[Tuck4Bama]

Posted by Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News September 04, 2009 10:30 AM

Remember when there always seemed to be a great top-10 opener to start each season? There were eight season openers pitting Associated Press top-10 teams in the 1970s, 10 in the '80s and six in the '90s.

When No. 5 Alabama and No. 7 Virginia Tech meet on Saturday, it will be the first top-10 opener in five years and only the third this decade, as I wrote today in The Birmingham News.


My research shows winning and losing this game isn't life or death, partly because the preseason poll is just an educated guess. But the result of a top-10 opener often does have an impact. There have been 36 previous top-10 openers since the AP preseason poll began in 1950. The winner of the game has averaged 9.6 wins that season; the loser has averaged 8.4 wins. No losing team of a top-10 opener has ever won the national championship.

The return of college football's top-10 opener - Solomon's Wisdom - al.com

[Quack Attack]

I would like to see more of this. Too many teams are padding their schedules so they can go undefeated. This is what stinks about college football and need a playoff system very very badly.