What Kentucky fans should know about CFB's Week 1
Even as we're preparing for Kentucky's season opener against Ball State, CI publisher Justin Rowland surveys the college football landscape for storylines, especially those that could be of interest to the Big Blue Nation in a particular way.
Here's a rundown of the top matchups, players, and questions in Week 1, our first full slate of the season.
LSU-FSU with playoff implications on the line ... One of the biggest games of the entire college football season is Monday night but everyone's watching the track of Hurricane Idalia. By this point it's not uncommon for LSU or Florida teams to have early season games threatened by those weather events.
In hindsight this was a fascinating game last season. It was a competitive, hard-fought Seminole win, but we had no clue that either team would really amount to anything on a national level. Instead, LSU went on to win the SEC West while Florida State had its best season in quite some time. Now, both teams are vying for a spot in the playoffs and both are ranked in the top-10. LSU is a 2.5-point favorite but nobody knows how this game will shake out.
Florida State may need the game more than LSU, which has ample opportunities for resume-padding wins later in the year if they get hot as they did in Brian Kelly's first campaign.
Florida travels to Utah for a Thursday night showdown ... The Utes are a four-point favorite even with questions about the status of QB Cam Rising looming over the game. Last year Florida pulled the upset early in the season but that was in Gainesville. Utah has won back-to-back Pac-12 championships, but what's interesting here is the Utes have lost three September games as a favorite the last two years. If Graham Mertz wins his opener for the Gators it could springboard his confidence and signal a good year for Billy Napier. Lose this opener and nobody will be shocked but the schedule is tough. Considering this is Kentucky's fifth opponent, UK fans should be dialed into this.
Battle of the Carolinas ... Heisman candidate Drake Maye leads North Carolina against Spencer Rattler and South Carolina in a neutral site game in Charlotte in one of the sport's top non-conference games of the early season. The Tar Heels are a 2.5-point favorite in spite of the NCAA ruling that a top receiver transfer isn't eligible. If South Carolina has an edge it could be in the trenches, where it's strong defensive tackles could create problems for an offensive line that has some question marks coming into the season. Both of these teams have competitive schedules ahead so winning a high profile toss-up like this would lead to some momentum.
Matt Rhule era begins against Minnesota ... The Golden Gophers are seven-point home favorites against Nebraska in Matt Rhule's first game with the Huskers, who are dealing with fallout from the video emerging of tight end Arik Gilbert breaking into a vape store. Nobody expects Nebraska to be turned around overnight. We're going on two decades of a step or several steps down from the 90's, and Scott Frost seemed like the perfect hire, too. But Rhule's track record is undeniably impressive. My thought is Wisconsin is a great prototype for what Nebraska should aspire to become in the Big Ten. But that will take a long time to get there. It will need to be a Mark Stoops-style building project in Lincoln.
Dangerous game for Louisville in ATL ... In the big picture we aren't going to talk about Georgia Tech as "dangerous" but it's a dangerous game for Jeff Brohm, who is expected to have a better team than Tech has. Louisville is a 7.5 point road favorite but there are a lot of unknowns and at the end of last season the Yellow Jackets were sporadically competitive. Losing this opener would leave a sour taste for fans that are badly in need of some positive momentum.
Tennessee with the rare Power Five cupcake opener ... How bad is Virginia? The Volunteers are four touchdown favorites in their home opener in Neyland, which signals a couple of things. UVA should be very bad, or that's the expectation, and Tennessee's explosive offense can really run up the score. Even if this is a blowout we probably won't know much definitively about the Vols after the opener but the Joe Milton era beginning in earnest will be very interesting to watch. The bottom half of the ACC has a lot of very weak teams.
Coach Prime leads CU against the national runners up ... Colorado's rebuild project is going to be anything but conventional with a roster that's almost completely made over and an uncommon approach to just about everything from new coach Deion Sanders. Coach Prime inherited a very bad program so he doesn't have to do much in Year 1, and there will be plenty of excuses if things don't go well. TCU was badly embarrassed in the national championship game but their season was exceptional otherwise. They lose a lot of that high powered offense but remain in the top-20 because voters evidently believe in Sonny Dykes. The Horned Frogs are three touchdown favorites, but Colorado is actually the more interesting team here. Former Wildcats Kavosiey Smoke and Vito Tisdale will be kicking off their seasons.
Top-10 Washington hosts Boise State ... It's been a long time since Boise State has been one of the very best teams in the nation, but it remains one of the stronger brands among programs that aren't at the Power Five level. Michael Penix put up huge numbers in Seattle last year and leads a Washington team that returns a lot on both sides of the ball. UDub showing as a 14.5 point favorite tells you that they're highly regarded this season. Along with USC, Oregon State, Oregon, and Utah, Washington is one of the reasons the top of the Pac-12 may be the most competitive conference race this year.
Neal Brown begins a big year with a big game ... West Virginia fans are demanding a step forward and clear signs of progress from Neal Brown in a pivotal season, which begins on Saturday night at Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 20.5-point favorites, which says more about Penn State than West Virginia. While everybody is talking about Michigan's bid for three straight playoff appearances and Ohio State remains a national championship contender, Penn State could also be a playoff contender this year. Drew Allar is a quarterback who could set the Big Ten on fire. Don't judge Brown's season based on this game, but it's a tough way to start a year that means so much.
How good will Illinois' defense be? ... One of the big surprises in college football last year was Illinois' dominating defense. They lose a lot, but that's a unit that I'm eager to watch. Their season begins against Toledo and the Illini are a 9.5-point favorite in what should be a lower scoring game. When I watched Illinois early last season they were clearly a physical, blue collar team, and if they have that same identity early then they could be a team to buy stock in compared to preseason expectations.
Picking an upset to watch ... I'd keep an eye on Old Dominion's trip to Virginia Tech. The Hokies are right there in the bottom of the ACC with a lot of other teams and they don't seem to have a lot of momentum right now. While VT is a 16-point home favorite, this is the kind of FBS in-state foe that could gain confidence if it stays close.
Post-Fitz era for Northwestern ... Following the firing of long-time head coach Pat Fitzgerald the Northwestern Wildcats begin a new era. That starts at Rutgers on Sunday in what will be one of the least anticipated Big Ten games of the season aside from the head coaching storyline.
Clemson-Duke is one of the week's top matchups ... That's something you don't say every day, but it looks like Mike Elko has the Blue Devils back in a good place playing a bruising brand of football. Duke is a 13-point home underdog to Clemson, but that show some respect for the Blue Devils. Clemson is a playoff contender once again with new QB Cade Klubnik and TCU's old offensive coordinator.