College football picks and predictions for all 91 games in Week 1, straight-up and ATS

The appetizer has been consumed from last week, but now we move into college football Week 1 and the main course. There will be 91 games over Labor Day weekend featuring FBS college football teams, pushing fans and these teams headfirst into the season. Admittedly, there might be a slight shortage of marquee matchups, but there is plenty of excitement. And that's why we're picking and predicting the outcome for all 91 college football games this week.

Taking it one step further, we're picking every game — from Clemson-LSU to Baylor-Auburn to Louisville-Ole Miss and so on — both straight-up and against the spread. We're going to learn a lot about a number of teams in Week 1 of the college football season, but we can also get started on the right foot ourselves with these picks and predictions.

College football picks for every Week 1 game, straight-up and ATS

Expert picks and analysis for the biggest games in Week 1

Stanford (+24.5) vs. Miami

Yes, the Cardinal were trailing Hawaii last weekend with under two minutes remaining. But don’t let the final score there fool you: Stanford outgained the Rainbow Warriors by more than two yards per play and took a 23-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Compare that to last year’s opener, when they went out to the islands and got beaten soundly.

Translation: This is a legitimately improved Stanford squad with a full-time head coach in Tavita Pritchard at the helm. Will they shock Miami on Friday night? Of course not. But can they be competent enough to keep this from getting away until the second half, with the Canes traveling cross country and breaking in tons of new pieces on both sides of the ball? I think so. — Chris Landers, FanSided.com Editor

Baylor (+7.5) vs. Auburn

This was a barn-burner in Waco last year, a game that Auburn won by 14 despite being outgained pretty significantly in both total yardage and yards per play. A whole lot has changed in the intervening 12 months – DJ Lagway will be leading Baylor’s offense, while Alex Golesh has brought his high-flying USF attack to the Plains – and yet I’m not sure what’s so different that we wouldn’t expect another pretty tight contest.

That makes me feel compelled to take the Bears and the hook here. It’s very hard to get a read on either of these teams: Will Lagway unlock his potential in Jake Spavital’s QB-friendly scheme? Can Byrum Brown’s dual-threat magic translate to the Power 4? Did either of these teams do enough to rebuild their offensive lines on the fly in the portal? With so many questions, I think getting more than a TD is a bit much. — Chris Landers

Oregon (-24.5) vs. Boise State

Boise lost three out-of-conference games last year to South Florida, Notre Dame and Washington. The combined score? 100-24, an average margin of victory of just over 25 points. They should still be the class of the new-look Pac-12, but I’m skeptical of the trajectory of Spencer Danielson’s program, and I’m super-duper skeptical of this passing game as the erratic Maddux Madsen breaks in a whole new receiving corps.

The Broncos have a formidable running game, but being one-dimensional in Autzen, against an Oregon defense that brings back as much proven talent as anyone in the country, is a tough ask. If the Ducks get out ahead early and force Boise to try and play catch-up, this could get ugly. — Chris Landers

Clemson vs. LSU (-10.5)

Clemson undoubtedly has the "nobody believes in us" mentality working in their favor. Unfortunately, I think there's a good reason that nobody believes in them against a team like LSU. While Sam Leavitt was substandard last year at Arizona State, getting him into Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr.'s offense should be huge for an upswing, and I'm not sure Clemson has the back-seven ability to consistently hang with the LSU weapons. Meanwhile, Christopher Vizzina could have a tough time taking advantage of the likes of Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore with a suspect offensive line trying to contain what should be a fierce pass rush.

Also considering that this is a night matchup in Baton Rouge, the advantages keep piling up for LSU. It might not be a rout from start to finish, but Kiffin should notch his first win with his new program comfortably when it's all said and done as the talent advantage will show out. — Cody Williams, FanSided.com Content Director

Louisville (+6.5) vs. Ole Miss

Quite literally the only matchup between ranked teams in Week 1 — and I'm thinking upset. Admittedly, I'm lower than most on Ole Miss coming into this season. I absolutely love Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy individually, but they don't play the other 20 positions on the field, which is worrisome. And while Lincoln Kienholz is a somewhat unknown commodity at quarterback for Louisville, the fact of the matter is that they have a good O-line and one of the most dynamic backfields in the country with Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown. Not to mention, the Cardinals have a fearsome defensive front.

More important than that, though, I have faith in Jeff Brohm. He's established himself and Louisville with a clear offensive identity. With the defense expected to improve this season from a year ago, the Cardinals have to be taken seriously, and this neutral-site matchup feels like the perfect opportunity to make such a statement.

SMU (-3.5) vs. Florida State

Especially after what we saw from the Seminoles in Week 0, I don't really know why this line is what it is outside of SMU being on the road. But Kevin Jennings returns as a third-year starter as one of the most well-oiled offenses in the country under Rhett Lashlee. Furthermore, SMU has improved on the defensive line, which should spell plenty of trouble.

The biggest thing, however, is that Florida State just looks like a team that completely whiffed with Mike Norvell on the hot seat. There's little reason to have faith in Ashton Daniels based on most of his college career, and the defensive reinforcements brought in this offseason struggled to make an impact against New Mexico State. I don't expect that to improve against a far better opponent like the Mustangs.

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