Opening Weekend Arrives With Stakes Already High

The college football season opened in earnest Monday, and the early returns were unsparing. NC State absorbed a 34-8 loss to Virginia in a Week 0 game that left Dave Doeren apologizing for his team's lack of preparation — a jarring start for a program with expectations, and a reminder that no opener is a throwaway.

The rest of the field is watching closely as Saturday's marquee slate takes shape. Lane Kiffin's first game as LSU's head coach carries considerable weight on its own, but with Clemson arriving in Baton Rouge and ESPN's College GameDay setting up on campus, the pressure on that program's new identity is immediate and national. Meanwhile, Michigan's Bryce Underwood leads a quarterback pressure index heading into the Wolverines' opener, and Wisconsin travels to Lambeau Field as a heavy underdog against Notre Dame in what oddsmakers give just a 5.7 percent chance of turning into an upset.

Off the field, the coaching market is already stirring before the first full weekend is complete. Word circulated Monday that Jimbo Fisher is actively positioning himself for a return to college football, with agents and coaches around the sport treating it as a matter of when rather than if. The season is one day old, and the carousel is already turning.