‘Bama-FSU can make long-term impact

The Associated Press

The result of the Alabama-Florida State could be a topic of conversation all season, especially among the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide and No. 3 Seminoles face off in an unprecedented opener Saturday in Atlanta’s shiny new stadium. The No. 1 team has never before started the season against a higher-ranked team.

The winner gets an early resume builder, and the loser could come away better off for the effort, too.

OK, we are definitely getting way ahead of ourselves in week one. Maybe Tide-’Noles will turn out to be this season’s TexasNotre Dame. That game that seemed so meaningful last Labor Day weekend, but by the end of the season ... not so much.

It is highly unlikely that’s the case this time. Alabama, Florida State or both could miss the playoff, but the chances are excellent they will contend and the selection committee will be trying to weigh this week-one data point. The ramifications could trickle down to how other top teams in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference are judged, too.

The same could be said of a number of early season nonconference matchups involving ranked teams: No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 17 Florida on Saturday in Arlington, Texas; No. 7 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Clemson at No. 12 Auburn on Sept. 9.

When the playoff field is revealed on Dec. 3, results of the first few weeks of the season could still be echoing through the selections.