There are five straight days of college football on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Let's look at Week 1 NCAA Football Picks.
After a little taste of college football during Week 0, the season will start for nearly all of the 131 FBS programs in earnest this week. There are five straight days of college football as Thursday, Friday, and Saturday give bettors plenty of action before LSU and Florida State share the spotlight and Clemson and Georgia Tech take center stage on Monday night.
CFB Week 1 Selections
Virginia Tech -7 at Old Dominion
It’s important to grab the seven flat in this game as the hook could be a factor. There has been a bit of action on Old Dominion as the Monarchs knocked off Virginia Tech in their only previous home game against the Hokies. Old Dominion finished the regular season with five straight wins in 2021, but the Monarchs beat some of the worst teams in the country in that stretch and were dominated by Tulsa in their bowl game.
Grant Wells will be starting his first game under center for Virginia Tech, but Wells showed a lot of potential in his two seasons at Marshall. He led the Thundering Herd to a win over Old Dominion last year, and he has more talent around him than he did in Huntington.
TCU -13 at Colorado
Beware of laying double digits on the road, but TCU finds itself in a great spot here. Colorado had one of the worst offenses in the country in 2021, and top running back Jarek Broussard transferred to Michigan State in the offseason. Karl Dorrell has not been able to bring top talent to Boulder, and this secondary is EXTREMELY inexperienced.
That last bit of info is sure to have Sonny Dykes salivating. TCU hired Dykes to replace Gary Patterson this offseason, and Dykes should immediately kickstart this offense. Additionally, Dykes is not going to call off the dogs as he wants to get three separate quarterbacks playing time in this game, pointing to what he thinks about this defense.
Miami (Ohio) +16 at Kentucky
Perhaps the most overrated team coming into the season is Kentucky. Ever since CBS declared that Will Levis could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the hype surrounding the Wildcats has been absurd. The Wildcats went 10-3 last year, but they return just five starters on both sides of the ball and should regress significantly in 2022.
Miami of Ohio has one of the best quarterbacks in the MAC in Brett Gabbert. The younger brother of Blaine Gabbert averaged 8.9 YPA with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, and he is mobile to boot. His play should allow the RedHawks to keep it close against the Wildcats on Saturday night.
Rice +33 at USC
This is a lookahead spot for USC. The Trojans will have to go on the road and take on Stanford next week, and the Cardinal have won 9 of the last 14 games in this series. Rice won’t present much of a challenge, so this will simply be about getting the win and moving on to next week.
New head coach Lincoln Riley is likely going to experiment a lot this week too. USC brought in a ton of transfers this offseason, and the Trojans will try and get the kinks out this week.
Arkansas -6.5 vs. Cincinnati
The Razorbacks went 9-4 in Sam Pittman’s first full season, and this offense could be even better in 2022 despite the loss of standout receiver Treylon Burks. K.J. Jefferson had a breakout 2021 campaign, completing 67.3% of his passes for 2,676 yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he also ran for 664 yards and six touchdowns. Arkansas also mauled opponents on the ground with four different players running for over 500 yards, and nearly all of that road-grating offensive line returns.
Luke Fickell did the improbable in taking Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff last season. The Bearcats are losing a ton of talent from last year’s roster though, including starting quarterback Desmond Ridder, the leading rusher, and the leading receiver. Additionally, six defenders were taken in the 2022 NFL Draft including standout defensive backs Sauce Gardner, Coby Bryant, and Bryan Cook. Cincinnati is going to need time to reload, so the Bearcats should lose this game by double digits.
Check out the latest Week 1 College Football Betting Odds at top online sportsbooks.
