The plethora of thrilling Week 1 matchups is unprecedented, and the losers of games like LSU-Wisconsin, USC-Alabama and Florida State-Ole Miss are going to be in precarious playoff positions throughout the rest of the season because they will naturally have less margin for error.
Big games? Absolutely. Deal breakers? Not a chance.
We turn to conference play for those.
The College Football Playoff selection committee puts a great emphasis on winning a conference championship, which is why Week 1 is a much better time to lose. The committee doesn't release its first official ranking until Nov. 1, but all 13 members of the group will be watching each weekend closely.
These 10 games are listed in order from most to least likely to sway their final verdict:
1. Alabama at LSU, Nov. 5
Win the West, win the SEC, and you're in the playoff, unless something truly bizarre happens. The division should come down to these two heavyweights, and Alabama has won the past five games in the series, dating back to the 2012 BCS National Championship. It's even possible that a two-loss SEC champ earns a top-four spot from the committee, but this game should be an eliminator for one of them.