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College Football Week 1
The big news is the 12 team playoff starts this year. Here's how it will work
4 Highest seeds gets a Bye.
These will be the 4 highest ranked conference chamnps. You MUST be a conference champ to be ranked in the top 4. That means no conference can have 2 teams with a bye and Notre Dame can be no higher than 5. It also means that a Big 12 or ACC champ that may be ranked 12 will get a 4 seed over a 2nd place BIG or SEC team that could be ranked 3.
The other 8 teams, Seeds 5-12 will be at large - at least 1 "group of 5" (Small conference) school will get a seed.
First Round Seed 5/12
Will play the first round with the game HOSTED by the higher seed. How will West and South teams handle playing outside in the north in December?
Round 2 will be hosted at Bowl locations (Fiesta, Peach, Rose, Sugar) and they will attempt to go by historical alignments IE SEC to Sugar and BIG 10 to Rose. This means that the top 4 seeds will not host a game, it will be neutral.
Round 3 will be played at the Orange and Cotton Bowls. I assume the bowls will rotate each year.
Round 4 - Championship is in Atlanta. It will be bid on like the Super Bowl each year.
Mostly cupcakes as usual for week 1 but there are a few good matchups.
Technically, college football started last week in Ireland with #10 Florida State upset by Georgia Tech. But we all know the season doesn't really start until Penn State plays.
8 Penn State at West Virginia 12:00 Fox PSU -8
West Virginia is fired up for this one. Do furniture stores rate couches by BTUs in West Virginia?
Penn State has a new OC Andy Kotelnicki who had very successful stops and Univ of Buffalo and kansas. His main focus is working to player's strengths and disguising plays. He may call the same basic play 5 times in a game but with 5 different formations and motions. It's the same play to the offense but looks like 5 different plays to the defense. Arthur Smith does the same.
The Wrs were awful last year. WR1 Keandre Lambert Smith couldn't handle being the man (although he thinks he is). He transferred to Auburn. Harrison Trey Wallace has been impressive in camp but has struggled with injuries. They added a 5 star trasfer Julian Fleming from Ohio State. He's not a gamebreaker but he's big and physical. If Wallace and Flemming can stay healthy then they should be a big improvement.
PSU has 2 great RBs Singleton and Allen. The new scheme will be built around them. There will be some RPO built in. Allar had a good but not great first season as starter. He had a lot of difficult throws last year into tight windows due to WRs getting no separation.
PSU also has a new DC, former Indiana HC Tom Allen. They will likely use a 4-2-5 as their base. Abdul Carter is switching from LB to DE taking the Micah Parsons route a year early. The defense should be very good again this year.
West Virginia's strength last year was their interior OL. That should take a bit of a step back with Zach Frazier now in black and gold. QB Garrett Greene is underrated. He's a runner who can make plays on the ground and in the air.
This is a really tough opener for Penn State. Similar to when they opened on the road against a good Purdue team led by Aaron O'Connell. Pitt is a rival but this game is bigger due to Penn State's rank. WVU feels they played well last year and have a shot this year.
I think Penn State will win this one but it will likely be tough. New offensive and defensive scheme could make this one a bit sloppy.
14 Clemson at 1 Georgia 12:00 ABC UGA -13.5
Georgia is still on a 39 game regular season win streak. Last year Clemson failed to win 10 games for the first time since 2010. With the new playoff format, this game means more to Georgia. Clemson is likely ACC champ or bust to make the playoff. Georgia needs a win like this to ensure a high playoff seed if they finish 2nd in the SEC.
19 Miami at Florida 3:30 ABC Mia -2.5
They haven't played since 2019 and haven't played in Gainesville since 2008. Both teams have been trying for years to get back their glory days. Miami has a talented team with some key transfers including former Wash State QB cam Ward. The loser of this game is gonna freak the hell out.
Western Kentucky at 5 Alabama 7:00 ESPN ALA -31.5
First game post Saban. he quit and went to TV because he wanted no part of having to re-recruit his own team every year. I don't blame him. Until they get a handle on NIL, it has to be a nightmare to keep a team together.
7 Notre Dame at 20 Texas A&M 7:30 ABC TAM -3
New Texas A&M coach Mike Elko coached ND's new QB Riley Leonard at Duke last year. DOes Elko know his weaknesses? This game is huge for ND because they are not in a conference. They need to finsh the year ranked in the top 10 or they may be left out. If they do get left out then how long before ND joins the Big 10? TAM also needs it because they are unlikely to win the SEC and will also need a wildcard spot.
Sunday
23 USC at 13 LSU 7:30 ABC LSU -4
USC's defense was a joke last year. So they did a smart thing, bringing in a Penn State guy D'Anton Lynn as DC. Last year this game would have been Caleb Williams vs Jayden Daniels but this year it's USC's Miller Moss vs LSU's Garrett Nussmeier. LSU is also replacing Nabers and Brian Thomas at WR so their offense may take a bit longer to get going. Unless USC's defense is total crap again.
The big news is the 12 team playoff starts this year. Here's how it will work
4 Highest seeds gets a Bye.
These will be the 4 highest ranked conference chamnps. You MUST be a conference champ to be ranked in the top 4. That means no conference can have 2 teams with a bye and Notre Dame can be no higher than 5. It also means that a Big 12 or ACC champ that may be ranked 12 will get a 4 seed over a 2nd place BIG or SEC team that could be ranked 3.
The other 8 teams, Seeds 5-12 will be at large - at least 1 "group of 5" (Small conference) school will get a seed.
First Round Seed 5/12
Will play the first round with the game HOSTED by the higher seed. How will West and South teams handle playing outside in the north in December?
Round 2 will be hosted at Bowl locations (Fiesta, Peach, Rose, Sugar) and they will attempt to go by historical alignments IE SEC to Sugar and BIG 10 to Rose. This means that the top 4 seeds will not host a game, it will be neutral.
Round 3 will be played at the Orange and Cotton Bowls. I assume the bowls will rotate each year.
Round 4 - Championship is in Atlanta. It will be bid on like the Super Bowl each year.
Mostly cupcakes as usual for week 1 but there are a few good matchups.
Technically, college football started last week in Ireland with #10 Florida State upset by Georgia Tech. But we all know the season doesn't really start until Penn State plays.
8 Penn State at West Virginia 12:00 Fox PSU -8
West Virginia is fired up for this one. Do furniture stores rate couches by BTUs in West Virginia?
Penn State has a new OC Andy Kotelnicki who had very successful stops and Univ of Buffalo and kansas. His main focus is working to player's strengths and disguising plays. He may call the same basic play 5 times in a game but with 5 different formations and motions. It's the same play to the offense but looks like 5 different plays to the defense. Arthur Smith does the same.
The Wrs were awful last year. WR1 Keandre Lambert Smith couldn't handle being the man (although he thinks he is). He transferred to Auburn. Harrison Trey Wallace has been impressive in camp but has struggled with injuries. They added a 5 star trasfer Julian Fleming from Ohio State. He's not a gamebreaker but he's big and physical. If Wallace and Flemming can stay healthy then they should be a big improvement.
PSU has 2 great RBs Singleton and Allen. The new scheme will be built around them. There will be some RPO built in. Allar had a good but not great first season as starter. He had a lot of difficult throws last year into tight windows due to WRs getting no separation.
PSU also has a new DC, former Indiana HC Tom Allen. They will likely use a 4-2-5 as their base. Abdul Carter is switching from LB to DE taking the Micah Parsons route a year early. The defense should be very good again this year.
West Virginia's strength last year was their interior OL. That should take a bit of a step back with Zach Frazier now in black and gold. QB Garrett Greene is underrated. He's a runner who can make plays on the ground and in the air.
This is a really tough opener for Penn State. Similar to when they opened on the road against a good Purdue team led by Aaron O'Connell. Pitt is a rival but this game is bigger due to Penn State's rank. WVU feels they played well last year and have a shot this year.
I think Penn State will win this one but it will likely be tough. New offensive and defensive scheme could make this one a bit sloppy.
14 Clemson at 1 Georgia 12:00 ABC UGA -13.5
Georgia is still on a 39 game regular season win streak. Last year Clemson failed to win 10 games for the first time since 2010. With the new playoff format, this game means more to Georgia. Clemson is likely ACC champ or bust to make the playoff. Georgia needs a win like this to ensure a high playoff seed if they finish 2nd in the SEC.
19 Miami at Florida 3:30 ABC Mia -2.5
They haven't played since 2019 and haven't played in Gainesville since 2008. Both teams have been trying for years to get back their glory days. Miami has a talented team with some key transfers including former Wash State QB cam Ward. The loser of this game is gonna freak the hell out.
Western Kentucky at 5 Alabama 7:00 ESPN ALA -31.5
First game post Saban. he quit and went to TV because he wanted no part of having to re-recruit his own team every year. I don't blame him. Until they get a handle on NIL, it has to be a nightmare to keep a team together.
7 Notre Dame at 20 Texas A&M 7:30 ABC TAM -3
New Texas A&M coach Mike Elko coached ND's new QB Riley Leonard at Duke last year. DOes Elko know his weaknesses? This game is huge for ND because they are not in a conference. They need to finsh the year ranked in the top 10 or they may be left out. If they do get left out then how long before ND joins the Big 10? TAM also needs it because they are unlikely to win the SEC and will also need a wildcard spot.
Sunday
23 USC at 13 LSU 7:30 ABC LSU -4
USC's defense was a joke last year. So they did a smart thing, bringing in a Penn State guy D'Anton Lynn as DC. Last year this game would have been Caleb Williams vs Jayden Daniels but this year it's USC's Miller Moss vs LSU's Garrett Nussmeier. LSU is also replacing Nabers and Brian Thomas at WR so their offense may take a bit longer to get going. Unless USC's defense is total crap again.
