Why 2017’s Bama-FSU might be the biggest season-opening game ever

It's pretty certain that Alabama and Florida State will rank in the AP preseason top five for their Week 1 meeting in Atlanta, based on the way-too-early rankings so far. That almost never happens (see below).

They could even both rank in the top two, which has never happened to open a season.

Since the preseason poll began in 1950, the closest we've come to that might've been Rocket Ismail leading No. 1 Notre Dame past No. 2 Michigan in Week 3 of 1989. Michigan hadn't played in Week 1 or Week 2, so that was the opener for the Wolverines.

There have been a few top-five openers -- No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 4 Penn State in 1983 stands out as the biggest of those and No. 1 Florida State at No. 6 Miami in 1988 is the only other that could compare. That one had the added benefit of rivalry (yeah, Michigan-Notre Dame is a rivalry, but FSU-Miami is a rivalry).

But if we get a No. 1 vs. No. 2 (or something close to it) to truly open the season, in an era not known for this kind of out-of-conference game? FOLKS.

Bama-FSU isn’t a rivalry, but does have a few storylines in addition to the obvious title implications.

Jimbo Fisher is one of the very few former Nick Saban assistants to succeed as a head coach on his own. Both will face even higher expectations after winning New Year's bowls despite starting rookie QBs. And the two programs regularly recruit against each other, even if they haven't played on the field since 2007.

Both fanbases are also comfortable filling up Atlanta, promising a New Year's-worthy atmosphere in September. The Tide went 11-3 all-time in the Georgia Dome, including 2-0 last season. FSU has played in Atlanta four times since 2008, in two Peach Bowls and twice against Georgia Tech.

It’ll also be the major opener for the new Mercedes Benz Stadium, which is still being built but already looks like something from Independence Day landed in the middle of Atlanta. The country getting its first primetime look at that building is gonna be a social media spectacle on top of the huge matchup.

And that stadium’s prestige next year will be boosted even further by later hosting the SEC Championship, Peach Bowl, and National Championship, meaning it could host four of the season’s eight or so biggest games. So at some point in Bama-FSU, you’ll hear, "These two teams could meet again in this same building in four months," giving this game its own self-perpetuating hype loop.

Every other time the preseason No. 1 has played a top-20 team in Week 1:

• 1983: Nebraska vs. No. 4 Penn State in New Jersey
• 1986: Oklahoma vs. No. 4 UCLA
• 1985: Pitt vs. No. 5 North Carolina
• 1953: Notre Dame at No. 6 Oklahoma
• 1957: Oklahoma at No. 8 Pitt
• 1978: Alabama vs. No. 10 Nebraska
• 1984: Auburn vs. No. 10 Miami in New Jersey
• 1998: Ohio State at No. 11 West Virginia
• 1990: Miami at No. 16 BYU
• 1991: Florida State vs. No. 19 BYU in Anaheim
• 2016: Alabama vs. No. 20 USC in JerryWorld
• 1950: Notre Dame vs. No. 20 North Carolina
• 1958: Ohio State vs. No. 20 SMU
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The Rockets shoot very deep 3-pointers on purpose.Here's why.

In a league where the three-point shot is on an upward trajectory, the Houston Rockets are somehow ahead of the curve.

The Rockets attempt a league-leading 40 three-pointers per game and make 15 of them, ahead of the Cavaliers (12.6), Celtics (12.0), and Warriors (11.8). Houston’s made almost 160 more triples than Golden State and has attempted 500 more threes than the Los Angeles Clippers.

But there’s a new wrinkle in the Rockets’ three-point prowess: the distance from which they shoot them.

The NBA three-point line is 23 feet, nine inches from the basket, yet more than half of Houston’s three-point attempts come from between 25 and 29 feet. They don’t just shoot a lot of threes. They shoot a lot of deep threes.

The Rockets’ sharpshooters are happy to be in Houston, too. Gordon ranks second in the NBA in three-point makes (153), just three shy of Stephen Curry. He, Harden, Anderson, and Trevor Ariza each rank in the league’s top seven in threes made. 

But the idea to spread the shooters further out wasn’t something Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni forced upon his players. It’s something that just happened within the flow of the game.

“You look at ‘em and you go, ‘Yeah, why not?’ It’s easy,” D’Antoni laughed. “You can see on their form and effort, it’s just an easy shot for them. So, there’s no difference from them standing on the line.”

Gordon leads the NBA with 114 three-pointers made between 25 and 29 feet, per NBA.com stats. The only players to make at least 55 of them and shoot a better percentage are Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker.

Have recent incidents affected Grayson Allen's draft stock?

     Grayson Allen's draft stock hasn't taken much of a hit because of the tripping incidents. It has been affected more by his play on the court, multiple NBA executives told ESPN over the past two weeks.ESPN contacted more than a dozen NBA staffers -- from general managers to scouts -- and the vast majority said they weren't overly bothered that Allen has seemingly unable to refrain from tripping opponents. Only one mentioned the emotional outburst on the bench after Allen's incident against Elon as bothersome."The tripping incidents don't bother me at all," one NBA general manager told ESPN. "It's the fact that he hasn't played well this year when he's been on the court."[The tripping is] irrelevant to me," added another GM. "To me, it's all about whether he is good enough to play in our league -- and I'm not so sure of that."Allen was, according to most NBA executives, a likely first-round selection if he had left Duke after last season. Most told ESPN they had him in the 20th- to 30th-pick range on their draft boards, but some said they had him slipping to the early portion of the second round. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 21.6 points and shot 47 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range, but he decided to return for his junior campaign."I have a chance to play with this great group, have a chance to be a leader, work on my leadership," Allen told ESPN before the season. "With all this talent around me, I'll be able to work on my game, expanding -- work on play making, distributing, scoring the ball in different areas -- and doing all that while getting a chance to get a Duke degree is something I couldn't pass up."