Finally.

With all due respect to Alex Rodriguez, Tigers Woods, Venus Williams and the guys pedaling bicycles over the Alps, you were filling space. Thanks for your efforts, you, the boys and girls of summer. You were a necessary diversion until college football rotated back around on the wide world of sports calendar.

Now, please take a seat.

Without further ado, on to opening weekend.

The marquee match in the land is Tennessee’s visit to California, the only pairing of ranked teams on the docket — and a perfect starting point for the ever-popular topic of scheduling non-conference opponents.

“Tennessee playing California is good for college football,’’ said the coach of the defending national champions, Florida’s Urban Meyer.

He’s correct. However, I notice a trend in the SEC of dumbing down the season-opener. Doing what’s good for the season overrides doing what’s good for college football.

For example:

In its 2006 opener, Arkansas lost to sixth-ranked Southern Cal, 50-14, in Fayetteville. This year Arkansas opens against Troy.

In its 2006 opener, Kentucky got hammered by Louisville, 59-28, its fourth consecutive demoralizing opening loss to the Cardinals. Kentucky opens against Eastern Kentucky.

In its 2006 opener, Florida handled a pesky Southern Miss team that would finish 9-5. Florida opens against less-pesky Western Kentucky.

In its 2006 opener, Vanderbilt gave a respectable account of itself in 27-7 loss at Michigan. Vandy opens against Richmond. Southern Kentucky apparently was unavailable.

In its 2006 opener, Alabama was pushed to win 25-17 by Hawaii, a team that would finish 11-3. Alabama opens against Western Carolina.

“We’ve done both,’’ said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. “We’ve played Texas. We’ve played USC. We’ve had some lower Division One games.’’

“I like playing where you kind of ease into it and you’re able to have a good first game and be able to play some players.’’

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks successfully lobbied to get Louisville moved back to Sept. 15 this year. The Cardinals are ranked No. 10 and appear capable of yet another victory in the bitter rivalry that used to be confined to hoops. If that’s the case, at least Kentucky has a couple of wins over Eastern Kentucky and Kent State to ease the pain.

LSU and Mississippi State, of course, hit the ground running Thursday night. Elsewhere, Georgia gets the prize for the biggest opening-day upgrade — Western Kentucky in ‘06 to Oklahoma State in ‘07.

Aside from UT-Cal, the only other status-quo opener is Ole Miss at Memphis.

The Ed Orgeron era at Ole Miss stands at 6-16 going into his third season. But if athletic director Pete Boone’s mission statement to Orgeron was “level the playing field with Memphis,’’ then you have to rate Coach O as a raging success.

Memphis had beaten the Rebels two straight before Orgeron arrived. Orgeron is 2-0 against the Tigers.

“Memphis is obviously very important to us in recruiting,’’ said Orgeron.

So important he once vowed to build a wall around the city. The Rebels have 12 players from Shelby County, but only two of them are new in the Class of 2007.

Maybe winning doesn’t always pay dividends.

Here’s a checklist of guys to watch on opening weekend:

n Chris Smelley, South Carolina. A foot injury early last fall curtailed true freshman Smelley’s hopes of unseating Blake Mitchell at quarterback. Smelley gets another chance as a redshirt freshman, thanks to Mitchell’s opening-game suspension.

If Smelley looks good against Louisiana-Lafayette (how could he not?) maybe the Gamecocks have a situation on their hands.

n Trinton Sturdivant, Georgia. This true freshman is the opening-day starter at left tackle. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, for one, hopes he’s up to it. Oklahoma State’s defense will be a step up from the 6-foot, 220-pound guy Sturdivant blocked in his last high school game.

n Lones Seiber, Kentucky. The sophomore kicker from Knoxville Central High School had a strong camp and held the job he won last year.

“Last year he had hip surgery and couldn’t even kick until maybe the week before the season opened,’’ Brooks said. “He’s had a healthy offseason and he appears a lot more accurate than he was.’’

Seiber was 11-of-19 on field goals last year. Kentucky used a scholarship on a kicker/punter last signing day.

n Chris Strong, Ole Miss. This Rebel recruit isn’t from Memphis, but he’ll be the opening-day starter at middle linebacker, the position manned last year by Butkus Award-winner Patrick Willis.

“Chris was the number one player in the state of Mississippi,’’ said Orgeron. “He’s from South Panola where they won 60 games in a row, but that’s nothing like the pressure of the SEC and the pressure of following a Butkus Award winner.’’

n Joe Haden, Florida. Meyer didn’t plan to start a true freshman at cornerback on opening day.

“It’s not an ideal situation but he’s the best guy that we have at the moment,’’ Meyer said. “He’ll be one of the fastest players on the field.’’

n Adarius Bowman, Oklahoma State. Georgia’s Sanford Stadium will be the only SEC appearance for the talented receiver out of Chattanooga. He spurned UT, among others, for North Carolina, then was dismissed after his sophomore year. Bowman moved on to the Cowboys and had 60 catches for 1,181 yards in 2006.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.