Week 0 is behind us, and Week 1 is full speed ahead. The College Football Playoff is months away, but that doesn’t mean these games are not important.
The first weekend of college football this season is surprisingly lackluster compared to previous seasons.
There are still good games abound, but just one ranked matchup between Oregon and Auburn. Some of the best teams in the country will still be playing so that’s enough for us after a long summer. Even if Alabama is playing Duke instead of Florida State, USC or Wisconsin to open the year, it’ll still be excellent television.
That being said, Alabama’s game against Duke isn’t going to be on this list because I don’t think its result will have anything to do with the College Football Playoff. It was close to making the list just because it’s a game that involves Alabama, as you’ll see that’s somewhat the criteria for some other games on the list, but it wasn’t enough to break the threshold for me. Consider it an honorable mention.
Anyway, the five games on this list I believe all have some significant impact on the College Football Playoff either directly or indirectly. There shouldn’t be any secret about which game tops the list but these other four are all ones to pay attention to.
This will be a weekly top five (at least) that will grow full of more and more important games as conference play approaches and the first College Football Playoff rankings are released. For now, we’re rolling with a few games that feature a lot of preseason picks to make the playoff.