The Great College Football Debate isn't about the CFP. It's about fall weddings

I tensed up when a good friend, my former college roommate, first mentioned the possibility of having a fall wedding last year.

Sportswriters who cover college football do not do well with fall weddings.

It’s like asking a chef to duck out on Valentine’s Day or asking a teacher to miss the first day of school.

I last attended a fall wedding in 2015. I was the best man, and I had a blast. But, I’m comfortable with that being an irregular occurrence. I exhaled last year when I learned my friend and his bride would tie the knot on a Thursday evening last September.

Why a Thursday? Well, the reasoning had nothing to do with college football, but who cares, because better a Thursday in September than a Saturday in September, eh?

I attended the wedding, raised a glass several times in celebration of the happy couple, and was back on the job performing the all-important art (I’m kidding) of opining on college football by Saturday.

There’s nothing like some partying on a fall Saturday. USA TODAY averaged party school rankings from seven lists, including Niche.com and Wall Street Journal, to find out who parties the best.

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There’s nothing like some partying on a fall Saturday. USA TODAY averaged party school rankings from seven lists, including Niche.com and Wall Street Journal, to find out who parties the best.

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NO. 25 OHIO STATE. Party score: 24.6

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NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE. Party score: 19.8

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NO. 18 (tie) HOWARD. Party score: 19

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NO. 18 (tie) ILLINOIS. Party score: 19

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NO. 15 SAN DIEGO STATE. Party score: 18.2

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NO. 12 ARIZONA STATE. Party score: 15.5

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NO. 9 PENN STATE. Party score: 12.8

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NO. 8 UC SANTA BARBARA. Party score: 12

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NO. 7 SOUTHERN CAL. Party score: 11.8

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NO. 6 WEST VIRGINIA. Party score: 8.2

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NO. 3 FLORIDA STATE. Party score: 5.7

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I no longer have any bachelor friends. My crew of pals is all wedded, so my fall Saturdays are safe.

Not everyone can consider themselves so fortunate, and that’s reinvigorating one of the great debates of the dog days of August, when the college football ecosystem suffers a last gasp of boredom before the games begin, and an age-old question resurfaces: Is it OK to schedule a fall wedding and ask your friends to miss a Saturday of college football? Is it OK to decline an invitation to a fall wedding?

If you want to get married in the fall, you absolutely should do it. It’s your big day, and only an idiot lets a sportswriter (or a superfan) tell them when they can and can’t get married.

Never mind what your pigskin-brained buddy says, and take the fall plunge. Better yet, see if Oct. 3 is available. The best games that day are Washington-Southern Cal and Ohio State-Iowa.

In other words, bring on the open bar and “Wobble.”

[ This column first published in our SEC Unfiltered newsletter. Want more commentary like this? Sign up The Great College Football Debate isn't to get the newsletter delivered free to your email inbox.]

Back when outdoor weddings reached peak popularity, it seemed like everyone said “I do” in October, when weather is optimal for open-air nuptials. Hey, I get it. Fall foliage isn’t just perfect for football. It’s ideal for wedding photos hung over the mantel, too.

So, yes, if you’re considering a fall wedding, I say go for it. On the other hand, if you’re too much of a CFB diehard to skip a day of games to attend your friend’s wedding, I say that’s acceptable, too. Better to skip a wedding, set up four TVs in your living room, and report back later to the bride and groom on what they missed than to attend and disrupt the reception by carrying in a 75-inch flat-screen and turning up the volume on Gus Johnson, while the wedding party dances the “Cupid Shuffle.”  

Just send a nice gift if you’re choosing a Halloween weekend lineup of Notre Dame-Navy, Florida-Georgia and Ohio State-USC instead of watching two friends enter a lifetime of happiness amid jack-o’-lanterns and skeletons.

Of course, there’s a perfect compromise. Book your wedding for Friday, Oct. 30, serve pumpkin cupcakes and spiked apple cider at the reception, and party with your friends deep into the night, before everyone shakes off the cobwebs with “College GameDay” on Saturday morning.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.