It looks like the ESPN/ABC guys really loved being in Berkeley to kickoff ABC’s Saturday Night College Football season last year.

Don’t remember? Last year’s season opener for Cal against Tennessee was ABC’s first prime time game of the year. Guess what, they’ll be back.

ESPN/ABC announced it’s preliminary lineup for the fall and Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters will all be back at Memorial Stadium on August 30 when the Bears open the 2008 season against Michigan State, leading-off ABC’s Saturday Night College Football.

I don’t know which scheduling guy came up with this crazy idea. Are there no other enticing matchups being played on August 30?

Both the Spartans and the Bears finished the 2007 campaign 7-6.

Both started out pretty well, however, before finishing one game above .500 with Cal starting 5-0 and Michigan State starting 4-0.

And neither team is a top 25 team in any publication’s preseason polls (though Stewart Mandel at SI.com gives the Spartans a shout out as being “on the cusp”).

But I’ll take it. It gives both teams the opportunity to prove themselves in front of a large national T.V. audience. And it is Michigan State’s first trip to Berkeley since 1957.

I just think that ESPN/ABC is hoping for another barn-burner and hoping for some magic, like this little dandy.

Of course, the annual grudge match between Cal and USC will be featured on SNCF as well. This time the Bears travel to Los Angeles on Nov. 8.

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