FanHouse RyanWilliams

At last, the road to the top seems awfully clear for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

How far they still have to go will be determined, at least in part, Saturday when the Cornhuskers travel to Blacksburg, Va., to take on the 13th-ranked Hokies, Nebraska's first real test of the season.

Just don't expect Nebraska coach Bo Pelini to admit that his team's first BCS opponent of the season will be a gauge for how close the Cornhuskers are to returning to their dominant former selves.

"Every week is a measuring stick," Pelini said this week. "We have to measure ourselves according to where we want to be and how we're executing. It's the way it is. You have to measure yourself every day. Are you improving every day? Are you getting better every day? Are you competing to be the best every day? You have to make improvement and this week is just the next step."

Here's the top lesson from Saturday: If you're a major program, never schedule a game you can lose as your season opener. Period. This should be a rule. Why? Because we fans sit around for nine months waiting for the college football season to return, and then, in one sixty minute game, the entire season is ruined. It's just not worth it. You roll out of bed the next morning and effectively the wildest dreams of the offseason, that your team could run the table and contend for a national championship, is over.

Ask Georgia fans what they feel like this morning. Ask Tennessee fans what the last two years prior to this season felt like losing the first game of the season in California. Losing the opening game counts as two losses, it makes you feel like complete crap. And don't even get me started with how good you feel if you win an opening game. You're a liar. You don't feel good, you just feel relieved. Nothing has changed about your season if you win a big opening game. You just get to dream for one week more. On to the ClayNation Starting 11.

I think this is pretty hard evidence that the NCAA's Clearinghouse has enforcement issues:

Auburn football signee Ryan Williams said the NCAA Clearinghouse has approved his transcript, making him eligible to play this season. The former B.C. Rain High School defensive back's status was in question after the Press-Register reported that he had 10 grades raised.

Ten grades that magically turn into better grades is either evidence of outright cheating or extreme back-bending to get this kid eligible to play collegiate sports. There is no rational explanation for changes of that magnitude. One or two, sure. Ten... no. Especially when the school's superintendent makes a statement like this:

Superintendent Harold Dodge has said investigators might never be able to determine who changed the grades.

You don't know who changed the grades? What? Don't, you know, teachers assign grades? Can't you ask said teachers what grades they gave this kid and if there was any reason they might be automagically raised to NCAA qualifying levels? Ridiculous.

The other kid caught up in these shenanigans, Nick Fairley, failed to qualify and will be headed to junior college.