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ESPN College Football Pick Em Picks For Week 1

By Mike Marteny

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Jan 12, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer receives the College Football Playoff trophy from College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock (left) after the game against Oregon Ducks in the 2015 CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

It has been 36 long weeks since I’ve made any picks, and I have been getting antsy since March. Thankfully I had enough to keep me busy over the summer so it didn’t really get festering again until a couple of weeks ago. Now the wait is over. Thursday night kicks off the 2015 college football season!

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As you long time readers know, nothing riles me up like college football. The playoff has taken some of the regular season importance away, but there is still nothing quite like the college game, and the opening weekend is rivaled by little else. The pros are still in the preseason, so the college counterparts take center stage for five days and nights of football. Every other week of the season, there are no less than 45 games going on, mostly on the same day. Who can match that?

We have a plethora of NFL gurus on here who can help you with everything from draft preparation, to season-long leagues, to daily weekly fantasy plays on DraftKings or FanDuel. But for those of you that still love the college game, we have you covered as well. I will bring you the picks for the ESPN pick em game, picks for FanDuel, and my picks against the spread once again this season.

Kicking this off, we have the ESPN pick em picks. For those of you new to the game, you have to pick the winner of ten games that ESPN selects for the weekend. For those of you that play the confidence version, you assign a point value from 1 to 10 points for each game. If you get it right, you get that many points. I will always do my picks for the confidence game.

If you followed my picks last year, you would have got every ten point game right, which is a guaranteed 140 points! Let’s see if I can pull it off again!

Next: Now For The Picks!

Dec 30, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan (8) holds up the offensive MVP trophy to his teammates after the game against the Maryland Terrapins in the Foster Farms Bowl at Levi

Here are the ESPN College Pick Em Picks for week 1! This does not include any of the other weekend games, it is just for Saturday. Stay tuned for the Thursday-only FanDuel picks!

10. Stanford over Northwestern:

Northwestern is very, very young. They will have a QB with no game experience starting. Same thing at RB. Going against a strong Stanford defense. The Cardinal lost quite a bit on defense, including leader Shayne Skov, but they still have a lot of talent. A quarterback making his first career start on this defense is almost like cruelty. Expect Stanford to force a lot of mistakes. Kevin Hogan is back leading the offense, and Barry Sanders, Jr. will be the feature back now that Tyler Gaffney is gone. This is going to get ugly, and quickly.

9. Maryland over Richmond:

Don’t get me wrong: the Spiders are a decent team. Decent probably won’t get you a win against a major conference opponent. Perry Hills isn’t the latest, greatest golf course. He is Maryland’s starting quarterback, beating out heralded Oklahoma State transfer Daxx Garman. Replacing C.J. Brown won’t be easy. After all, he led the team in passing and rushing yards last season. They also lost WR Stefon Diggs, but they do return one of the best kickers in the country in Brad Craddock. That has to count for something, right? It should against Richmond.

8. Penn State over Temple:

Well, it’s a rivalry. That’s about all I can say for this game. Temple doesn’t have the talent, especially on defense, to keep up with the Nittany Lions. QB Christian Hackenberg had more downs than ups last year. He had a rough game against the Owls last year, and Penn State still won by 17. This game likely won’t be close.

7. Alabama over Wisconsin:

Jake Coker is finally going to get his chance. Nearly everyone expected him to beat out Blake Sims last year. He did not, so he was on the bench for most of the year. He won’t have as many weapons at his disposal as Sims did with T.J. Yeldon and Amari Cooper both in the NFL, but there is still a lot of talent on this roster. Derrick Henry is a very capable back, and I am guessing that the Tide running game won’t miss a beat.

Wisconsin’s will. Melvin Gordon was one of the best backs in college last year, and his draft position showed it. That said, Corey Clement ran for nearly 1,000 yards as a backup. He will find running lanes few and far between against the Tide. My concern with Wisconsin lies in the quarterback. Joel Stave got a little better towards the end of last year, but if the Badgers are forced to throw to win this game, they won’t be able to do it.

6. Arizona State over Texas A&M:

True, this is practically a road game for the Sun Devils, but this offense is dangerous. Even without WR Jaelen Strong and QB Taylor Kelly. The offense arguably ran better under backup Mike Bercovici anyway. D.J. Foster will fill the role left by Strong, and he could be every bit as good. The Sun Devils also return nine starters on defense.

Texas A&M returns a lot of offensive firepower with Kyle Allen, Josh Reynolds, Speedy Noil, and Ricky Seals-Jones, so the Sun Devils are going to need all of that defensive experience. That said, playing in the Pac 12, Arizona State is used to facing some pretty good offenses in Oregon and Arizona. I just don’t see the Aggies being able to stop Arizona State, or being able to keep up with them.

Next: The Next Five Are Tougher To Pick

Sep 20, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill (4) leaves the field after the game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Lavell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars won the game 41-33. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

5. UCLA over Virginia:

The transfer of Grayson Lambert to Georgia and the graduation of Kevin Parks hurts Virginia. UCLA also lost star QB Brett Hundley, but the rest of the team is intact, including most of the defense. The Bruins return four all-conference players on the defensive side of the ball, including super linebacker Myles Jack.

Virginia gave the Bruins quite a scare last season, but I have serious concerns about them being able to move the ball without Lambert and Parks. There isn’t nearly as much pressure on the Bruins this season. They might actually live up to expectations this year!

4. Auburn over Louisville:

Auburn loses a lot in QB Nick Marshall, RB Cameron Artis-Payne, and WR Quan Bray, but much hyped QB Jeremy Johnson looks poised to take over the team. The Tigers also return eight defensive starters to a unit that was solid last year. They have some question marks on offense, but so does Louisville. They lost RB Michael Dyer and WR DeVante Parker. Louisville returns the teeth of a very good defensive unit, but their question marks on offense have me taking Auburn. They have far less gaps to plug than the Cardinals do.

3. BYU over Nebraska:

Taysom Hill is back, and he looks healthy. That is bad news for the Cornhuskers, who lost do-everything back Ameer Abdullah to the NFL. Nebraska also lost their best receiver in Kenny Bell, and three starting offensive linemen. They might be okay, but that is a lot of uncertainty for the first game. The defense also lost outstanding end Randy Gregory, and two starting linebackers.

When you don’t face an option offense, it is very hard to defend one. Just ask the Texas Longhorns, who lost to BYU in back to back seasons. Nebraska was the last of the old guard in the Big 8/Big 12 to ditch the option, but they still have not run it in the last ten years, nor have they really faced one since then. Nebraska’s lack of quickness on the defensive side of the ball is going to be an issue, and so is the athleticism of Taysom Hill. Tommie Armstrong needs to play a nearly flawless game, and even then, it might not be enough.

2. Iowa State over Northern Iowa:

The Cyclones have dropped their last two games to FCS opponents, including the 2013 opener to Northern Iowa. The Panthers beat the North Dakota State team last year that beat Iowa State in the opener. Yes, the same NDSU team that won their fourth straight FCS National Championship last season. So what makes this year different? I am a fan of QB Sam Richardson. He put up better numbers as the season went on last year, and WR Allen Lazard could be a stud. The Cyclones are a more talented bunch this time around, but I still see UNI giving them all they want, hence the 2 ranking.

1. Texas over Notre Dame:

This is going to irritate a lot of people, and I get it. But there is no way that Texas is going to be nearly as bad as they were last year. Losing RB Malcolm Brown and WR Jaxon Shipley will hurt, but they have four star recruits to replace them. One could argue that Johnathan Gray is just as good as Malcolm Brown. The Longhorns also return the entire offensive line, and QB Tyrone Swoopes had flashes of very good play last year. This will obviously hinge on him improving.

The loss of QB Everett Golson is really going to hurt Notre Dame. They will not be the same team without him. He threw for 3,445 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. Mark Zaire looked pretty good when he played, but he is not Golson. The Irish do return RB Taurean Folston, WR Will Fuller, and WR Amir Carlisle, so that will help Zaire out a lot. They also return ten starters from last year’s defense, but this is a defense that gave up 55 to Arizona State, 43 to Northwestern, 31 to Louisville, and 49 to USC in the last four regular season games last year. Their win over LSU in the Music City Bowl was big, but it doesn’t warrant them being the number 11 team in the county. I’m calling the upset!

Next: The Guide To Beating Your Friends In Fantasy Football

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