CFB Games You Shouldn’t Miss: Week 1

College football officially kicks off Thursday night with the usual smattering of JV matchups. The first Saturday isn’t spectacular either as far as opening weekends go, but definitely has a couple games you need to watch:

NC State @ South Carolina
Thursday, 8pm ESPN
Admittedly, this isn’t a great matchup, but if you’re like me, you’ll take any sniff of a decent game on a Thursday night, let alone the very first Thursday of the season. South Carolina is favored by 12 and we like ‘em by at least 14.

Hawaii @ Florida
Saturday, 12:30pm Gameplan
This game is officially subtitled: “wish this were played last year”. Hawaii is a shell of what they were last year, and Big Urb and the Gators crush shells.

USC @ Virginia
Saturday, 3:30pm ABC
There are only two things compelling about this game. 1.) Will Mark Sanchez’ knee cap be on the front or the side of his leg? 2.) Will the long road trip and jet lag for USC allow the Cavaliers to cover the spread (20 points). Answer key: 1.) Front, just like Carson Palmer’s, 2.) No, Trojans by 28+.

Utah @ Michigan
Saturday, 3:30pm ABC
File this one under “morbid curiosity” but I can’t wait to watch RichRod’s Ann Arbor debut against what should be a decent Utah team. The line opened at 4 and has fallen back to 3 1/2 which basically makes this a pick ‘em. Given what happened in Michigan’s opener last year, I don’t think it’s overdramatic to say this game sets the tone for Michigan’s season. Either way, you should watch this game. Michigan by 3 in overtime.

Appalachian State @ LSU
Saturday, 5:00pm ESPN
LSU will win. Sorry underdog fans.

Alabama @ Clemson
Saturday, 8:00pm ABC
The headline is “mid-tier SEC team vs. ACC elite”. Of course, “ACC elite” is the same as gold rims on a Ford Focus (no offense to Focus owners). I like Clemson for a lot of reasons, mostly because they’re at home and they’ve got a well-balanced team. Clemson’s young offensive line and Alabama’s defense will keep the game very close. You should watch this game.

Illinois vs. Missouri (in St. Louis)
Saturday, 8:30pm ESPN
Missouri won this game last year 40-34 in what turned out to be watershed seasons for both teams. Missouri finished their year by spanking Arkansas while Illinois finished their season being the spankee at the hands of USC. I don’t see a spanking for either team in this game, but I do like Missouri by about 10 points. The final part of “the Juice Williams” experiment to materialize is consistency, so until I see consistent excellence from him, I’m picking the other team.

You’re welcome.