Week zero is not the time for marquee matchups, nor is it a moment for games that take on outsized meaning as the season wears on. Granted, college football’s now-annual desultory start-before-the-start only began in earnest in 2017, but it has itself a fairly reflective track record.

Among the highlights, that first slate saw a trio of decent-to-good teams massacring bad ones, with Colorado State (eventually 7-6) toppling Oregon State (1-11), 58-27; Stanford (9-5) thrashing Rice (1-11) in …