The beginning of the college football season is a beautiful time of year for a few reasons. The first -- and biggest -- is that we have college football to watch. That cannot be overstated. I like baseball a lot, but having nothing but baseball to watch the last couple of months was wearing me down.

I needed this.

Another reason I find the start of the year interesting is I can finally start the process of figuring out the answers to the questions I've had about teams for the last eight months. Once a season ends, we spend some time reviewing it and going over what happened, then we turn our eyes forward to the next season, wondering what will happen.

I believe I've been on 100 different radio or television shows the last few weeks, being asked about my thoughts for the 2018 season. I've had to write stories here about what I believe teams will do.

Who will be the surprise team? Who has a real shot of winning a national title? What were you thinking when you told your colleagues you couldn't believe we'd gotten through nearly an entire offseason without a major controversy?

I answer all of these questions with the best answers I can give based on what is known. But that's the thing about this sport: there's so much that isn't known. With constant roster and coaching turnover, you have an idea of what to expect, but there are always significant question marks. With the games finally being played, now is the time to start filling in the blanks.

Which is the inspiration for this week's Friday Five. I'm ranking the five teams I'm most interested in watching this weekend with the goal of learning more about them. Now, there are other teams I'm interested in other than those listed below, but these teams not only intrigue me but are playing in games that might tell us something of consequence.

Like, I was happy to see what Texas A&M might look like under Jimbo Fisher on Thursday night, but there's not a whole lot to take away from a 59-7 win over Northwestern State.

Let's get to it.

5. Arizona State: I mean, isn't everybody interested to see how this Herm Edwards experiment begins? We probably aren't going to learn anything profound about the Edwards Era in a game against UTSA, at least, not unless Arizona State loses.

But I just want to see it.

I've seen this situation compared to what Illinois did with Lovie Smith, but there's a critical difference between Smith and Edwards. Smith had been an NFL head coach the year before Illinois hired him. Saturday night will be the first time Edwards has been the head coach of a college or NFL team during a game since 2008. His starting quarterback, Manny Wilkins, was 12 years old.

4. Louisville: When asked about Louisville this offseason, I've been down on the Cardinals. It's only natural given that they just lost Lamar Jackson, and it felt like he was the entire damn team the last couple of seasons. Still, I can't shake this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we're all being a bit too dismissive of Louisville this year.

That it opens the season against Alabama is probably contributing to this feeling.

But Bobby Petrino has a reliable track record. Jackson might be the most dynamic QB he's ever had, but he's not the first one Petrino's needed to replace. And, by all accounts, Jawon Pass is a talented kid. Plus, he'll be playing behind an offensive line that should be better than the ones that caused Jackson to run for his life so frequently. I want to see how this team holds up against Alabama to see if there are any signs of life for the rest of the season. Because, you know, it's not beating Alabama.

3. Oklahoma: I think there are a lot of people interested in Oklahoma's season-opener against Florida Atlantic because Lane Kiffin and the Owls are looking to make a statement. Personally, I believe the only statement that will be made is that there's a significant gap between Conference USA and the best team in the Big 12.

I'm much more interested in seeing how this Oklahoma offense looks without Baker Mayfield.

I suspect that it's still going to be great! Kyler Murray may not have the same skill set as Mayfield, but he's a terrific athlete and Lincoln Riley has shown that he knows how to mold an offense to his personnel. My gut tells me that the Sooners are going to run all over teams this season, and I'm just interested in seeing what that will look like against the Owls.

2. Washington: I'm high on Washington and have been all summer. All those radio hits I've done? I've mentioned Washington as my dark horse title contender in damn near every one. I think we're overlooking a team with one of the best coaches in the country, and an experienced and talented roster. I mean, nearly everybody is back from a team that went 10-3 last season and reached the Fiesta Bowl.

Compare the way Washington is talked about this year to Wisconsin. Both are good teams that are considered contenders within their conferences, and many see them as the favorites in their division. Except Wisconsin has to replace nearly its entire defense, yet we overlook that because it's Wisconsin.

Now, having said all that, I could be horribly wrong about the Huskies this year. My belief in them could end up being something I'm mocked for incessantly, both on social media and from colleagues. Saturday's opener against Auburn could go a long way in proving that my hunch is correct, or very, very wrong.

1. Michigan: Simply put, Michigan is the most fascinating team in the country to me. I am skeptical, but only to a point. When I look at this Michigan team, I see a squad with a wide range of possible outcomes in 2018.

If things don't improve, we could see a repeat of last year's 8-5 mark, and some serious questions about Jim Harbaugh's future in Ann Arbor. If things do improve, this team is a playoff contender.

And while all the talk about Michigan this offseason has been focused on the addition of Shea Patterson, I don't think he's the most important cog in the machine. What I will watch on Saturday night when the Wolverines take on Notre Dame is its offensive line. This is a Michigan offensive line that allowed 2.77 sacks per game. When Michigan quarterbacks dropped back to pass last season, they were sacked 9.19 percent of the time.

There's a reason Michigan had three QBs play last year, and it's because they were taking hit after hit after hit.

So while Patterson is a talent upgrade over the quarterbacks on the Michigan roster last season, unless the offensive line can give him time, I don't know how much improvement we'll see. But if that OL holds up well against a Notre Dame defense that has five starters back in its front seven? Well, then we could see the Wolverines experiencing a lot of success in 2018.

Honorable Mention: Florida State, Miami, UCLA, West Virginia