By the time the final whistle goes off on Saturday night and today’s matches are over, we’ll be moving on to just four FBS teams that have yet to play a game in the 2022 college football season. With three games featuring the top 25 opponents facing each other and some other significant head-to-head matches across the entire world. Across the country, to say there may be immediate effects by the time the first week is in the books would be an understatement.
Two of the main games of the day feature a Pac-12 that travels south to take on top-tier SEC East teams. The 11th seed Oregon heads to Atlanta to face the national title holders while the No. 3 seed Georgia looks to oust its former defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, now the duck leader. The 7th seed Utah, the defending Pac-12 champion and a repeat favorite as conference title winners, travels to The Swamp as Florida hopes one of college football’s toughest environments can help a major upset in coach Billy Napier’s first game with the Gators.
Then there’s the Cup of the Night, the only first five game in the first few weeks as Ohio State hosts No. 5 Notre Dame. With three contenders in the Heisman Trophy and a slew of hype in the National Championship, the Buckeyes will be looking to delay Fighting Irish aiming to maintain a high level of play under new coach Marcus Freeman.
While winning is all that matters in the ranking, we do care about how these games come out of the perspective of odds. Be sure to stick to CBS Sports all day for coverage of college football from the start of the inaugural game onwards. Let’s take a look at our experts’ picks for the best games on Saturday in week one.
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook | All times are oriental
Arizona in San Diego
Featured game | San Diego State Aztecs vs Arizona Wildcats
3:30 PM | CBS, CBSSports.comAnd the CBS Sports . app – This match features two shows coming from opposite directions from the competitive spectrum who can meet up in the middle in San Diego. The Wildcats bet big on recruiting and transfers quickly flip the list. San Diego State is confident that their new quarterback, Braxton Burmester, and their primary backer in defense can keep their top 25 performers. Brawling Wildcats will get enough dynamic plays to keep things close in a low-scoring issue. Prediction: Arizona (+6) – Sheehan Jiraj
No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 11 Oregon (Atlanta)
Featured game | Georgia Bulldogs vs Oregon Ducks
3:30 PM | ABC, fuboTV (try for free)– Long gone are the remnants of last year’s title in Indianapolis. Georgia will show that it will not be complacent and dominate Oregon in what should be a de facto home game. Dan Lanning knows how to attack offensive personnel in Georgia, but stopping that would be a much bigger problem. Find Georgia to get out on a mission early, dress up in Oregon and lean on the ducks in the fourth quarter to get away and cover up. Prediction: Georgia (-17) – Barrett Sally
No. 23 Cincinnati at No. 19 Arkansas
Featured game | Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
3:30pm EST, fuboTV (try for free)– That’s a strange situation to me because I don’t think Cincinnati’s withdrawal in 2022 will be tough, and I don’t think Arkansas is as good as many others. However, here I am tackling the Razorbacks against spreading because, while I expect the Bearcats to be one of the best Group of Five teams in the country, they are the first game of the season to have to replace nine NFL Draft picks, including the starter. quarterback. Arkansas experience and Homefield advantage will win in the end. Prediction: Arkansas -6.5 – Tom Fornelli
No. 7 Utah in Florida
Featured game | Florida Gators vs Utah Utes
7 pm | ESPN, fuboTV (try for free)– Utes heads into a peak year as Gators enter their first year of rebuilding, and the stakes have never been higher for visitors. Although there is a significant employment gap between these two programs, Utah has not shied away from recruiting stars in the past. At the Rose Bowl, it took Ohio State to the limit. Utes also crushed Oregon twice for spoiling the Ducks’ College Football Playoff affair. Mark this chalk as a historic victory for the program. Prediction: Utah-3 – Sheehan Jiraj
No. 5 Notre Dame in No. 2 Ohio
Featured game | Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
7:30 PM | ABC, fuboTV (try for free)– In a vacuum or simulation, Ohio State wins this game by 20 points, but college football is played by humans and the theater is too big to think there will be a blast Saturday night. The Buckeyes play with all the pressure, and there were some awful nights of play without conventions in Columbus, Ohio. Ultimately Ohio State is remarkably the better team and will win, but this game is interesting long enough for the Irish fighters to cover the number. Prediction: Notre Dame +17.5 – Chip Patterson
What college football picks can you confidently make in the first week, and which would be your hot favorite? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the difference – all from a proven computer model that has made close to $3,600 in profits over the past six seasons – and find out.
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