It’s tough to be too excited about the opening of the college football season when so many of the games are so unattractive. Five of the top eight teams in the AP poll are playing 1-AA opponents this week, with Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, LSU, and West Virginia all facing off against lower division foes.

With the 12 game schedule, some schools may be looking to schedule their easiest game first in order to mitigate the effect of offseason misbehavior by their players, which can lead to Game 1 suspensions. If you’re going to be missing a few players you might as well be able to win by merely going through the motions against a Sun Belt or 1-AA team.

For example, Florida State’s numerous three-game academic suspensions won’t matter much in two of those games, as the Seminoles, who don’t play this week, open with consecutive home affairs against Western Carolina and Chattanooga.

Of course, finances are an issue as well. 1-AA teams will serve as sacrificial lambs for the big boys for $300,000 or so, while 1-A teams are getting more expensive. Sun Belt champ Florida Atlantic is getting $900,000 to visit Texas Saturday.

It simply isn’t a terribly interesting card this weekend. There are only four games taking place between BCS conference teams that had winning records last season. And while Illinois/Missouri and Clemson/Alabama are compelling neutral site affairs, Michigan State at Cal and USC at Virginia are merely mildly interesting.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t some value out there from a pointspread perspective, because if your handicapping is on and your opinions are sound, you can make money. But for a fan, or for those who prefer to handicap quality games, this isn’t the week for you.