We’ve made it through the first full Saturday of college football.
On the one hand, it is nice for college football to be back. On the other hand, I have put out three bad picks. I don’t hate the reads, but I absolutely hate the results that I’ve had. Luckily, we have some Sunday football to enjoy, and this will be the last weekend without NFL football for a while. I have plays in two games today.
Louisville vs Ole Miss
This is the best game on the slate for today, and arguably the entire weekend. It is the only matchup between two ranked teams, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about it even if there weren’t little numbers listed next to each team. Louisville is looking to follow up a strong 9-4 campaign last year that ended with a win over Toledo in the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl.
I’m not sure if it is good or bad news, but the Cardinals added eight transfers to the starting lineup on offense. On the one hand, that could mean very talented players coming in. On the other hand, it means there could be a lot of confusion, and they had to replace a lot of players who may have left. Their defense also has five transfers.
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For Ole Miss, the story from last year will certainly still be active this year. They had Lane Kiffin at the helm last year, and he left them to go coach LSU. Now they are coached by Pete Golding.
For them, this is a very important game. They need to move on from Kiffin as quickly as possible. Their team saw a lot of guys come over via the transfer portal as well, but they have more stability with Trinidad Chambliss under center again. There are just three players starting that came over from the transfer portal on offense. On defense, it is a totally different story. Of their starters, just four are returning from last year. Expect some confusion and issues on defense to start the season.
This game should be pretty entertaining. On one side, you have a new offense facing a new defense. On the other, you have an established quarterback who excelled at times last year facing a defense returning most of its starters. In some ways, it is still a new system for both teams. Chambliss also has a new coach. I think we are going to see a fairly low-scoring game. Give me the under at 55.5.
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Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame
This game probably won’t be nearly as close as the one just covered, but there is still plenty of intrigue. Wisconsin is no longer a powerhouse, but it still has some good talent. The Badgers went just 4-8 last season while playing a really tough schedule. There are a lot of new faces on offense, with five transfers taking starting roles, including the quarterback, running back and two members of the offensive line.
Notre Dame is expected to be one of the best teams in the country. Seems a little easy when you’re not in a conference, and you can basically play anyone you want. CJ Carr will be under center again after last year’s 10-2 season. This season’s schedule looks like a bit of a joke. Miami is the only questionable game on the slate, and they host the Hurricanes this season. The backfield is turned over to Aneyas Williams, who had a decent enough year last year.
I’m taking the points with Wisconsin in this one.
It isn’t that I think the Badgers are even close to as good as Notre Dame, but even though the Fighting Irish are technically the home team, the game is being played at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. I think that will favor the Badgers. Also, under Marcus Freeman, the Fighting Irish are just 3-5 in the first two weeks of the season. They’ve lost the first game of the year in two of Freeman’s four years as head coach. I’ll take Wisconsin +20.5.
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