Legendary author Dan Jenkins once recounted some of college football's game-day highlights and rituals in a book called "Saturday's America."

Were he launching the same project these days, Jenkins might be forced to change the title.

"Thursday's America" could be an option where ACC teams are concerned.

Counting last week's decision to move the Wake Forest at Baylor game from Saturday, Aug. 30, to Aug. 28, four ACC teams will open the 2008 season on Thursday.

That's one-fourth of the league's season-opening schedule. Florida State isn't scheduled to play its first game -- against Western Carolina -- until Sept. 6, meaning only seven ACC teams will play on the first Saturday of the season.

The growing abandonment of Saturday, especially for season-opening games, can't be smart for college teams.

The Saturday game is more than a hallmark of college football. It's a institutional birthright that the powerful NFL generally has honored over the years, just as college teams basically have left Friday to the high schools. Game days are a delicate equation across the football spectrum, and though it's unlikely that the NFL would attempt a widespread infringement on early-season Saturday games, college leaders need to be careful about willingly surrendering their turf.

"Saturday games should always be the preferred option for colleges, but there are television contracts that have to be fulfilled, too," N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler said. "We're fortunate in that our fans are very loyal and have responded favorably to the Thursday games we have played."

The Wolfpack is scheduled to play twice on Thursday in 2008 -- the season opener on Aug. 28 at South Carolina and against Florida State on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Raleigh.

In the majority of the cases, the home team has most of the leverage on setting game date and starting time. ESPN acted months ago to lock up the State game at South Carolina for Thursday. Fowler said State would get only about 4,200 tickets for the game, and those will move quickly.

The Thursday night game against Florida State is part of a contract between the ACC and ESPN, but moving that game away from Saturday, Oct. 18, made all sorts of sense. The N.C. State Fair will begin Oct. 17, which would have created a Saturday traffic nightmare, though fans will have to keep in mind that Oct. 16 will be the fair's preview day, with gates opening at 3 p.m.

Baylor moved its game against Wake when Fox Sports Network made an offer to show new Bears coach Art Briles' debut.

A third Aug. 28 ACC opener will be Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech. With Clemson and Alabama playing on Aug. 30 in the Atlanta Georgia Dome, new Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson and his team probably will get more local attention by grabbing Thursday.

The fourth ACC Thursday game, Charleston Southern at Miami, was a near necessity. The Hurricanes' 2008 home games will be in Dolphin Stadium, which also is home to the Florida Marlins baseball team. The Marlins have a home game on Aug. 30 against the New York Mets.

So explanations for so many Thursday games can be found. Just don't ask Jenkins to buy into any of them.

"Thursday night games are absurd, silly, even criminal," Jenkins said. "They have no purpose other than ratings for TV. They ought to be called 'Dancing with the Football Stars.' "

But in the star-starved ACC, the title might need to be scaled back to "So You Think You Can Play Football?"