It is that time of year again.

The time when every fan base thinks this could be the year.

Across the country, fans are making predictions, arguing about their teams and convincing themselves that whatever went wrong last season won’t happen again. Everyone has a player they think will have a big year, a position they think will be better and a reason to believe their team has a chance.

And nobody can tell them they are wrong.

Not yet, anyway.

Right now, every team is 0-0.

That is what makes this time of year so much fun. Before the first game is played, there are no bad losses, no missed opportunities and no disappointing Saturdays. There is just hope.

And eventually, that hope turns into something you can hear.

The first crack.

Maybe it is the sound of the first beer being opened at a tailgate with a neighbor you haven’t seen since last football season. Maybe it is the crack of pads when two teams finally get to hit somebody wearing a different color.

Either way, that first crack means football is back.

In Vermillion, we are getting close.

On August 29, the Coyotes will take the field against Central Connecticut State. Tailgates will fill the parking lots, the DakotaDome will start to fill up and friends will see each other again after a long offseason.

There will be food. There will be drinks. There will be plenty of opinions about what this team can do.

Most importantly, there will be hope.

For the players, that feeling comes after months of work. Summer workouts, meetings, practices and camp have all been leading toward the same thing: getting the chance to play somebody other than their own teammates.

For some, it will be another season in a Coyote uniform.

For others, it will be their first.

Their first game.

Their first time running out of the tunnel.

Their first time hearing the DakotaDome crowd.

Those moments don’t come around very often, and once they happen, they are gone.

That is part of what makes opening day special.

Nobody knows exactly what this season is going to look like. We can talk about last year. We can talk about the schedule. We can talk about the players coming back and the ones who are new.

But until that first game is played, anything is possible.

Maybe this is the year.

Maybe a young player becomes someone Coyote fans are talking about all season.

Maybe the team surprises some people.

Maybe it becomes a season that people in Vermillion remember for a long time.

We don’t know yet.

And honestly, that is the fun of it.

We come back for the games, but we also come back for everything around them. The tailgates. The traditions. The conversations. The people we only seem to see during football season.

We come back because for a few months, Saturdays have a purpose.

Eventually, the talking has to stop.

The team runs onto the field.

The crowd gets louder.

The players line up.

The ball is placed on the tee.

And then it starts.

No more predictions.

No more wondering.

Just football.

For now, every team is 0-0.

Every fan has a reason to believe.

And in Vermillion, Coyote fans are about to get that feeling back.

The first beer.

The first tailgate.

The first time the Coyotes run onto the field.

The first kickoff.

The first crack.

And just like that, football is back.

Go Yotes.