Week 1 features several high level SEC vs out of conference games headlined by the No. 9 Auburn Tigers squaring off with the No. 6 Washington Huskies in Atlanta and the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide facing the Louisville Cardinals in Orlando. No. 25 LSU takes on No. 8 Miami Sunday Night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Ole Miss opposes Texas Tech In Houston and the Tennessee Vols under first year coach Jeremy Pruitt battle the No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers in Charlotte. Those are some of the compelling matchups this weekend and there are severl more. The No.3 Georgia Bulldogs host the Austin Peay Generals. Not a major challenge for the Dawgs, but it is still their first game with some new faces on defense and Jake Fromm trying to build on his stellar freshman season from last year. No.14 Michigan travels to No. 12 Notre Dame in a headliner nationally. Here’s a look at this weekend’s action.

Last year: 228-101 (69%)

*** All games Saturday unless otherwise noted***

No. 9 Auburn vs. No.6 Washington

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Atlanta, GA. (71,000)

Chick-fil-A Classic

2:30 PM CT

ABC

Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay

Auburn by 2

The Tigers have high hopes this season riding on a stellar defense and the star potential of quarterback Jarrett Stidham. But Stidham needs protection and the offensive line, while there is talent, is inexperienced. Cam Martin will start off at running back, but expect Ja’Tarvious Whitlow to get a lot of reps and could be a breakout performer for the Tigers. The defense is potentially spectacular with a defensive line that could be as good as anybody in football, that includes the NFL. Clemson and Auburn both have dominating fronts and Auburn’s linebackers and secondary are even a little better than Clemson’s. Washington returns quarterback Jake Browning, who threw for 2,719 yards, completing 69% of his passes (230-of-336) with 19 TDs and 5 ints. He’s an outstanding signal caller and playmaker. Running back Myles Gaskin returns for the Huskies after rushing for 1,380 yards and 21 TDs last season. The Huskies defense is loaded with one of the best secondaries in the country, so Stidham and the Tigers receivers, led by Ryan Davis,  will be tested.

I expect this to be more of a defensive game. I like the Tigers’ defense a little better than the Huskies, but barely. Huskies Coach Chris Peterson is one of the best in the game and will give Gus and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele everything they want. The Tigers will have a massive group of fans in Atlanta, so with that factor and the Auburn defense, I like the Tigers to get a major victory nationally and show that they’re for real this season. But it’ll be a war.

Auburn 21, Washington 20

 

No.1 Alabama vs Louisville

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL. (65,000)

Camping World Kickoff

7 PM CT

ABC

Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor

Bama by 24 1/2

The Crimson Tide still haven’t named a starting quarterback with the quarterback issue prevalent throughout the Bama Nation in the preseason. Tua Tagovailoa was showing signs last year in relief in blowout games that he was a potential superstar, and he showed in the national championship victory over Georgia that he was a bona fide superstar. It wasn’t a complete season of work, but what we saw was pretty convincing that Tua is a legitimate superstar. It’s unclear who will get the start, but I like the Tide offense with Tua under center over Jalen Hurts. He’s a much better passer and can run pretty well. But S will employ them both against Louisville and see who runs the team better and takes ownership of the offense. With the talent around them, either quarterback should have a big day against the Cardinals defense. Damien Harris looks primed to have another spectacular senior season after rushing for over 1,000 yards for the second straight season in 2017. Wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs III are electric. The offensive line is potentially dominant. The defense is talented, but a little thin at linebacker, and the secondary is untested, so those will be issues the Tide will need to work out in these early season games. Louisville will test the Crimson Tide defense. While they lost Lamar Jackson, who is now a Baltimore Raven. their quarterback, Jawon Pass, is 6’4″, 231, and very athletic. They have good receivers, and a good offense overall. But I like Alabama to put up the points against the Cardinals defense, and the developing Crimson Tide defense to take a first step in trying to become an elite unit like Alabama defenses of the past several years have been. They’ll need to stay healthy, particularly at linebacker, and the secondary will need to step it up against a pretty potent Cardinals’ offense, but I like the Tide to get the job done in Orlando.

Alabama 35, Louisville 10

 

Austin Peay @ No.3 Georgia

Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA. (92,746)

2:30 PM CT

ESPN

Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman

No line

The Dawgs can pick their score here, but it’s still an audition at quarterback somewhat. Jake Fromm is a proven winner, but Justin Fields looks headed for stardom. Fromm is the leader, but if he falters, Fields could come on in relief at some point. Georgia has a lot of new players on defense, but like Alabama and Auburn, there is an enormous amount of talent on this team. Georgia takes care of business at home and gets ready for a huge road test next week at South Carolina. Look for a big day from sophomore running back DeAndre Swift. He’s for real.

Dawgs 45, Austin Peay 3

 

Sunday

No.8 Miami vs. No. 25 LSU

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX (100,000)

6:30 PM CT

ABC

Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe

Miami by 3 1/2

LSU will be breaking in a new quarterback in Joe Burrow, a transfer from Ohio State, who has some college experience as a backup for the Buckeyes. While Miami is favored, I trust the Bengal Tigers more. Still don’t trust Mark Richt enough even if his team is the favorite. Like the Bengal Tigers to be “Truckin” back from Jarryville to Baton Rouge with an upset victory.

LSU 24, Miami 20

 

Ole Miss vs Texas Tech

NRG Stadium, Houston (72,220)

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff

11 AM CT

ESPN

Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath

Ole Miss by 2 1/2

I’m going SEC here. I see the SEC as back after a little bit of a down year last year except for Alabama and Georgia.  Excellent matchup here.

Ole Miss 31, Texas Tech 30

 

Tennessee vs. No. 17 West Virginia

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C. (75,412)

2:30 PM CT

CBS

Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jamie Erdahl

West Virginia by 9 1/2

Maybe the talent level favors the Mountaineers a little bit, but I’m going with the upset. Pruitt gets it done in his first game as a head coach.

Vols 28, West Virginia 27

 

Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 18 Mississippi State

Davis Wade Stadium Starkvegas (61,337)

6:30 PM CT

ESPNU

Mike Couzens, Kirk “LA Woman” Morrison

No Line

State has a game like Georgia where they can pretty much name their score. Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is out of this game due to a 1 game suspension, but backup Keyton Thompson is very capable of carrying the load in this one. I’m bullish on the Bullies this season. They’re a darkhorse in the SEC to me along with South Carolina, Florida and Texas A&M.

State 48, SFA 3

 

Coastal Carolina at South Carolina

Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C. (80,250)

11 AM CT

SEC Network

Taylor Zarzour “Gabor”, Matt Stinchcomb, Kris Budden

SC by 29 1/2

The Gamecocks are ready to compete for an East title. They are very close to being an elite team in the east and maybe in the whole conference. The Gamecocks get ready for them Dawgs to rumble into town next Saturday in a colossal showdown at Williams-Brice.

South Carolina 38, Coastal Carolina 7

 

Other SEC scores

Florida 34, Charleston Southern 0

6:30 PM CT

SEC Network

The Gators are the fourth team I see as an under the radar pretty good football team in the SEC that can challenge for the east crown. The conference is going to be spectacular this season.

Tonight

Texas A&M 52, Northwestern State 0

7:30 PM CT

SEC Network

I like Jimbo Fisher’s talent. He takes over a team that has several very good players. Kevin Sumlin may not have gotten the job done overall, but he did some good things at A&M and recruited well. Fisher has potential to have a sleeper team in the West.

Arkansas 34, Eastern Illinois 7

3 PM CT

SEC Network

It might take Chad Morris a couple of years to get his program competing at a high level and I’m not sure if you can get it done at Arkansas. But he brings a lot of energy and passion into the program. 

Missouri 52, UT Martin 3

3 PM CT

SEC Network

Either this game or the Arkansas game will be on SEC Alternate Network, and you may need to watch it on your computer, the Watch ESPN site. Drew Lock is looking to have a big year at quarterback for the Tigers. Not sure he’s totally elite. I want to watch him the first couple of games, particularly against a talented team, and decide.

 

Kentucky 34, Central Michigan 7

2:30 PM CT

ESPNU

Not sure what I think about Kentucky yet. As S says about his team, to be determined. They have a new quarterback, but a phenomenal tailback in Benny Snell. He’s one of the best in the conference and the country.

Vanderbilt 31, Middle Tennessee 28

6:30 PM CT

SEC Network Alternate Channel or Watch ESPN

Derek Mason gets you excited about his team. This is a test for the Commodores. I see them just getting over the hurdle of a pretty quality team in Conference USA.

Key national game

No. 14 Michigan @ No. 12 Notre Dame

Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN. 

6:30 PM CT

NBC

ND by 1

I like Harbaugh, new quarterback Shea Patterson from Ole Miss and the Wolverines to go into South Bend and pull off the slight upset. I see Michigan as a sleeper team this season. They’re pretty good.

Michigan 28, Notre Dame 24

Other games

 

No.2 Clemson 48, Furman 7

11:20 AM CT

ACC Network

Kelly Bryant gets the start for the ultra talented Tigers, but he might be looking over his shoulder at stud freshman Trevor Lawrence. This defensive line may be the best in the country in both college football and the NFL.

No.5 Ohio State 45, Oregon State 10

11 AM CT

ABC

This has been a clown show and Urb is a clown, but there is good talent on the team. I’m not sure about elite, playoff talent, but there is plenty of talent. Want to see them play before I pass judgment on this team. 

Friday

No.4 Wisconsin 34, Western Kentucky 10

8 PM CT

ESPN

They had to suspend a couple of wide receivers for a couple of games, but they’ve got very good talent nonetheless. Still not sure if they can compete with the elite teams nationally. Possibly. I want to see them play an Ohio State, a Michigan or a Penn State. Just not sure the Big Ten has the horses that the SEC has, but this team coming up just might.

No.10 Penn State 37, App State 14

2:30 PM CT

Big Ten Network

I’m pretty bullish on this team with standout quarterback Trace McSorley. They’ve got a chance to be playing in January. 

Friday

No. 11 Michigan State 30, Utah State 6

6 PM CT

Big Ten Network

 

No. 13 Stanford 35, San Diego State 20

8 PM CT

Fox Sports 1

Looking forward to seeing Stanford running back Bryce Love play. He’s phenomenal. 

 

No.2 Oklahoma 41, Florida Atlantic 34

11 AM CT

FOX

OU is breaking in a new quarterback, Kyler Murray, as Baker Mayfield has taken off for the Cleveland Browns where he was the No.1 pick in the draft. There’ll be a little less controversy coming out of Norman after Mayfield’s dysfunctional shenanigans, but not sure if Murray can take the Sooners to an elite level. Kiff will give the Sooners everything they want. I almost picked the upset here, but it’s in Norman. 

No. 23 Texas 27, Maryland 21

11 AM CT

Fox Sports 1

Tom Herman is rumored to have liked a strip club with former Ohio State outlaw coach Zach Smith. This is a big year for him even though it’s his second season. They don’t have a lot of patience in Austin and they want to be good now. Texas had a quarterback competition with Sam Ehlinger emerging. They may give Herman a little more slack this season, but not much more if he doesn’t have a good year this year.

Monday

No. 20 Virginia Tech 28, No. 19 Florida State 27

7 PM CT

ESPN

Should be a classic Monday Night contest in the ACC. Taking VA. Tech in the upset.  

 

Troy 30, No. 22 Boise State 28

5 PM CT

ESPN News

Taking the Trojans in an upset. Troy is a 10 point underdog. Really like Troy’s coach, Neal Brown.

 

Tonight

UAB 38, Savannah State 7

7 PM CT

ESPN+

Really not an interesting game unless you’re one of the 10,000 UAB fans in attendance at the cemetery they call Legion Field.  

Friday, two more predictions

Army 31, Duke 28

6 PM CT

ESPNU

Like the Cadets to build on their momentum from last year when they won 9 games including their bowl game over San Diego State.

Colorado 38, Colorado State 28

8:30 PM CT

CBS Sports Network

Like Mike McIntyre and his Buffs to get the job in a hard fought, physical battle. This is quite and underrated rivalry. 

More Saturday scores

No. 16 TCU 59, Southern 3

11 AM CT

Sportsouth

California 35, North Carolina 31

3 PM CT

FOX

No.16 USC 45, UNLV 10

3 PM CT

PAC 12 Network

UCLA 34, Cincinnati 31

6 PM CT

ESPN

No.24 Oregon 38, Bowling Green 21

7 PM CT

Pac 12 Net

BYU 31, Arizona 30

9:45 PM CT

ESPN

Hawai’i 45, Navy 41

10 PM CT

CBS Sports Network