The start of the 2012 college football season is finally upon us, ladies and gentlemen, and the first team from the Big Ten Conference to take to the gridiron is none other than the Minnesota Golden Gophers. A little more than 12 hours from now, Goldy will take the field at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, as they get set to do battle with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.

Neither of these teams had a particularly great season in 2011. The Gophers went 3-9 on the season, and just 2-6 in the Big Ten. UNLV fared worse, posting a record of 2-10, and just a 1-7 mark in the Mountain West Conference. You know, in case you were wondering why this game was scheduled for late on a Thursday night.

Kickoff time: 10:00 PM Central time

Television: The game will be covered by the CBS Sports Network. If you aren't sure what channel that is in your area, you can go to this site here and type in your ZIP code in order to get pointed in the right direction.

Radio: The flagship for Gophers coverage this season is KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities, but there are Gopher Radio Network affiliates throughout the Upper Midwest that will be carrying the action as well. If you have satellite radio, you'll be able to find the game on XM Channel 85.

Current Line: Minnesota -8.5

History: This is the first ever football face-off between Minnesota and UNLV.

SB Nation Connections: Your home for everything relating to the Gophers is The Daily Gopher. Our friends at Off-Tackle Empire, SB Nation's Big Ten football blog, will also be covering the game. Mountain West Connection will be looking at things from a UNLV point of view.