Today’s Ulster Championship clash between All Ireland champions Donegal and league finalists Tyrone is the biggest clash of the summer so far.

The two sides met in the league back in March, with the Red Hand County drawing first blood by beating 13-man Donegal 1-13 to -0-12.

Jim McGuinness was not taking the league 100 per cent seriously which makes today’s game in Ballybofey a completely different proposition.

But can the loser hold out any hope of still being in with a chance to reach September’s All Ireland final?

For the winner, a provincial semi-final and possible final await before immediate entry to the All Ireland series. Negotiate a further three games successfully and they would be All Ireland champions.

But whichever one of Tyrone and Donegal loses, has history to contend with. They would have to start off in Round 1 of the qualifiers and try to make their way through seven games to claim All Ireland glory, two more than if they were to win the provincial title.

With increased game time comes fatigue and the risk of injury which could scupper a serious tilt at Sam Maguire.

Back in 2001 - the first year of the qualifiers, Westmeath caused a few shocks. Starting off in Round 1, the Lake County managed to make waves by advancing to Round 4 where they shocked Mayo.

In the All Ireland quarter-finals, they only lost to eventual finalists Meath in a replay.

In 2002, Kerry went from Round 2 all the way to the semi-finals. The following year, Armagh went one further by reaching the All Ireland final after starting in the second round. That gives teams a lot of hope.

In 2008 Tyrone did win the All Ireland by progressing from Round 1 but that year there was one fewer qualifier round. The following year, Kerry achieved the same fate in the same number of games, by starting from Round 2, while Meath went from Round 1 to the All Ireland semi-final.

But no team has gone through a four round qualifier series all the way to an All Ireland final, but in reality very rarely does a county of Donegal’s strength have to start out from the very bottom rung.

However, statistically Ulster sides have tended to thrive in the qualfiers, a few shock results aside.

Donegal have not been involved in the qualifier series since 2010, but they have won 15 out of the 21 qualifier games since the inception of the format.

Meanwhile  Tyrone have a slightly better success rate, with 15 wins from 19. Although they did not start from Round 1 in 2011, they did enjoy a reasonably good run starting in Round 2 before succumbing to eventual champions Dublin by seven points in Croke Park.

But one trend will be of interest to both sides. The semi-finalists in the last two All Ireland championships have all been provincial winners.