A sport steeped in tradition, college football historically celebrates the dawn of each new season the same way: by trotting out creampuffs to get ritualistically mutilated by the game’s top programs.  This year marks a radical—and almost anyone would say welcome—departure, with many of the sport’s big boys picking on opponents their own size for a change in the first week.  The slate features a handful of showdowns between ranked teams, including No. 1 Alabama versus No. 20 University of Southern California,. Then there are other clashes of heavyweight programs that would be marquee matchups any weekend of the year, much less Labor Day, such as No. 10 Notre Dame facing the University of Texas.  Longtime coach and current ESPN analyst Mack Brown says this weekend’s action may be the “strongest to ever open a season.” There are four matchups between ranked teams—as many as the last two years combined. Only one season since 1993 has had more, when there were six in 1998, according to Stats LLC.  The result is the rare opening weekend with national-championship implications, a stark contrast to most years when the first few weeks are a slow burn toward midseason games that actually matter.  Driving the trend is a growing belief that a team aiming for the playoffs can overcome an early loss whereas a late-season defeat can be fatal.  “It’s kind of a measuring stick,” said Larry Fedora, coach of No. 22 North Carolina, which begins its season at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta against No. 18 Georgia. “At the same time, we know that a game like that doesn’t make or break our season.”  Last season, for example, Alabama played in the only week-one game featuring two ranked teams, defeating Wisconsin. That victory, and the Crimson Tide’s strength of schedule en route to the SEC championship, helped Nick Saban’s squad overcome a week-three loss to Ole Miss and still make the playoff.  “There’s great reward, too, if you win,” said Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher. “How you schedule, it’s going to be key.”  Fisher’s fourth-ranked Seminoles square off with No. 11 Ole Miss in a matchup that highlights other factors behind the shift. Played on Monday night, the game capitalizes on the only weekend of the year when college football doesn’t have to share the spotlight with the NFL.  It is also being played at a neutral site in Orlando, which can be a financial boon for programs because of the large venues and high ticket prices, plus exposure in a new market and a high-profile experience that can help attract recruits.  These neutral-site games can also be one-offs, which makes them easier to schedule than a home-and-home series that must be mapped out on the calendar years in advance. This means the school doesn’t have to commit to playing another road game where they give up a game’s worth of money.  “It gives you an opportunity to create a lot more marquee matchups than maybe we used to rely on when it was home-and-home,” says ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit.  Among the other neutral-field games this weekend are Alabama-USC at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, and Wisconsin versus LSU at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.  Those matchups should make the 2016 opening weekend significantly more competitive than last year, which featured big schools feasting on a collection of cupcakes, like Ole Miss downing UT-Martin 76-3.  “For the most part you need these neutral-site games to get these heavyweight matchups,” Herbstreit said.  Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com
In a big shift tailored to the playoff system, the opening weekend of college football features a number of matchups of high-powered teams.