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There is no better time of the year than the beginning of September. Not only is baseball heading into the playoffs, but we also get the start of the college football season!
RotoBaller is expanding our college football content and will be previewing the top five games of each week this season. In addition, we will be writing recaps of the top five games from now until the final week of the season on Thanksgiving.
Some weeks have better games than others. Week 1 has some decent matchups mixed in, but Week 2 is setting up to be a monster slate. Either way, we will find and look at the top games as we see them!
Florida Gators at #14 Utah Utes
Thursday 8 P.M. EST. | Line: Utah -6 (-110) -- O/U 45.5 O/(-115) U/(-105)
There are two keys in this Week 1 matchup. How will Graham Mertz look in his Florida debut and will Utah QB Cam Rising be healthy enough to play?
Mertz comes from Wisconsin after an up-and-down tenure with the Badgers. He started strong in his first start against Illinois. But since then, he has been more bad than good -- which made him an odd choice for coach Gators' head coach Billy Napier when he took him out of the portal.
After a 6-6 season, Florida comes in with a projected win total of just 5.5. A win, or at least remaining competitive in this game will go a long way in getting the Gators to the over.
Utah, after winning two straight Pac-12 titles, will look to threepeat in the final year of the Conference of Champions.
Coach Kyle Whittingham, who took over the Utah program after Urban Meyer left for Florida nearly two decades ago, always has a physical team and the Utes underrated home-field advantage in Salt Lake City could play a significant factor in this bout.
Utah lost a lot this offseason, but it also brings back the physical mentality needed to compete against an SEC team. This should be a wonderful game and look for the two defenses to make it tough on the quarterbacks.
Betting: Florida +6 and Over 45.5
Boise State Broncos at #10 Washington Huskies
Saturday 3:30 P.M. EST. | Line: Wash. -15 (-110) -- O/U 58.5 O/(-110) U/(-110)
After a slow start to the 2022 season, Boise State rolled off 8 wins in a row before losing the Mountain West Championship Game to Fresno State. Andy Avalos brings the Broncos into Seattle in hopes of defeating one of the favorites in the Pac-12 in Washington.
Michael Penix Jr. has come back for his sixth season in college. His rocket arm may not make him a legitimate NFL prospect, but it does make him a great college QB and a contender to win the 2023 Heisman Trophy.
Ja’Lyn Polk and Jalen McMillon, two of the best wide receivers in college football, provide Penix with the weapons he and the Huskies need to remain a threat through the entire final season in the conference. If the Washington defense can be average, the team has a good chance of becoming the first conference team to make the playoffs since the Huskies did it in 2016.
Betting: Washington -15 and Over 58.5
#21 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (in Charlotte)
Saturday 7:30 P.M. EST. | Line: UNC -2.5 (-115) -- O/U 64.5 O/(-110) U/(-110)
This will be a game of quarterbacks.
Spencer Rattler had a rebound season in 2022 for the Gamecocks and Drake Maye is the favorite to be the No. 2 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Maye, who had Josh Downs in 2022, will need to break in an entire new receivers’ group to remain elite in 2023. The offense was great last year, and it will need to be again with the defense of the Tar Heels not ready to make a jump into the respectable territory.
UNC was forced to pile up the points to compete in games last season, even in a Week 1 matchup in which both UNC and Appalachian State scored over 60 points.
South Carolina and Shane Beamer will look to keep this one lower scoring. If they can contain Maye, it will go a long way for South Carolina to get its second win over UNC in the past three years. Neither of these teams is going to compete for a National Championship this season, but this game is about Carolina Pride and both teams will take it seriously.
Betting: SC +2.5 and Over 64.5
South Alabama Jaguars at #24 Tulane Green Wave
Saturday 8 P.M. EST | Line: Tulane -6.5 (-118) -- O/U 52.5 O/(-115) U/(-105)
The most well-known player in this game will be Tulane QB Michael Pratt. Several Power Five schools approached him this offseason, but he rebuffed them and returned to Tulane for his final season.
The Green Wave are coming off a remarkable season which ended with a last-minute victory over USC in the Cotton Bowl. They come in this season as the only group of five teams ranked in the initial polls.
South Alabama comes into the season as the favorite to win the Sun Belt conference. A solid defense leads the Jaguars and could limit what Tulane can do on offense.
This could be a look-ahead spot for Tulane, who will be hosting Ole Miss in Week 2. They will need to keep focused on South Alabama or an upset could be brewing. South Alabama went out to Los Angeles in Week 1 last season and lost to UCLA by a field goal, so they've been close to pulling off a major upset. Now, they go to Tulane and will once again look to shock the college football world.
Betting: South Alabama +6.5 and Under 52.5
#5 LSU Tigers vs. #8 Florida State Seminoles (in Orlando)
Sunday 7:30 P.M. EST | Line: LSU -2.5 (-114) -- O/U 57.5 O/(-110) U/(-110)
In one of the biggest injustices in NCAA history, DL Maason Smith will be suspended for this game due to signing autographs a few months before it was the right thing to do. Because he was injured and missed all of 2022, the NCAA decided to make him sit out this important game, rather than allowing him to sit out a game of his choosing -- the way they did all other players who were reprimanded in this case.
Despite Smith not being available for this game in Orlando, LSU and its defense full of transfers will look to be up to the task of stopping quarterback Jordan Travis and a receiving duo of Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman and returning star Johnny Wilson. The 6’7' Wilson will provide a huge target for Travis while Coleman, who has taken the No. 1 role, will look to be the dominant receiver the Seminoles need.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels started slowly in his first season as a Tiger in 2022. By the end of the season, he had LSU in lock and took them to the SEC Championship Game. With wide receiver Malik Nabers looking to become the second wideout taken in the NFL Draft in April, Daniels and coach Brian Kelly will have a solid offense as the Tigers look to get to the playoffs in just the second season under Kelly. A win in this game, before heading into the slugfest of the SEC, will go a long way to showing how good the team is.
Betting: LSU -2.5 and Under 57.5
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