I’m that guy.

You know. The guy who gets way too excited about nonconference games that are months — or even years — away. In my defense, with an 8-month offseason, it’s the way the college football calendar has programmed me.

In the final year of the 4-team Playoff, the SEC still has a bevy of must-see nonconference games for 2023. In honor of that, I decided to do a totally subjective ranking based on my own entertainment level. Obviously it helps if teams expected to start in the top 10 will be facing off (looking at a certain opener in Orlando). It also helps if there are juicy storylines like we got last year with Bobby Petrino’s Missouri State squad visiting Arkansas.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s eliminate the annual rivalry games. That means no Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Georgia-Georgia Tech, etc.

These are the 7 SEC nonconference games I can’t wait to see in 2023:

7. Kansas State vs. Mizzou

When: Sept. 16

I know, I know. It was a blowout last year in Manhattan, and given how much Mizzou has struggled in any meaningful non-SEC game under Eli Drinkwitz, it’s hard to suggest this will be any different. Still, maybe the playing field will be leveled a bit in a post-Deuce Vaughn world. Mizzou does rank No. 2 in the SEC and No. 9 nationally in percentage of returning production. A Blake Baker-led Mizzou defense combined with a new offensive play-caller in Kirby Moore could be the foundation for a breakthrough season in Columbia, which would begin to take shape by avenging last year’s embarrassment at Kansas State.

6. Tennessee vs. Virginia (in Nashville)

When: Sept. 2

Technically, it’s a neutral-site game. But if you think Tennessee fans are about to have some sort of 50-50 or even 60-40 representation in Nashville, you’re out of your mind. How will the new-look Vols perform with Joe Milton likely getting his starting job back? Will he be able to dial back that all-world arm and flash the ability that fueled a blowout win in the Orange Bowl? One would think Tennessee should be set up well for that, especially against a Virginia squad that had a messy Year 1 with Tony Elliott. Even if the Vols have some adjusting to do early, I’d expect a lopsided result in a battle of teams who finished No. 1 and No. 126 in scoring in 2022 (I’ll let you figure out which team was which).

5. Texas A&M at Miami

When: Sept. 9

I get it. Last year was a rock fight that hardly felt worthy of ESPN primetime billing. Neither team qualified for a bowl game, and it was evident in mid-September that it was going to be a long year for both. Both got new offensive coordinators, though. With all due respect to A&M’s Week 1 opponent New Mexico, the Week 2 trip to Miami will be the real debut for Bobby Petrino running the A&M offense. Petrino and Jimbo Fisher are going to be appointment viewing, no matter how things play out. Their first real test as tag team partners should be plenty intriguing.

4. South Carolina vs. UNC (in Charlotte)

When: Sept. 2

There’s perhaps some fatigue with this matchup with it being the 4th meeting between the Carolina schools in the Playoff era, and while I wish it was being played on a home campus, consider this: We’ve got a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite (Drake Maye) vs. one of the most polarizing quarterbacks in America in Spencer Rattler. Both programs could start in the AP Top 25. If that happens, they’ll face off as ranked teams for the first time. And hey, unlike the last time these teams met, there won’t be a metric ton of mayo involved.

3. Florida at Utah

When: Aug. 31

For the first time in 40 years, Florida will play a regular-season game outside of the Central or Eastern time zones. That in itself is worthy of buzz. Add to the fact that it’ll be a grudge match against 2-time defending Pac-12 champion Utah and we’ll have plenty of excitement for the Thursday night showdown in Salt Lake City. What does Florida’s offense look like without the Anthony Richardson roller-coaster? Does Billy Napier silence a whole lot of offseason skepticism by going into Utah and sweeping the Utes? And is Cam Rising fully healthy coming off his torn ACL in the Rose Bowl? Fingers crossed that this game can be equally as entertaining as the 2022 matchup.

2. Texas at Alabama

When: Sept. 9

A game with a 3-touchdown spread turned into a thriller that was decided by a go-ahead field goal in the final minute. It was Alabama’s first nonconference road game since 2011, and if not for the Quinn Ewers injury, who knows if it would’ve been the Tide’s first nonconference loss since 2007 Louisiana-Monroe. Speaking of Ewers, we’re hopefully going to get a healthy version of him. If we don’t, however, we could get the college debut of Arch Manning. That’d be a ratings bonanza, especially if the game were to wind up being competitive like last year. Steve Sarkisian’s return to Tuscaloosa should be worth the price of admission.

1. LSU vs. Florida State (in Orlando)

When: Sept. 3

Wait a minute … a neutral-site game for No. 1? Am I insane? Maybe. I’m also an Orlando resident who can’t wait to see a battle of likely preseason top-10 teams on Sunday night to close opening weekend. Last year’s game was a slop fest, but both teams got significantly better down the stretch and they return a wealth of production after 10-win seasons that concluded with bowl wins in, ironically enough, Orlando. The improvement of Jordan Travis coupled with an FSU team that ranks No. 1 in America in percentage of returning production has expectations high in Tallahassee, especially after the Noles took care of SEC teams to bookend their best regular season of the post-Jimbo Fisher era. This matchup will also have a different feel than last year because LSU defensive lineman Mason Smith went down on the opening series and Harold Perkins barely played. There won’t be a nonconference game in America with more buildup than this one.