Why fall is the best time of the year on the sports calendar

The NFL might be the most popular league in the United States, but for many, the Fall Classic is still the marquee event on the sports calendar. This applies even more when big-market, big-following teams like the Red Sox and Dodgers are left. That said, this year's big story is whether or not the Astros can successfully defend their title. They'll have to go through Boston, and very possibly Los Angeles, to do it. Whether it's Houston or Boston, L.A. or the small-market Brewers, it should be a spectacle worthy of the moniker — now could Major League Baseball just see to it that a game ends before 11 p.m. Eastern?

While the World Series might be the biggest event of early fall, year in and year out, this year LeBron James' debut for the Lakers will be the single biggest story. A final act of what might be the sport's greatest career begins in Tinseltown and comes ready-made with an arch-nemesis in the form of the Golden State Warriors. Can James restore L.A. to its former glory and add yet another chapter to an incredible resume? Avid hoops fans and casual sports fans alike will be looking west to find out.

As of this writing, Auburn is a little bit down, though still ranked in the Top 25, and Alabama is, well, Alabama. The Crimson Tide are the odds-on favorite to take home another national championship, but the Iron Bowl may represent a real hurdle for them. Strange things have been known to happen in this game, none stranger than 2013's "Kick Six" finish, which saw the Tigers stun Nick Saban and the Tide with a walk-off missed field-goal return, a play that ended Bama's national title hopes and helped vault Auburn into the game in its stead. Will anything that crazy happen this time around? Probably not — but it might, and that's why the Iron Bowl is a must-watch.

You know your rivalry game is a big deal when no nickname is necessary. "The Game," played annually between Ohio State and Michigan, is arguably the greatest rivalry in college football. "The Game" has provided countless thrills and has run nearly uninterrupted since its inaugural in 1897. From Desmond Howard's Heisman moment in 1991 to a classic No. 1 vs. No. 2 clash in 2006, the two teams have always made headlines. Even when one team has been down, the possibility of a seismic upset has always loomed large and at times upended the national championship picture.

Turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, awkward conversations around the dinner table and the NFL — Thanksgiving staples in homes all over the country. You know that the Lions and Cowboys will be at home, and the advent of Thursday night football has given rise to a third game — one that helps you fight off the effects of all that tryptophan. Whether you're a fan or not, the appeal of Thanksgiving Day football is simple and irresistible: good food, drinks and wall-to-wall sports on television. It doesn't get much better than that.

What makes conference championship week so special? It's a combination of factors — the stakes, the quality of the teams and the inherent drama created when those first two elements are in play. These games are often a gateway to the College Football Playoff for the winners and a fast track to crushing disappointment for the losers. They're the perfect follow-up to Thanksgiving NFL games and a great primer for a very special college football tradition of early December, which is...

...Army-Navy. The opposing chants are simple and perfect. "Go Navy, beat Army," and "Go Army, beat Navy," are classic examples of less is more. The records don't matter, and while Navy has been much stronger lately and had a 14-game winning streak, Army has won the last two, both of them in thrilling, dramatic fashion. No other explanation of the game's appeal or significance is necessary. It's Army-Navy. Enough said.

"Hey Chris, Christmas Day happens in a season called winter." Yes, yes, I know. Still, this game always counts for me as being a fall event. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's the gateway from fall to winter sports. Either way, it's always a fun way to spend a holiday after all the fuss has died down, and this year it pits LeBron's Lakers against Steph, KD and the Warriors. Also in action on Christmas Day this year? A bunch of one-name stars: Harden, Giannis, Russ, Embiid and Dame. Sign me up, even if the winter solstice technically happened the week before.

No East Coast Bias here. Cal-Stanford is appointment viewing every year, and the rivalry gave us possibly the greatest ending and call in sports history. Say "the band is out on the field," to any person with even a passing interest in college football, and they'll know exactly what you're talking about. That 1982 kickoff return is so famous, it even has its own name —"The Play." The sunny, pleasant northern California setting isn't necessarily what one thinks of when imagining "rivalry weather," but it works just the same. Stanford has won eight straight games and been stronger of late, but The Big Game still packs plenty of dramatic punch.

There are quite literally too many "preseason" college basketball tournaments to count, but the Maui Invitational rises to the top of the list. The coaches seem more relaxed, perhaps owing to the fact that they're in Maui, and while the games are intense and feature prominent teams, they happen so early that the stakes are low in terms of hurting a team's NCAA Tournament chances. Maui is like really tasty junk food for college basketball fans — it satisfies a craving but leaves them wanting more, when what is actually coming next is a normally uninspiring non-conference slate.

Much like the NBA on Christmas Day, bowl week, or at least part of it, takes place in winter. Even the name is something of a misnomer, as bowl games start on Dec. 15 and occur almost daily through the rest of December and into early January. Does it matter who you're watching? No. Can you even name the bowl game? Of course not. Are there more empty seats than fans? Frequently. Will you still doggedly tune in and love every second because sports on television are better than, say, yard work? You better believe it.

The World Series was great last year, but this year, the NLCS has already delivered some thrills, and the ALCS matches what seem on paper to be the two best teams in the sport. The only thing better than one championship-level series is two of them, and baseball has plenty of big names left. Can Clayton Kershaw get through the Cinderella Brewers? Will Chris Sale and Boston extend their dominant runs? Can the Astros successfully defend their crown? Or will Milwaukee and Christian Yelich steal the show. If some is good, more is better, and by that logic, the ALCS and NLCS are an even bigger treat for baseball fans than the Fall Classic.

Part of what makes the fall sports calendar great is that every sport is in season at once. Yes, baseball is near its end, and basketball and hockey are just starting, but the mere fact that something is happening virtually every night is the appeal. The Capitals' title defense, Connor McDavid's attempt to lift Edmonton out of the doldrums after a major stumble last year, and the Penguins' continued efforts to forge a dynasty are all major stories, but they aren't the biggest story in hockey. That distinction goes to...

...The Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares. If you're familiar with the NHL, you just might be aware of the fact that the league's glamour franchise hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1967. The addition of one of the league's best centers to a team brimming with young talent has expectations, always insane in Toronto, to new heights. Can Tavares, Auston Matthews and Co. finally deliver a title, or will they wilt under pressure charitably described as immense? Whatever the outcome, the eyes of the hockey world will be glued to them. 

Jimmy Butler is disrupting things in Minnesota, and no one is entirely sure what to make of it. The East is wide open after LeBron's move to L.A., and Golden State's dominance is said by some to be a detriment to the league. But there are already whispers that Kevin Durant may forgo a long-term dynasty in the Bay Area to carve his own legacy somewhere in the east, perhaps New York. Can the addition of Carmelo Anthony push the Houston Rockets over the top, or will it destroy them from within? The early developments in these plots will play out this fall, and one could argue there's never been a better time to be an NBA fan.

Sean McVay and the Rams are flying high and might not be stopped by anyone. Patrick Mahomes is taking the league by storm. The run-pass option, or RPO, is the new "it" concept in the league. More than anything some of the old guard is turning over, and young, exciting players are hooking in a new generation of fans. Will Mahomes keep playing at an MVP level? Will McVay stay a few steps ahead of his fellow coaches? Those questions will be answered throughout the fall, as the NFL season reaches a fever pitch.

Don't act like you haven't tuned in at least once or twice. Premier League soccer is getting bigger and bigger stateside, and stars across the pond are gaining name-recognition traction in the U.S. Whether you're a fan of one of the "Big Six" or root for a squad in a perpetual struggle against relegation, soccer at its highest level has plenty of appeal, especially given that the time difference provides live sports early on Saturday and Sunday mornings from August to May. Breakfast and the world's most popular sport are a very nice combination, indeed.

It has already started, well in advance of the general managers' meetings and before the World Series participants are even decided. Who is going where, and how much might be spent in free agency is always a big topic, so much so that it has its own term. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are the big prizes this offseason, and the speculation as to where each man might land is sure to dominate the headlines for many weeks. Beyond those two, there are plenty of teams looking to make improvements, and there will be trades — there are always trades. It might not be games on the field, but it's plenty interesting nonetheless.

You know a rivalry is great when the headline in one student newspaper, after the most famous game in the series' history, reads, "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29." That was in fact the headline after 16 late points from the Crimson, a heavy underdog, shocked the Bulldogs in 1968. That game is viewed as the most famous in Ivy League history, and the rivalry, while it's not on every fan's radar and rarely involves players who have a realistic shot at the pros, is a throwback affair. While not even the longest-running Ivy rivalry (trailing Princeton-Yale), it is the most famous. Want some lo-fi intensity involving players who combine brains and brawn? Harvard-Yale is for you.

One consistent problem college football fans have is that despite many attempts at fixing the system, the method by which a national champion is crowned is flawed. If those fans are loyal to an FCS school, however, they have no such worries. FCS, or Division I-AA for older fans, crowns its champion basketball-style, via a 24-team tournament that runs from November until January. Some FCS schools, namely North Dakota State and James Madison, have become household names because of their propensity for knocking off FBS opponents. Either way, if you think the only problem with major college football is that it doesn't have a tournament, then the NCAA Division I Football Championship is for you.