Preseason predictions aren’t worth much once the season starts, but it never hurts getting excited way ahead of time. While the biggest game of the season usually presents itself only after a few weeks and story lines have unfolded, with Alabama playing Texas A&M, Oregon travelling to Stanford and Georgia clashing with Clemson on the opening weekend seem to be the biggest early attractions.

Alabama at Texas A&M, September 14

It was November 10 of last year when Texas A&M came into the Bryant-Denny Stadium and beat Alabama for the only time last season, in one of Johnny Manziel’s crowning moments of last season, as the Aggies won 29-24. Alabama went on to win the national title and will be the number one team going into 2013 as well, but this time, there will plenty of expectations from the Aggies and Manziel, who will be ranked as number 2 or 3 according to all predictions.

Oregon at Stanford, November 7

Last season, Stanford were what kept us from seeing Oregon in the national championship game, which might have been Oregon vs Notre Dame if it wasn’t for that dramatic 14-17 loss at home, on overtime, with quite a bit of controversy to it. Stanford will probably be the favorites to win the Pac-12 once again next season, while the Ducks will try to take a very talented team to the heights the Chip Kelly era has gotten their fans used to.

Georgia at Clemson, August 31

Every year is the season in which Clemson do more than just dominate (if at all) in the ACC and turn into a national powerhouse. The win over LSU in the Chick-Fil-A-Bowl might be one of those defining moments, and playing a huge game against a team that was only 5 yards away from winning the SEC title game, returning most of its offensive power next season, is bound to be the biggest on the opening weekend next season.