College Football Picks

A season ago, Colorado hosted Colorado State as massive favorites during the peak of the hype cycle for Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes. And while Colorado did escape with a win in double overtime, Colorado State probably should’ve won that game. In fact, if Jay Norvell went for a 4th-and-2 in Colorado territory with just over 2 minutes left, the Rams likely would’ve pulled off the upset as over 3-touchdown underdogs. This season, the Rams kept some of their top talent on offense and will get to host Colorado in a dream spot, as the Buffaloes will have just played at Nebraska in Week 2. Playing your in-state rival on the road is bad enough, but doing it after having just faced another rival who also has revenge on the mind after last season’s result is something I wouldn’t wish on any team. Even if the Buffaloes are able to upset Nebraska on the road, I don’t see them making it out of Fort Collins without a serious challenge from this Rams team. I’ll take Colorado State to keep this within one score.

I’m a bit higher than the market on USC heading into this season, and I’m also lower than most on Michigan’s prospects this fall. Fittingly, I’ll be taking USC in the Game of the Year market to go into Ann Arbor and give the Wolverines a real scare in this early-season Big Ten clash. We know that the Trojans are going to have a very strong offense, as is the case every year with a Lincoln Riley-led team.

The difference for USC this season lies with the defensive side of the ball, as D’Anton Lynn comes over from UCLA to take over defensive coordinator duties. If Lynn is able to improve this defense in year 1, the upside is there for a team this talented. It helps that Michigan could be alternating between Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle at quarterback, neither of whom have proven to be consistently effective at the position. Additionally, USC will be coming off a bye heading into this contest, so I’ll trust Riley and Lynn to scheme up a gameplan to keep this one close.

It’s difficult projecting what rosters will look like down the road in any college football season, but one thing we can handicap is matchups. In this instance, the Sunflower Showdown has historically been much more favorable to Kansas State than the Kansas Jayhawks. Led by dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson and an offense that should dominate in the trenches all season long, the Wildcats are going to be a matchup nightmare for a Kansas defense that is going to struggle mightily defending the rush this season. The Wildcats have owned this rivalry, winning the last 15 meetings, and it’s easy to see why that has continued into this decade when comparing the styles of a Chris Klieman-coached team to that of Lance Leipold. The Kansas front 7 should be in a world of trouble in this one, so let’s back the Wildcats at under a touchdown while we still can.

While this is a game where the number projects to be in line with how I view both teams, what we’re getting here is one of the best spots of the entire season. Ole Miss will enter the penultimate week of the college football regular season off a much-needed bye after having hosted Georgia in Week 11. The Rebels should be rested and ready to take on a trip to the swamp for a meeting with Florida. On the other side, the Gators will be in the midst of one of the toughest 5-game stretches that you will ever see in this sport. Florida will be coming off games against Georgia, Texas and LSU, while still having a look-ahead spot to Florida State in Tallahassee the following week. By this point in time, the Gators will likely be beaten, battered and bruised by the toughest schedule in the nation, and head coach Billy Napier could even be fired. With 2 weeks to prepare for this game, let’s back Ole Miss to make a statement on the road.