After months of posturing and debate about playoff length and conference schedules and future collective bargaining agreements, the college football offseason has ended, and the actual games -- the things we live for -- have begun. More teams than usual seem capable of making national title runs, and all the predictable contenders seem to have far larger question marks than usual.

Week 1 gives us a case in point: For the first time, the No. 1 team in the preseason polls is beginning the year as an underdog. Arch Manning and top-ranked Texas will ring in the season against Ohio State in Columbus, and the host Buckeyes are 1.5-point favorites.

If history offers us parallels, they aren't kind to the top team. In 1988, Florida State took a new starting quarterback and a preseason No. 1 ran

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