**Editor's Note: Christian Alexander is known as the Thursday Night King. Stop losing and start winning all year with his top selections. Click to win!

South Carolina (0-0) at Mississippi State (0-0)

Thursday, August 31

8:00 PM ET on ESPN

Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field (Natural Grass)

South Carolina is a 6 1/2-point favorite Thursday at Mississippi State. (Getty)

How the times are changing. It used to be an annual tradition for the college football season to start off with the Kickoff and Pigskin classics. But no more. Now, Thursday night football has taken center stage and will again officially sound the start of the 2006-07 campaign. In this case, I say change is a good thing.

With nine games this Thursday night there is plenty to choose from. However, I would be a little less than honest if I didn’t admit there weren’t too many “Grade A” matchups on the board. Actually there are zero. I would give most of these Thursday night games a Grade C and in some cases that is generous. Sounds a lot like my academic history.

Never mind, I’ll take ESPN’s lead and cherry pick the best of the bunch. Which conveniently brings us to Starkville, Mississippi, where the South Carolina Gamecocks visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

In a lot of ways these two teams are opposites of each other.

South Carolina is coming off a fairly successful 2005-06 campaign which saw Steve Spurrier lead the Gamecocks to a 7-5 record and land an invite to the Independence Bowl – all in his first season in Columbia. Granted, the regular season ended with a tough loss to in-state rival Clemson and a seven-point defeat to Missouri in the aforementioned bowl. But all things considered, it was definitely a move in the right direction.

Now the Ole’ Ball Coach must deal with the departure of a slew of starters. However, while Spurrier only has six starters returning on offense and four on defense, some key components are back to do battle for the ‘Cocks.

Most of those cornerstones are on the offensive side of the ball which no doubt makes the offensive masterminded plenty happy. WR Sidney Rice is on everyone’s short list as one of the top receivers in the nation after 70 catches and 13 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman last season. Junior quarterback Blake Mitchell proved plenty capable in 2005 and should be more comfortable with a season under his belt. RBs Cory Boyd and Mike Davis give Mitchell two very nice options in the backfield.

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Compare that to the situation in Starkville that coach Sylvester Croom faces in his third year at Mississippi State. Croom has put together back-to-back 3-8 seasons so far, but only three of those wins have come in SEC games.

Despite those sub par results, there is optimism for the Bulldogs that comes in the form of 19 returning starters.

But unlike South Carolina which returns only 10 starters but has some key pieces back, despite the large number of returning starters, Mississippi State will be looking to replace unquestionably its two best players from last year.

That’s because RB Jerious Norwood and DE Willie Evans are now both playing in the NFL. You might have seen Norwood, MSU’s all-time leading rusher, rip off a 62-yard touchdown run on his second carry for the Atlanta Falcons in Saturday's preseason game at Tennessee. Meanwhile, Evans, who led the SEC in sacks last season, is making his way through “Camp Coughlin” as a rookie for the New York Giants.

All that is great for Mississippi State recruiting brochures but does little to help the product that Croom must put on the field this season. This much you can be sure of: with nine starters back on defense, the Bulldogs will be nasty on that side of the ball – even without Evans.

Click here to get Christian Alexander's selection on South Carolina and Mississippi State.

Factoids:

Ø       South Carolina is 12-0 when opening the season on a day other than Saturday. That includes a 24-15 victory over Central Florida on a Thursday night to start the year in 2005. However, the Gamecocks (-20.5) failed to cover against the Golden Knights.

Ø       Sylvester Croom has won both of his openers while at Mississippi State. In 2004, the Bulldogs opened the season by beating Tulane 28-7 and last year MSU defeated Murray State, 38-6.

Ø       Steve Spurrier is 15-1 in season openers as a college coach. His only loss? The 1989 opener for Duke when the Blue Devils fell 27-21 to, of all teams, South Carolina.

Ø       In 2005, Mississippi State held five opponents to 17 points or less.

Ø       Both teams enter this game on SEC winning streaks. South Carolina has won five straight conference games dating back to last season and Mississippi State ended last year by beating Ole Miss 35-14.