College football season kinda-sorta began last weekend, but the unofficially official start to the season remains Labor Day weekend.

The leaves have not yet turned. Fans are forced to balance football alongside their preferred body of water -- and oblige with great enthusiasm. It's a tradition unlike many others.

Better still, opening weekend is low pressure. Unlike a late October conference game, our favorite teams can recover from an early September loss.

Or can they?

While a season-opening "L" won't necessarily doom your alma mater, it could. Each of these teams were ultimately eliminated from national title contention thanks, in large part, to faltering at the start line.

1998 -- No. 2 Florida State 23, No. 14 Texas A&M 14

Kansas State and legendary head coach Bill Snyder have never appeared in a national championship game, but in 1998, the Wildcats were close enough to taste the Fiesta Bowl tortilla chips. With eventual Heisman runner-up Michael Bishop under center, K-State finished the regular season 11-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally. Only 10th-ranked Texas A&M stood in the way of a date with Tennessee in the first-ever BCS Championship.

In one of college football's all-time classics, the Aggies upset Kansas State 36-33 in double overtime, sending Florida State to the national championship and propelling a two-loss Texas A&M into the Sugar Bowl.



If Texas A&M had won its first game of the season…
With an opening weekend win over the Seminoles, the Aggies would have almost certainly been ranked No. 1 when they met Texas in the regular-season finale -- with wins over then-No. 2 FSU and then-No. 2 Nebraska on their resume.

The two-point Thanksgiving loss to the Longhorns would have likely dropped the Aggies to No. 4 -- behind Kansas State and Ohio State -- but anyone who recalls the "what have you done for me lately" nuance of the BCS formula knows that a wild, entertaining Big 12 Championship win over No. 2 Kansas State would have vaulted the best team R.C. Slocum ever had back to No. 2 and into the title game ahead of the idle Buckeyes.

2001 -- Fresno State 24, Colorado 22

Colorado opened the 2001 season unranked, with very average outside expectations, so an opening weekend loss -- while disappointing in Boulder -- didn't even move the needle in the national conversation.

Little did we know, these Buffaloes would transform into one of the strongest teams in the country in 2001, winning 10 of their next 11 games, including a 62-36 dismantling of eventual Heisman winner Eric Crouch and No. 2 Nebraska, followed by a 39-37 triumph against No. 3 Texas in the Big 12 Championship -- a win that avenged CU's only other loss of the season.

Despite winning the strongest league in college football by closing with two of the season's most impressive victories, the Labor Day weekend loss to Fresno State kept the Buffs out of the BCS championship. Adding insult to injury, the Cornhuskers went in their place -- despite the 26-point loss to close the regular season.



If Colorado had won its first game of the season…
A 41-7 loss to Texas would have been a hell of a black eye, but crushing Nebraska and exacting revenge on the Longhorns to end the season would have virtually guaranteed the Big 12 champion Buffaloes a No. 2 ranking and a shot at Miami in the national championship.

2007 -- Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32

To be fair, the wheels fell off in two parts for what was, to begin the season, one of Lloyd Carr's most highly touted teams.

Part two, of course, was a 39-7 beat down at the hands of Oregon. But that team had every ounce of wind taken from its sail a week before, when top-ranked FCS program Appalachian State shocked the college football world with a walk-off field goal block at the Big House.

The Wolverines would recover to win their next eight consecutive games, but the 0-2 homestand -- the program's first since 1958 -- effectively extinguished any hope of a national championship run, which was a particularly tough pill to swallow for a group of returning seniors that included quarterback Chad Henne, wide receiver Mario Manningham, and running back Mike Hart.



If Michigan had won its first game of the season…
Who knows? The Dennis Dixon-led Ducks might have still handed the Wolverines their first loss of the year a week later. But losing to the FCS Mountaineers robbed Michigan of its swagger and took an undeniable psychological toll on the group.

2007 -- Missouri 40, Illinois 34

Illinois hasn't been much for the past six decades or so, but there was a long-since-forgotten group of Fighting Illini that had folks genuinely excited. And while that collection of talent ultimately underachieved, it actually came surprisingly close to fulfilling its promise a year earlier than expected.

Remember Juice Williams? How about Arrelious Benn? Once upon a time, the sophomore quarterback Williams and freshman wide receiver Benn took college football by storm with an upstart Illinois roster that also included running back Rashard Mendenhall and cornerback Vontae Davis -- but not before dropping their first game of the year to Missouri.

Following the six-point heartbreaker in the Edward Jones Dome, the Illini won five straight -- including victories over No. 21 Penn State and No. 5 Wisconsin -- and nine of their last 11. Juice and company closed the season with landmark victories over top-ranked Ohio State and No. 20 Northwestern to win the Big Ten and punch their ticket to the Rose Bowl.



If Illinois had won its first game of the season…
Missouri and Illinois were unranked to begin the season, but the Tigers ended the year as the fourth-ranked team in the nation. And if ever there was year to be a two-loss team with wins over Ohio State, Missouri, and Wisconsin, it was 2007 -- a season in which two-loss LSU went on to win the BCS title game despite losing to unranked Arkansas at home to end the regular season.

2009 -- No. 20 BYU 14, No. 3 Oklahoma 13

Following a loss to Florida in the 2008 national title game, Oklahoma returned virtually every member of its core group -- including three of the eventual top four picks in the 2010 NFL Draft. To say that expectations were high in Norman is a gross understatement, and yet, the '09 Sooners won just eight games en route to the second-worst season of the Bob Stoops-era.

How is that possible, you ask? Eleven starters missed at least one game due to injury. And, more specifically, BYU broke returning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford.

As expected, Bradford completed 10 of his first 14 throws for 96 yards and put Oklahoma on top 7-0 with a first-quarter touchdown pass to Ryan Broyles -- all very much according to script. However, the cruelest of plot twists occurred on Bradford's 14th pass attempt, when BYU linebacker Coleby Clawson knocked Bradford to the turf, injuring the AC joint in his throwing shoulder.

Bradford missed the rest of the game -- and the next four. He returned against Texas, but re-injured the same shoulder in the first quarter and was done for the year. In the meantime, the Sooners lost three of their first six games by a combined five points and were left without much to play for by the end of 2009.



If Oklahoma had won its first game…
The biggest loss suffered by the Sooners on opening weekend in 2009 wasn't the game but Bradford. With a healthy Bradford, OU is a virtual lock to be undefeated at the end of October and well on its way to another BCS title game.

2010 -- No. 3 Boise State 33, Virginia Tech 30

OK, that's misleading. The season-opening loss to Boise State wasn't a deal-breaker for Virginia Tech's national championship hopes. The Hokies could have rebounded from that. And they did rebound, but it was a week too late.

After falling to the Broncos in Landover, MD, Virginia Tech returned home to face FCS opponent James Madison in week two -- a game it lost 21-16. Following the upset loss to the Dukes, the Fightin' Frank Beamers reeled off 11 consecutive wins, including an ACC Championship game victory over Florida State, but it was never nearly enough to re-enter the national championship conversation.



If Virginia Tech had won its first game…
An opening-week win against Boise State would've only made the James Madison debacle all the more shocking. Ultimately, the Hokies could have and really should have been 2-0 to begin the season -- which would have left them at 13-0 following an ACC Championship win.

#Math

Could Virginia Tech have stopped Cam Newton? Probably not. But the Hokies would've at least had their shot at the crown.

2011 -- No. 3 LSU, 40, No. 4 Oregon 27

There's no shame in losing a season opener to the eventual undefeated SEC champs, but a year after losing to Auburn in the BCS Championship, the Ducks were as strong, or stronger, and could have realistically pushed for a second consecutive championship berth otherwise.

After falling to the Tigers, Oregon won 11 of its next 12 -- the lone hiccup was a three-point loss to No. 18 Southern Cal -- en route to a Pac 12 title and a Rose Bowl berth.

In his second season as the starter, quarterback Darron Thomas set a single-season record with 33 passing touchdowns while leading an electric Ducks offensive cupboard, stocked with the likes of running backs LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner along with freshman playmaker De'Anthony Thomas.



If Oregon had won its first game…
After knocking off LSU in the opener, the Ducks -- who opened the season ranked No. 4 -- would have almost certainly jumped to No. 1 after LSU went on to beat Alabama in November.

The loss to Southern Cal would have effectively turned the 2011 season on its ear, as voters and computers would have been forced to choose between one-loss SEC champion LSU, one-loss Alabama, and a one-loss Pac-12 champion who owned a victory over the aforementioned SEC champ.

2016 -- No. 15 Houston 33, No. 3 Oklahoma 22

Perhaps no team in college -- save for maybe Clemson -- closed out the 2016 season stronger than Oklahoma. Unfortunately for the Sooners, a Labor Day weekend loss to Houston ultimately proved insurmountable.

While falling to the Cougars in a "neutral site" game at Houston's NRG Stadium wasn't necessarily a bad loss, it was a second loss during a season in which the fourth-seeded Huskies finished the regular season 12-1, followed by Michigan, Penn State, and OU -- all of whom had taken a second "L" during the regular season.



If Oklahoma had won its first game…
The Sooners would get smacked at home by Ohio State two weeks later -- a loss that temporarily dropped Oklahoma outside of the top 25 -- but the Buckeyes ended the regular season 11-1 and ranked No. 3.

Imagine the drama should the selection committee have been forced to compare the one-loss resumes of Oklahoma and Washington with the fourth and final playoff spot on the line.

Could the Sooners have upset mighty Alabama and forced a rematch of their 2016 CFP semifinal loss to Clemson a year later? At the very least, it's entirely possible if not overly plausible.

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