Here’s three things that make August just wonderful: it’s hotter and more humid than July, there’s new episodes of that reality-based TV show &uot;The Restaurant&uot; and ESPN gives live broadcasts of baseball games featuring teams more dead in the standings than a roadside possum.

But others, ahem, choose to look ahead.

Saturday night’s teaser between the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was about as big as an indicator as you can get (not counting media days of talking heads of every single conference in the South).

Time for football.

And while the talking heads didn’t give us much to go on (fill in your favorite cliche here), we’re all still wondering what’s going to happen once the whole season gets kicked off.

So instead of playing Q&A with readers, I’ve got questions of my own that I can’t wait to get answered.

1. Who is going to be the top prep recruit in the Miss-Lou?

I can sort of figure this out, but there could be some sleepers. You could figure it’ll be Adams Christian running back Luke Ogden, who already has good size for a college player.

But there’s others out there. Coaches in the SWAC are reportedly hot on the trail of Trinity receiver Dudley Guice Jr., and Centreville has another 300-pound lineman in Jonathan Farrar.

Even Vidalia quarterback Tony Hawkins could be a prospect after going most of last season without an interception.

Who knows.

2. Which team is going to play deep in November?

I’m guessing Trinity Episcopal, now in its fourth year with a super bunch of athletes that are as good as any MPSA at skill positions.

But there may be some teams bigger up front than the Saints, and that could pose a problem.

Another good possibility is Vidalia, who have a good number of returners from last year’s 10-0 squad that got dumped in the second round of the playoffs.

And don’t count out Ferriday. So the Trojans lost Brennan Smith, Tyrrence Taylor, Ken Hollins and Akeem West, but there’s a tradition over there that may not die out soon.

That and some talented young players.

So I can’t answer that one.

3. Will Alcorn get over that .500-ish hump of the last two years?

Injuries have left Braves head coach Johnny Thomas asking for some divine intervention, and two-a-days haven’t even started yet.

The Braves were on their way last season when a flurry of injuries derailed a successful season. That may be the case already.

The Braves also have to get stability from Donald Carrie at quarterback. His sophomore slump sent him to the bench often last year.

Still trying to figure out that one.

4. Who is going to be the best college player in Mississippi?

You can probably ID&160;the two best players off the bat &045; Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning and Southern Miss linebacker Rod Davis.

But this I do know: Jackson State quarterback Robert Kent is really something to see.

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3632 or by e-mail at adam.daigle @natchezdemocrat.com.