A little deeper look
at week 1 now. We’re going to be previewing the weeks with highest and lowest
average ranks for matchups, and biggest and smallest spread. On both accounts,
we’re excluding FBS-FCS matchups. Without further ado, my highest ranked
matchups of week 1.
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Away
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Rating
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Away
Rating
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My
Spread
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Date
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Ave
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Alabama
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Florida State
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30.62
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21.7
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8.92
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9/2
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26.16
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USC
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Western Michigan
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17.3
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9.75
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11.52
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9/2
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13.53
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Colorado
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Colorado State
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18.28
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6.23
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12.05
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9/1
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12.26
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Georgia Tech
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Tennessee
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11.64
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12.06
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-0.42
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9/4
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11.85
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Indiana
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Ohio State
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0.25
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21.83
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-18.36
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8/31
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11.04
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The top one is a no
brainer and doubles up any other matchup on average. And why not, these might
be the two best teams in the nation. You’re going to watch it, you want to
watch it, and you don’t need me to sell you on it. The second and third
matchups are more of a surprise. They both feature surprise teams from last
season and considering that my preseason rankings lean fairly heavily on last
year’s results that’s not much of a surprise. Of the two, Colorado-Colorado
State is the easier sell. Colorado State blew the doors off of Oregon State in
week 0 and another big result against rival Colorado would be a statement that
couldn’t be ignored by Boise State and the rest of the Mountain West. Colorado
was the darling last season, and they deserve all of the recognition, but
McIntyre and company will need to continue to surprise to make sure that those
gains weren’t fluky. Western Michigan is an enigma. There is legitimate NFL
talent on the roster, but P.J. Fleck and a lot, for a MAC team, NFL talent
walked out that door this offseason. Add that to USC looking like one of the
best teams in the country this year and I personally have my doubts about how
good of a game this will be. Although that’s not really the point of this
segment so maybe I convinced you on the average rating/talent in this game. Ga
Tech-Tenn surprises me. Georgia Tech returns a lot from last year, and Tennessee
gets healthier, but lost some key pieces to attrition, both draft and
graduation. Lastly, Ohio State carries this match-up in average rank and well
they’re going to be really, really good and are very, very talented, and will
destroy, destroy Indiana. There we are, my top-5 average rated games.
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Illinois
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Ball State
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-7.81
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-15.61
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10.78
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9/2
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-11.71
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Coastal Carolina
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UMASS
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-6.5
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-15.02
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11.01
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9/2
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-10.76
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Michigan State
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Bowling Green
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-8.14
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-12.5
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9.03
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9/2
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-10.32
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UCF
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FIU
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-6.25
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-13.79
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10.33
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8/31
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-10.02
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Marshall
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Miami (OH)
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-13.61
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-5.21
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-6.15
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9/2
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-9.41
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Now, onto something
that’s certainly not that. I’ll try to never insult these teams on a personal
level so we’ll just run a quick synopsis. Two bad B1G teams vs bad MAC teams.
Independent vs new FBS member. Mid-Major Florida teams that have work to do,
and lastly a MAC vs boy I really though Marshall was in the MAC matchup.
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Rating
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Spread
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Boise State
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Troy
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0.7
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3.66
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0.26
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9/2
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Georgia Tech
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Tennessee
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11.64
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12.06
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-0.42
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9/4
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South Carolina
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NC State
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5.76
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7.24
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-1.47
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9/2
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Florida
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Michigan
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8.83
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10.92
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-2.09
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9/2
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Texas
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Maryland
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-1.39
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1.48
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2.29
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9/2
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Now to the most
enticing games of the week. First, the game you should watch but definitely won’t…
Boise State vs Troy. These are two of the best G5 teams, and Troy has a chance
to be the best in the country. They return literally their entire offensive
production from last season. It’s not hyperbole, they return literally 100% of
their production from last year. Now they need to replace 3 of 5 starting
linemen and that could derail them, but it’s still insane to think about. Boise
is what Boise is. They aren’t at their peak anymore but they’re still a good
football team and one of the best in the conference. The game is on ESPNU at
2:45 on Saturday. Don’t forget to tune in. Georgia Tech and Tennessee are in
different spots this season. Georgia Tech is in one of their, almost everybody
is back swings and Tennessee needs to replace key players but there’s young
talent to be excited by. This game would be intriguing without my system
pointing us that way, but that’s just an added bonus. South Carolina-NC State
is a sneaky one this week, and much like Boise-Troy it’s stuck midday in the
mishmash. SC has Jacob Bentley the young up-and-comer at QB and NC State is
gaining serious hype as a team to challenge the top teams in the ACC. I’ll have
a lot more to say after the UF-UM game, but right now it’s a game that should
be barometer for the year ahead, or maybe ND-UT for 2017. Which brings us to
our last game, Texas-Maryland. I think Maryland takes a step forward in year
two under D.J. Durkin, and they provide a tricky test for Tom Herman in year 1
at the helm for the Longhorns. Now, Texas should have better talent, but it’s a
job that hasn’t had the best transitions in recent memory.
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Home
Rating
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Rating
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My
Spread
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Date
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Penn State
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Akron
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20.33
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-12.73
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38.36
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9/2
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Oklahoma
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UTEP
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14.96
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-17.62
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37.71
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9/2
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Clemson
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Kent State
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21.87
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-10.2
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37.07
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9/2
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Auburn
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Georgia Southern
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19.37
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-10.85
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35.26
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9/2
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Wisconsin
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Utah State
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15.57
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-11.45
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31.78
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9/1
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Outside of my
personal Wisconsin fandom, and Georgia Southern having a dangerous reputation,
there are too many good games on this week to waste your time on any of these
five games.
Well, that’s my
deeper look at week 1 in the books and it should be a good one. There’s a lot
of crap out there with FBS-FCS games, but there are some great matchups, some
intrigue, and as always there will be surprises and upsets. So, find something
that intrigues you in each time slot, and welcome the return of college
football with open hearts and arms.
