridiron, bringing your team to glory.

It’s the last week of July and everything is looking chipper for your team. It’s the most wonderful time to be alive.

The period from late January to August can be a rough patch for fans of college football. Sure, college basketball can take its place, but alas, college football is the itch that can’t be scratched. Ever-present and all-encompassing, college football has secured a vice grip on the sporting population that not many other sports can claim.

And today, fans of the MAC can officially consider the offseason over.

MAC Media Day might have moved from Detroit to Canton, but the fact remains that the unofficial start to the football seasons for fans of the 12 full members which make up our fine conference begins with the official preseason media polls, the commissioner’s speech and interviews with coaches and players. If we’re lucky, some schools might even reveal new uniform elements (which is definitely something I anticipate more than some of my paychecks).

It’s an overload of stimulus and information; a second Christmas in July (yes, some people do celebrate that). It’s the opening ceremonies for the next six months of pure sports bliss. We get to reintroduce ourselves to the teams, players and game we love once again and feel that hope all teams hold this time of year.

This year is our year.

Officially, we have 36 days until the start of the MAC slate, which features four games on Aug. 31. But with fall camps coming to a conclusion and two-deeps being released, the ball might as well be on the kickoff tee.

So buckle up and check our website and Twitter page throughout the day today as our writer Rocket (@morefball on Twitter) provides updates from Canton, Ohio. No one is really sure how this season will go, but we’ll be here to cover all the #MACtion you can handle. And trust us, there will be a LOT of it.

Have any bold predictions for how your team will do this year? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @HustleBelt!