The first full weekend of college football in 2017 offers several highly interesting games. The action gets underway on Thursday night when the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes visit the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that will be featured on ESPN. However, the Buckeyes are favored by three touchdowns, so the matchup is not expected to be very competitive. We’ll also see No. 10 Oklahoma State get their season underway on Thursday night in what should be an entertaining game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Expect plenty of points.
If you can’t watch them all, we’ve circled the best can’t-miss games of the week. There’s a lot to consider, but the foremost attraction is obvious. It’s the game which could be a preview of the national championship game at the end of the season.
Florida State-Alabama, Saturday at 8:10 Eastern, ABC
College Football Betting Odds: Alabama -7
The first college football game in the new home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons will echo throughout the rest of the 2017 season in one way or another. Alabama is No. 1 and a team which has made all three College Football Playoffs and each of the last two national championship games. The Crimson Tide have become the most reliable program in college football, more than Ohio State or the team they will face on Saturday. Florida State is picked by most to win the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, but it’s not as though the Seminoles won’t face a lot of challenges and highly difficult moments. FSU lost by 43 to Louisville last season and watched its offensive line get pounded. Florida State has to find a way to protect quarterback Deondre Francois in this game. If he takes too many hits, especially in the first half, it will be hard for him to make enough big plays to win this game.
Florida-Michigan, Saturday at 3:30 Eastern, ABC
College Football Betting Odds: Michigan -5
The Florida Gators had high hopes for this game, much as they have high hopes for their whole season. However, a total of eight Gator players have been suspended, and two of them are wide receivers, including star receiver Antonio Callaway. The Gators might have stood a fairly good chance of winning this game with Callaway on the field to pressure Michigan’s secondary, but now it’s a lot more difficult to envision a scenario in which Florida’s offense can spread the field and force Michigan’s defense into making a lot of very difficult decisions. Florida faces the larger uphill battle in this game, even though Michigan is replacing a lot of starters from last year’s team on both sides of the ball.
Virginia Tech-West Virginia, Sunday at 7:30 Eastern, ABC
College Football Betting Odds: Virginia Tech -5
The West Virginia Mountaineers and Virginia Tech Hokies both overachieved last season. Analysts did not expect West Virginia to win 10 games, and that’s because they didn’t expect WVU to make such big improvements on defense. Tony Gibson was the defensive coordinator who brought things together for the Mountaineers. Virginia Tech’s improvements came on offense, where coach Justin Fuente was able to bring along quarterback Jerod Evans ahead of schedule. The key point in this game is that Evans declared for the NFL Draft and is no longer with the program. West Virginia will rely on Florida transfer Will Grier as its quarterback. There is no shortage of drama with the quarterbacks in this game. This game is highly uncertain – these teams have question marks at important positions.
Texas A&M at UCLA, Sunday at 7:40 Eastern, FOX
College Football Betting Odds: UCLA -3.5
The Aggies and Bruins both have coaches – Kevin Sumlin for A&M, Jim Mora for UCLA – who are under huge pressure to do well this season. Texas A&M is located not too far from flood-ravaged Houston. A lot of players have family members struggling with the disaster unleashed by Hurricane Harvey. UCLA has lost an offensive lineman and does not have its roster in ideal shape. This is a game in which both teams figure to struggle and the loser’s coach will feel their hot seat get much warmer.
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