Logan Thomas News

The first week of the SEC season has some real gems in it. You have a few quality nonconference opponents taking on SEC teams at neutral sites, and quite the opening SEC matchup in Nashville.

People can hate on the Hurricanes all they want, but when it comes to playing a great out-of-conference schedule, there is nothing the haters can say.

Alabama vs Virginia Tech Preview Chick-Fil-A College Kickoff Game time: August 31 at 4:30 p.m. at The Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia The last time the Crimson Tide lined up in the Georgia Dome there is no question they faced a much stiffer test than what they will get when they match up with the Virginia Tech Hokies of the maligned ACC.

When quarterback Andrew Ford visited Virginia Tech's one-day camp earlier this month, he had a chance to ask Logan Thomas what he thought of new Hokies offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide will have a few hurdles to clear in the regular season if they hope to make it to a third consecutive BCS title game.

Andy Bitter is the Virginia Tech football beat writer for The Virginian-Pilot. Andy joined The Pilot in October 2011 after spending three years covering Auburn for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

It is never too early to begin breaking down college football point spreads in hopes of finding an advantage.

Kudos to Steele for going against the grain and giving strong reasons to help justify his rankings , but with all due respect, Florida State and Virginia Tech haven't done diddly to earn those numbers.

Hype is a most dangerous thing in college football, even if the hype surrounding players like Jadeveon Clowney and Johnny Manziel is well deserved.

The Tide are the closest thing to a dynasty in college football in quite some time, and Nick Saban 's team continues to perform at an elite level, with no sign of slowing down in the near future.

What's more intriguing and will have more of an impact on the outcome is Alabama's ability - or inability - to shut down Texas A&M's wide receivers.

Michigan heads into the fall expecting to challenge for the Big Ten title. Last year they failed to meet expectations after a nasty loss to Alabama got the season started and the team failed to recover.