2017 Week 1 Preview

FINALLY! College football is back! And it is back with 5 consecutive nights of football. Week one is very hard to predict because we haven’t seen anything yet. Really you have to base your picks on last season and then assumptions and thoughts about new players and new coaches. But that won’t stop me!

Since it’s week one, I’ll give you a preview of the preview: I’ll pick between 6 and 10 games a week. These picks have nothing to do with the spread, I just pick winners. I will not pick Arkansas Razorback games since I’m a Razorback, but I will do an Arkansas preview every week. I will also try to pick a wide variety of games, but ranked vs ranked games will always be covered. Thanks for reading and welcome to another season of college football!

Notable Games
3Florida State vs 1Alabama (Atlanta)
This game is huge. Everyone knows that. But it probably won’t hurt the loser in the long run. Well, unless one team blows out the other team. I’m interested to see how the QBs have improved. Jalen Hurts needs to be a more accurate passer and Deandre Francois needs his OL to protect him a little better. Another big story is who will step up at RB for Florida State now that Dalvin Cook is gone. I think this will be a close game.
I am picking Alabama

11Michigan vs 17Florida (Arlington)
This matchup looked great a couple weeks ago… then 10 Florida players, including star WR Antonio Calloway, got suspended. Because of that, we might not get the game we wanted. Neither team has released a depth chart so who knows who will be playing QB for Florida. Hopefully this will still be a good game.
I am picking Michigan

22West Virginia vs 21Virginia Tech (FedEx Field) (Sunday)
I am really looking forward to this game. Mainly because I have no idea who is going to win. Both teams lost a ton of last year’s starters. Having seen Virginia Tech at the end of last season, I truly believe that if some of those juniors had stayed, this team would be a contender. Will Grier will be the QB for WVU. That name should be familiar. He was at Florida until he got suspended for a year due to taking a banned substance (one he didn’t know was banned). Now he is back and will be leading the Mountaineers.
I am picking Virginia Tech

25Tennessee vs Georgia Tech (Atlanta) (Monday)
The biggest storyline of this game is how will Tennessee do without Josh Dobbs at QB. The Vols were an up and down team last season. Sometimes they were great, other times not so much. Though one game won’t show us if they can be consistent, it will at least give us a baseline. Georgia Tech is a sneaky team with that triple option offense. Some teams just can’t stop it.
I am picking Tennessee

Colorado State vs Colorado (Denver) (Friday)
We have already had the chance to see Colorado State play a Pac12 team this season. The Rams routed Oregon State in the first game played in their new stadium. Colorado was the Pac12 runner-up last season, but I was never really sold on the Buffaloes. I think Colorado is probably the better team, though I think this will be a great game and might even come down to the end. It is pretty cool to get a rivalry game in week one.
I am picking Colorado

Texas A&M at UCLA (Sunday)
This was an exciting game last season where A&M beat UCLA in OT. UCLA went on to have a forgettable season. QB Josh Rosen is healthy again after missing the second half of last season with a shoulder injury. Texas A&M lost two big playmakers in QB Trevor Knight and DE Myles Garrett. Some players from Texas A&M might have more than football on their minds due to hurricane Harvey. This should be a good game.
I am picking UCLA

Florida A&M at Arkansas (Little Rock) (Thursday)
It is weird that Arkansas is playing on a Thursday night, but that means I don’t have to stress about them for two more days. Arkansas should win this game by a lot. I watched a lot of Florida A&M’s game last weekend and they don’t look great. They were missing their kicker and went for it on most 4th downs. They looked scrappy, but I don’t know how they will do against an SEC team. Arkansas changed their defensive scheme from a 4-3 to a 3-4 in hopes of making it easier for the players. I’m really looking forward to seeing that in action. The Hogs also have a lot of new faces in the skill positions. I’m hoping for a big win and no injuries. And I’m so happy football is back in Arkansas.

Top 25
14Stanford 62 Rice 7 (Aug 26)
19South Florida 42 San Jose State 22 (Aug 26)
2Ohio State at Indiana (Thursday)
Western Michigan at 4USC
Kent State at 5Clemson
Akron at 6Penn State
UTEP at 7Oklahoma
8Washington at Rutgers (Friday)
Utah State at 9Wisconsin (Friday)
Tulsa at 10Oklahoma State (Thursday)
Georgia Southern at 12Auburn
BYU vs 13LSU (New Orleans)
14Stanford BYE
Appalachian State at 15Georgia
16Louisville at Purdue
Bethune-Cookman at 18Miami
Stony Brook at 19South Florida
Central Arkansas at 20Kansas State
Maryland at 23Texas
Montana State at 24Washington State

Other Games
Howard at UNLV
California at North Carolina
NC State at South Carolina
Temple at Notre Dame
Troy at Boise State
South Alabama at Ole Miss
Arkansas State at Nebraska