So much for that Florida-Colorado State McElwain matchup

Five games that sounded better at the time they were conceived:

Colorado State at UF, Sept. 15: As part of the $7 million buyout to hire Jim McElwain away from Colorado State in December 2014, the Gators agreed to pay the Rams $2 million to play at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium sometime between 2017 and 2020. That visit comes this year … 11 months after McElwain and UF parted ways.

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Samford at FSU, Sept. 8: Jimbo Fisher played his final college season at Samford, started his coaching career there and was inducted into its athletics hall of fame earlier this year. Too bad he left for Texas A&M before the Seminoles could host his former team again.

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Alabama vs. Louisville in Orlando, Sept. 1: If Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson had stayed for another season, a matchup of the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner against the loaded 'Bama defense would have been must-see TV. Instead, the drama is whether Louisville can stay within three touchdowns of the Tide.

Eastern Washington at UF, Sept. 5, 2020: McElwain has strong ties to his alma mater, Eastern Washington, and wanted the Division I-AA power on his schedule. Thirteen months after UF announced the game, McElwain was gone.

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FSU vs. West Virginia in Atlanta, Sept. 5, 2020: It's still a nice opener, but it doesn't have the sizzle without Fisher, a West Virginia native who did a lot for his home state after flooding in 2016. It's worth noting, too, that FSU and the Mountaineers had a home-and-home series scheduled for 2012-13 that was a casualty of West Virginia's leap from the Big East to the Big 12.