This is it. The day that Colonel football fans have had marked on their calendars since Furman knocked Nicholls out of the playoffs last November: The beginning of the 2006 season for the defending champs starts today against Southern Arkansas with a much different feel and a new title.

Winning the Southland Conference title put the Colonels in the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, plus it gave the school its first title in over 22 years. To see head coach Jay Thomas on the shoulders of his players raising the championship trophy over his head is an image that captures the pure emotion of reaching the pinnacle of one’s goals.

The air around the locker room is much different this year than in previous seasons merely because the Colonels are no longer on the bottom looking up at everyone else. Now they are the mountain peek every other team strives for.

Unfortunately, that means that the work to stay at the top is 10 times harder than it was to get to that position. Every opponent the Colonels will play will know that the team on the opposite side of the field is no longer the same team that floated at 6-6, or 3-9, but a team that can win five straight and a conference title.

In order for the Colonels to repeat, the team will have to do whatever it can to contend during the non-conference schedule, so that by the time conference starts the players will be conditioned for the time when it really counts, Southland Conference play.

Although Southern Arkansas could prove to be a warm-up game for Nicholls, the two games following won’t be. The team will travel to Lincoln, Neb. to face the Cornhuskers which most analysts predict could win the Big XII North. Nebraska finished 8-4 last year and has eight starters returning on offense and seven on defense.

Louisiana Tech finished 7-4 last season, but with questions at the quarterback position, the loss of its leading rusher and only two starters returning on defense, the Colonels may be able to upend the Bulldogs and give the Colonels a big road victory. South Dakota is picked second to win the North Central Conference and will be in town on September 23. Fans that can’t attend the game in Ruston will be able to watch the game on Cox Sports Television in the first of three games that will be televised featuring the Colonels.

Homecoming will set the stage for the start of conference and the second year of the Nicholls-Southeastern football rivalry, with the Lions hoping to defeat the Colonels and re-capture the River Bell trophy after last season’s loss. Sam Houston State was no match for Nicholls last year when the Colonels defeated the Bearkats 37-17, but the team will have to travel to Texas this time around to earn the victory.

Two home games should give the Colonels an advantage when Northwestern State and Assumption College make their way to Thibodaux in October. Northwestern fell for the third consecutive time at the hands of Nicholls, losing in Natchitoches 31-24.

Family Day welcomes all Nicholls family and friends to campus, but Assumption College will not get the same treatment as the Greyhounds will make their first Nicholls appearance Oct. 28.

By the time November 2nd hits, the team should know where it stands in terms of contending for a conference title. The final three games of the season will be the toughest, with two games on the road against teams that are salivating at the opportunity to deter the Colonels’ title hopes.

Not only are the Colonels traveling to San Marcos to play Texas State, but they are also facing a team that got all the way to the national semifinals in Division I-AA. Although the Bobcats lost all-conference quarterback Barrick Nealy, Texas State will have a load of starters returning on offense and defense which could prove to be a challenge for Nicholls.

The final game will be at home against Stephen F. Austin; the Colonels then have to travel west to play McNeese, the team picked to win the conference this year. It came down to one possession that cinched the win for the Colonels last season, and the Cowboys are sure to do whatever to turn the tables on the Colonels this time.

It is far too early to tell how the season will play out, which makes every game equally important. Eleven games, 12 weeks of excitement – and it all starts today.