The first of six College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Oct. 31, but the 13 members of the selection committee shouldn't have to wait that long to determine who to take seriously. No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Florida State on Saturday in Atlanta will answer that.

"It really tells you, regardless of the result, where your team is, legitimately," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

It's the first time since the AP preseason poll began in 1950 that the No. 1 team is facing a top-three opponent on opening weekend. It's the best nonconference game in the past decade, according to ESPN's Pregame Matchup Quality, and it features two of five Power 5 teams with the best chance to go undefeated this season, according to ESPN's FPI.

FSU or Bama -- possibly even both if it's a close game -- will legitimize its spot as a top-four team after just one game. The question, of course, is if the winner can stay there. While there is only one epic opener, Week 1 is filled with intriguing matchups featuring ranked opponents -- including No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 17 Florida, No. 2 Ohio State at Indiana, and No. 22 West Virginia vs. No. 21 Virginia Tech -- but let's remember they can also be fool's gold as far as true playoff revelations go.

Remember Texas vs. Notre Dame last year? A double-overtime instant classic that faded quickly into playoff irrelevance. LSU vs. Wisconsin? Not even a Lambeau Leap could get them into the CFP last year. That was the same blockbuster opening weekend that then-No. 4 FSU beat then-No. 11 Ole Miss 45-34.

Two weeks later, FSU was embarrassed at Louisville, 63-20.

Fisher said the Seminoles' preparation this summer has been much like last year when they opened against the Rebels.

"It motivates you every day because you know, 'Listen, when I work out today I've got to work out at 1,000 percent, I can't give it 90 percent or 95 percent,'" he said. "You hope your kids don't ever do that, but at the same time that's realistic, and knowing who you play, you've got to really be in shape, conditioned, and they may have watched more film and things like that, but our actual summer itself, our whole procedure and operation haven't changed."

Week 1 results, while important to the CFP race, are often mirages that look different come November, but many coaches agree with Saban that playing a tough nonconference opponent early provides a more accurate perspective on the true makeup of a team. Not all of them, though, want to take the gamble to find out.

Best chance to win each Power 5 conference Conference Best Chance 2nd-Best Chance Big 12 Oklahoma, 72% TCU, 12% Big Ten Ohio State, 71% Wisconsin, 19% SEC Alabama, 49% Auburn, 24% ACC Florida State, 38% Clemson, 26% Pac-12 Stanford, 35% USC, 29% >>According to FPI

"The risk-reward of that is not something I'm a big fan of," said Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, who wasn't thrilled with opening the 2014 season against No. 1-ranked Florida State. "I would prefer to go the other direction for a variety of reasons. One, a risk of injury. Two, you try to do everything you can to save as much energy and legs on your players throughout the season, and the more times they're stressed out during the year, that makes it more difficult. I would say by playing a team early -- a very, very, very difficult team -- you'll certainly find out where you are."

Not to mention earn some credit with the selection committee, which has shown its preference for strong nonconference scheduling. Without the possibility of a marquee win early in the season, the Cowboys -- and anyone else who chooses to play three unranked nonconference opponents -- have less margin for error once they enter conference play.

Best chance to finish with one loss or no losses Team Percentage Ohio State 76% Alabama 41% Oklahoma 30% Wisconsin 28% Stanford 27% >>Among Power 5 teams, according to FPI

Assuming Michigan stays ranked, Florida has a playoff-worthy nonconference schedule, as it also plays rival Florida State. With only five starters returning -- the fewest in the FBS -- Michigan could look dramatically different in November than it will on Saturday against the Gators. Still, coach Jim Harbaugh said he expects to learn something about his Wolverines.

"After you play your first game," he said, "I think you have a better understanding of where your team is when you play a top-notch opponent, yes."

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he typically gets a good feel for his team's potential in the middle of the season, but that opening the season on the road at Indiana before hosting Oklahoma accelerates the learning curve.

"When you open up with three lesser teams, you kind of use them as preseason games," Meyer said. "Our preseason games were actually scrimmages this year where we put them in as many situations to see how they'd perform, so yeah, you just accelerate it a bit."

As for when Meyer expects to learn the most about his players: "It depends on the youth of your team. The older teams, the veteran teams, usually is what it is and you see a little bit of improvement, but the young teams show drastic improvement. We're a little bit of a combination of both. I would anticipate that our older players, we have expectations for, but our younger guys, it's going to be continuing growth throughout the season."

There will be youth on No. 7 Oklahoma's sideline this year as 33-year-old coach Lincoln Riley will open the season and his head coaching career against UTEP, but the outside world long ago already shifted its attention to the Sooners' Week 2 game at Ohio State.

"I've done it both ways, where you're playing an opponent that has a lot of notoriety or a high ranking and I've done it the other way, and I honestly don't think it matters a ton," Riley said. "I think the first game is just so much, nobody knows. It's all guessing at this point. Nobody has seen these teams, these teams have not competed. We don't have scrimmages like you do in high school, we don't have preseason games like you do in the NFL. Nobody knows how good we're going to be. Nobody knows how good UTEP or anybody else is going to be, either. The first game you're really just trying to find yourself a little bit."