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College Football Week 2: FanSided staff predictions and picks

By Patrick Schmidt

Sep 1, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) looks to pass against the Charlotte 49ers during the first quarter at Papa John
Sep 1, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) looks to pass against the Charlotte 49ers during the first quarter at Papa John /
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The FanSided staff makes their predictions for Week 2 of the 2016 college football season, including making picks against the spread.

To say Week 2 of the 2016 college football season leaves a lot to be desired would be a drastic understatement. The opening week of the season was dubbed the “best opening week ever” and after four teams ranked in the top 11 were upset, it lived up to the billing.

This week is a bit of a letdown but it won’t stop any die-hard college football fans from clearing their schedules and park themselves in front of the television for 12 hours on Saturday. That includes the author of this article and many members of the FanSided staff.

We have 10 members of the FanSided staff making their picks each week and we will have one rotating person making picks from our various NCAA team sites. This week our rotating expert is Caleb Calhoun from our Tennessee site, All for Tennessee, in honor of the Vols playing Virginia Tech in the Battle of Bristol from an anticipated crowd of 150,000 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Each site expert will fall under the “Rotating Site Expert” throughout the year.

FanSided Staff

  • Patrick Allen: FanSided VP of Content
  • Jim Cavan: FanSided Editor-In-Chief
  • Mike Dyce: FanSided Senior Director of Editorial Operations
  • Jack Jorgensen: FanSided Editor and College Football Expert
  • Patrick Schmidt: FanSided College Football Expert and Entertainment Editor
  • Michael Collins: FanSided NCAA Director
  • Josh Hill: FanSided Editor
  • Matt Verderame: FanSided Editor and NFL Expert
  • Kayla Knierim: FanSided Video Personality
  • Tyler Brooke: FanSided Associate Producer, Saturday Blitz Editor

Rotating Site Expert for Week 2

  • Caleb Calhoun: All for Tennessee Editor
Week 2 CFB Staff Picks 1
Week 2 CFB Staff Picks 1 /

All point spreads courtesy of Odds Shark.

The staff went chalk for the most but a few brave souls went with some bold upset picks.

Collins is picking Kentucky, Arkansas and Virginia Tech in an upset trifecta. Hill picks Matt Campbell’s Iowa State Cyclones to knock off in-state rival Iowa. Cavan and Allen both think Lovie Smith’s Illini will hand North Carolina a second straight loss. I’m picking Arkansas over TCU in a mild upset despite the Hogs not impressive in a 21-20 win over Louisiana Tech.

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Technically an upset, but the staff clearly isn’t buying Dan Mullen’s Mississippi State team this year minus Dak Prescott. The Bulldogs lost their opener to South Alabama in a last-second defeat. 4/11 picked the Gamecocks to beat them straight up and 10/11 have the Gamecocks covering the spread.

College GameDay is at Bristol where the will set a record for the highest attendance for a college football game. Tennessee site expert Caleb Calhoun has Butch Jones’ team rebounding after an overtime win against Appalachian State in the opener. Collins is the only one to pick Virginia Tech to win but five have the Hokies covering the spread.

Please check back every week as the FanSided staff makes their college football picks for the rest of the season.

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