ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 1

PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 07: The BCS National Championship trophy which was won by the Alabama Crimson Tide after winning the Citi BCS National Championship game over the Texas Longhorns at the Rose Bowl on January 7, 2010 in Pasadena, California. The Crimson Tide defeated the Longhorns 37-21. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 1

College football is back, and that means ESPN has their college pick em back up and running. For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, you have to pick the winner from ten games that ESPN selects each weekend of the college football season.

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These picks will be for the confidence version of the game, where you assign a point value from 1-10 based on how confident you are in each pick.

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MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 30: Deondre Francois #12 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates their 33 to 32 win over the Michigan Wolverines during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

(1) Florida State over Alabama:

I might as well open the season by aggravating one of the largest fan bases in the world, right? I expect this to be a great game, and in a great game, you just never know who is going to win. The game is in Atlanta, which favors Alabama some. Both teams have to replace key parts. Florida State has to find a replacement for Dalvin Cook, and as Ohio State taught us, that isn’t always as easy as it looks. Alabama pretty much has to break in a new offense and new defensive players on the fly. They open with a heavyweight, so will the game be too fast for them? They faced a watered down version of USC in the opener last year. That wont be the case this year. I give Florida State the slight edge because of the experience of the defense.

(2) Michigan over Florida:

For the record, I liked Michigan in this one even before Florida suspended three players. Florida is headed in the right direction, but it seems like Michigan is already there. The Wolverines have to break in a few new pieces on offense, but that defense is nearly intact from a unit that was strong last year. This will not be a high scoring game, so it doesn’t really matter who is starting at quarterback. The defense will control this game. The crowd at Jerry World wont really be used to that….

(3) North Carolina over California:

Both teams have to replace high powered quarterbacks. The only other player besides Davis Webb that threw a pass for Cal last year was the punter. They have no experience at the position. The Tarheels are a little better off with true sophomore Nathan Elliott. He at least threw nine passes last year, completing eight. Given that this is a road game for Cal, those are two pretty big edges for North Carolina.

(4) Notre Dame over Temple:

The Irish will replace DeShone Kizer and transfer Malik Zaire with Brandon Wimbush. However, the return of RB Josh Adams really helps take the pressure off. Is Notre Dame better than the 4-8 team that showed up last year, even with a first round pick running the team? They look like it, and Brian Kelly looks like he is coaching for his job. He’s not wrong. The Irish need this a lot more than Temple does.

(5) South Carolina over North Carolina State:

The Gamecocks were very talented and very young last year. They are my sleeper pick to be the sacrificial lamb to either Alabama or LSU in the National Championship Game warm up (SEC Championship Game). They could catch a lot of teams by surprise. That starts with the Wolfpack.

EATTLE, WA – NOVEMBER 12: Quarterback Sam Darnold #14 of the USC Trojans looks downfield to pass against the Washington Huskies on November 12, 2016 at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

(6) Texas over Maryland:

Was Charlie Strong part of the problem in Texas? I don’t know that he was, but the important people sure thought so (read: boosters). Honestly, Strong was never going to get to do what he wanted to do in Austin anyway. Both the coach and the program were better off parting ways. Now what I do know is that Strong is an excellent recruiter. This is a really good team.

(7) LSU over BYU:

Darrius Guice may have been better than Leonard Fournette last year. Anyone who has watched the Tigers over the last few years knows what a statement that is. BYU is an experienced and disciplined team, but that wont be enough playing in LSU’s backyard. If only this game were in Baton Rouge….

(8) Louisville over Purdue:

The Boilermakers are heading in the right direction, but Louisville is already there. Lamar Jackson is looking for a repeat to last year. That likely wont happen, but he is still in for a great year. It starts with a destruction of Purdue.

(9) USC over Western Michigan:

P.J. Fleck rowed his boat on over to Minneapolis, taking away what could have been a really interesting game. He didn’t leave the cupboards bare in Kalamazoo, but this is not the environment in which you want to break in a new coach. This could get ugly.

(10) Penn State over Akron:

I still believe that Saquon Barkley might be the best back in the nation. It wont matter what he has around him against Akron. The Zips are improving, but they just don’t have the athletes to stop Penn State. However, this game may not be as ugly as the spread suggests (Penn State-30.5). Stay tuned for those picks!

Next: College Football Picks Against The Spread September 1

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