Saturday spotlight: Rare showdown to start college football season

Rare showdown to start season

7 p.m., Atlanta (Ch. 5)

Officially, the College Football Playoff is still four months away. No matter. This feels like a postseason game: No. 1 vs. No. 3, at a neutral site. In a brand new stadium, no less.

Top-ranked Alabama, getting started on its annual quest for a national title after having the last one snatched away with one second to go, faces Florida State on Saturday night in a season-opening throwdown in Atlanta. It's the first-ever matchup between a pair of top-three teams in the Associated Press preseason rankings — that could have an impact all the way through to the day they hand out those coveted playoff invitations.

Certainly, the winner gets a huge gold star on its résumé.

Alabama coach Nick Saban did his best to pooh-pooh the game's significance. "Look, it's a long season," he said. "We're going to have 12, 13, 14 games, maybe 15, I don't know."

While the Crimson Tide came up just shy of its fifth national title under Saban, losing 35-31 to Clemson in a classic championship game, the Seminoles are looking to re-establish a bit of their swagger.

"This isn't the only game," defensive end Josh Sweat said, "but it definitely is a very big game, and everybody knows it is."

2:30 p.m., Arlington, Texas (Ch. 5)

Florida has won 27 consecutive openers but hasn't opened away from Gainesville since 1987 — a 31-4 loss at Miami (Fla.) — and hasn't played a nonconference, regular-season game outside the Sunshine State since losing 38-21 at Syracuse in 1991. Florida will be without 10 suspended players, nine of whom are out indefinitely for misusing school funds. Michigan hasn't settled on a starting QB, although Wilson Speight seems to have the edge over John O'Korn after starting 12 games last season.

8:30 p.m., New Orleans (ESPN)

Ed Orgeron coaches his first opener for LSU after holding the job on an interim basis for seven games following the firing of Les Miles in 2016. Brigham Young opened last week with a blah victory over Portland State. For FBS independent BYU, getting good results against ranked opponents is the only path to a marquee bowl games. The game was supposed to be played in Houston, but flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey led officials on Monday to relocate.

Lamar Jackson begins his Heisman Trophy defense with a nationally televised night game. Jackson, who threw for 30 touchdowns and ran for 21 more last season, should shine against the Boilermakers defense. Purdue embarks on a new era with first-year coach Jeff Brohm, who happens to make his debut against his alma mater.

11 a.m. (FS1)

Tom Herman makes his debut as Texas coach, after the Longhorns had three consecutive losing seasons under Charlie Strong, Herman is getting paid more than $5 million per year to turn things around fast. Maryland, a bowl team last season, could spoil everything with an upset road victory, but Texas hasn't lost a home opener since 1999.