Alabama Football: Kickoff Classic Rematch With Virginia Tech? Let's Do It!

Nick Saban is always one to kick off the season with a big game to get his team ready for a big season ahead. 

Coach Frank Beamer with Virginia Tech thinks the same way Saban does, but for his Virginia Tech Hokies, things haven't gone as well as they have for Saban's Alabama teams.

While Saban is perfect in big game kickoffs with the Tide, the Hokies have won zero so far, except for a home and away matchup with Nebraska, in which they swept both games. But aside from those 2008 and 2009 wins, the Hokies have been blanked in big opening games all the way back to 2004, in a game with USC.

Ironically, that was the year USC won the national championship, only to have it taken away later by the NCAA.

Still, that hasn't persuaded either the coach or the Hokies' Athletic Director to change their thinking.

“We’ve talked about it (he and Coach Beamer), and we’re on the same page,” Athletic Director Jim Weaver said Friday in a prepared statement about the good and bad that come from such matchups. “It’s good for our program.”

And it's a lot more good that bad. The winner usually has an inside track for BCS poll consideration, both teams make a pot full of money and get valuable television exposure that can't hurt recruiting. It also gives both teams something to be motivated for early in the season while most other teams are scheduling cake walks.

Also in his statement, Weaver said that there are negotiations for a potential rematch between the Hokies and Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff to start the 2013 season going on now.  The game would be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The Tide has always been looking for marquee matchups in the opening week of the season and would certainly take a strong a look at this game. Alabama had looked at opening up the 2013 season with Oklahoma, but the Sooners made sure they let the Tide know that they weren't interested in that matchup.

“I don’t know that there are any sticking points,” Weaver said. “We just have to go through the process, agree on everything. It’s just a little premature at this point to set it in stone.”