Over the past week, the first round of 2009 college football season previews appeared on magazine racks. The annual early-summer reminder that football season is just around the corner, the magazines offer endless mountains of statistics.

The magazines serve another purpose, at least for me- they allow for a first look at can’t-miss match-ups for the upcoming season.

This season’s highlights, at least on paper, include early-season match-ups such as Southern Cal at Ohio State on Sept. 12 and Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in Atlanta on Sept. 9. As far as non-conference showdowns go, these two games are about the only truly intriguing contests.

Following a decade-long trend in the wake of the BCS, marquee programs rarely square off during the early weeks of the season as they once did. According to ESPN writer Pat Forde, in 1988 there were 15 games that matched top-20 teams; in 1998 there were eight, in and 2008 only four.

Most fans and writers are quick to criticize title-contending teams for scheduling Football Championship Subdivision teams in an attempt to rack up easy wins. Most major programs are choosing this route rather than scheduling blockbuster match-ups with others in the hunt for a championship because they are, correctly, fearful that even one early-season loss will eliminate them from a chance at the title.

It may seem as if the big-money programs are simply taking the easy road to a championship; in many cases, they are. But as we learned in 2007, when defending FBS Champions Appalachian State defeated fifth-ranked Michigan in the Big House, it is only a matter of time before some of the more talented FCS will be able to compete with the big dogs.

College football today is a changing game. Talented recruits, eager for playing time, are slowly straying from traditional powerhouses and opting for lesser-known schools where they will be a bigger name. Two “mid-major” programs, Boise State and Utah, have erupted onto the national scene with impressive performances in BCS games over the past few years.

This season, many programs are facing harsh criticism for the scheduling of weaker opponents. But these non-conference games are not the cakewalks they used to be for marquee programs. If the current trend continues, and talent continues to spread out from the major conferences, some of the most memorable games of the upcoming season may be FCS and mid-major upsets of top-ranked teams.