Alabama vs. Florida State in an epic opener
Officially, the College Football Playoff is still four months away.
ATLANTA — 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 1 second to go, faces Florida State on Saturday night in a season-opening throwdown. 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 resume.
Alabama’s Nick Saban did his best to poohpooh the significance of the game.
“Look, it’s a long season,” Saban said. “We’re going to have 12, 13, 14 games, maybe 15, I don’t know. What happens in the first game is certainly important, but we’re going to have lots of press conferences in this room and you’re going to ask me the same question when we play the next big game. The only difference is that the next game that we play is going to be the biggest game for me.”
As if a matchup between national championship contenders wasn’t enough to turn up the hype to full blast, this will be the first game that actually counts in Mercedesbenz Stadium, the $1.5 billion marvel with an enormous, halo-like video board ringing the top of the massive structure.
There’s still the matter of the retractable roof, which isn’t fully functional and therefore will be closed on Saturday, no matter the weather. But that not-so-little glitch is unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm for this game, which will have a whole lot more riding on it that the first two events held in the glitzy stadium — a pair of Atlanta Falcons’ NFL preseason games.
And let’s not forget: This is same place where the national championship game will be held in January.
“I feel like it’s going to make us better in the long run because when teams open with cupcake games or cupcake teams, you don’t really get to see who you are or establish your identity,” Crimson Tide safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “But when you play teams like Florida State or Alabama, you can really see who you are.”
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 that came down to a last-second touchdown pass, the Seminoles are looking to re-establish a bit of their swagger.
A season ago, Florida State was thoroughly embarrassed in a 6320 rout at Louisville, and lost a pair of home games to North Carolina and Clemson by a total of five points. The national champion in 2013 and a semifinalist the following year in the first College Football Playoff, the Seminoles haven’t been serious title contender the last two seasons.
“This isn’t the only game,” defensive end Josh Sweat said, “but it definitely is a very big game, and everybody knows it is.”