College football Week 1 thread

In a rare Sunday game (at least for Baylor), former Southwest Conference opponents SMU and Baylor play at the Bears' new on-campus stadium. A best-of-the-week? I dunno, but it'll be fun to see the new stadium.

 

You left off the opener Wednesday! Abilene Christian (+4) at Georgia State...

I love UCF (-2) over Penn State in Dublin. Also worth a shot, Navy (+17) at home against Ohio State and UMASS (+17) at home against BC.

 

The ACC could be dealt a fatal blow if Clemson and Fla. State both lose Saturday. The Big 10 needs Wisconsin to beat LSU. And if Bama falls to WV, well then...

 

Oklahoma State brings back only a few starters, or real depth.

Winston might throw for 600 yards.

 

I wonder if Miami will show up against Louisville this time around.

 

Was out in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and put in some Week 1 parlays as well as one future that I hope pays for the parlays - UCLA on the OVER to win 9.5.

I have a few 3 and 4-teamers for this weekend.

I also have a $20 8-teamer working for Week 1 (for the entertainment value). $20 will pay $2,860 if it hits. On Thursday, if Tulsa (-4.5) covers against Tulane and Wazzu covers (-8.5) vs. Rutgers, I will be a wreck on Saturday for the remaining six games. I have a MAC game (Kent -3 vs Ohio U) along with some other notable games... Georgia -8, LSU -5 and Central Florida -1. I'm very anti-Big Ten in these opening weeks. SEC schools (and, for that matter, teams like UCF) practice in swampy conditions in August while Big Ten teams get cooler practices. I think that matters with speed and stamina.

I cringe that I'm taking Colorado to cover anything but I found a place where the line was -2.5 against Colorado State.

Generally, I try to go against first-year coaches because those first two games are often offensive quagmires with a new system. However, I'm taking Washington (with a new coach) -15 at Hawaii as Norm Chow is such a tire fire. Also, I shy away from taking underdogs in Week 1 unless they have an experienced QB against a favorite with few returning starters or a new QB or a new coach. I'd rather lay the number on favorites and avoid games where I don't like the favorite.

That UCLA-Virginia game can be tempting at -20.5 but I didn't find any Vegas books where it was lower than -21.5. Players loading up heavy on Bruins.

 

UCF lost its stud QB and 3 starting O-linemen.

They'll struggle to score against Penn State, but Penn State will struggle even more because UCF gets everyone back from a great defense.

Take the under.

 

LSU-Wisconsin is in a dome and UCF is playing in Ireland. Not sure heat and humidity will be factors there.
I'm also leery of LSU, and that's as a fan. This seems to be shaping up as one of those 8-4 seasons with one or two patented Les Miles gut-wrenchers against Arkansas and Kentucky, a blowout loss to Alabama, and a Peach Bowl bid at the end. Two quarterbacks playing, a lot of talent gone to the NFL like it does every few years, and a deeper than average SEC West are all going to cause problems.
Pencil them in for big things in 2016 -- assuming some drunken coonass doesn't finally snap and take a shot at Miles during an alumni group luncheon -- but I'm not sure I'm seeing it this year.

 

Kid's got a sense of humor.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/88294/clint-tricketts-first-kiss-was-sabans-daughter?ex_cid=espnsoc

 

Trickett's dad is a lunatic, so that doesn't surprise me.

 

I agree with whoever said LSU-Wisconsin would be an ugly slugfest. Whole lotta replacements for each offense, and a Wisconsin QB who probably should be replaced.

Actually, as it turns out, Stave might be holding a clipboard in the opener: http://badgerofhonor.com/2014/08/25/melvin-gordon-spill-beans-wisconsin-badgers-quarterback-situation/