College Football is finally here!
The countdown has officially been retired until mid-January. With the arrival of the season comes weekly game predictions from the media.
ESPN College Gameday mainstay Lee Corso will officially don a mascot headpiece Saturday morning declaring his prediction for the winner of this weekend's top game. While I'm not nearly as entertaining as Corso and there are certainly no mascot headpieces here, this is the first of a new weekly picks column that I'm calling "Pick Six."
In this column, I will predict (rather guess) six winners of games that may be of particular interest to College Football fans in Middle Tennessee.
Feel free to scream and yell about my picks or you can pick along with me in the comments section. Let's have some fun.
Tennessee vs. #17 West Virginia, CBS, Saturday 2:30 pm - Upset Special - The Vols are coming off the worst season in program history while debuting another new head coach Saturday in Charlotte, NC. West Virginia has a stout offense and a Heisman hopeful in quarterback Will Grier. So why does it feel like Tennessee can win this game despite being a 10-point underdog? It's as much West Virginia's past inconsistency in big games as it is the Vols roster full of young, largely untapped talent. Vols 30-29
MTSU @ Vanderbilt, SEC Network, Saturday 6:30 pm - Upset Special #2 - Much has been made of this being the final scheduled game of a 4-game series between these two programs. Vanderbilt has won the last three. Commodores head coach Derek Mason needs to win all he can with only one bowl appearance and an 18-31 overall record in four seasons on the job. The Blue Raiders have a healthy Brent Stockstill at quarterback and more than a few offensive weapons. Vandy opened as a 7.5-point favorite, but the line has shrunk to just 3-points. I'm taking MTSU 38-35.
Louisville vs. #1 Alabama, ABC, Saturday 7:00 pm - No new head coaches in this one, but the Tide will be officially unveiling the winner of their starting quarterback derby Saturday. Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino is an offensive genius, but he'll need a lot more than brain power to outsmart Saban. Tide 31-14
#6 Washington vs. #9 Auburn, ABC, Saturday 2:30 pm - It's about time we saw a game featuring one of the SEC's best against one of the Pac 12's top programs. The Huskies need to win this game for national perception's sake. Gus Malzahn needs to win this game for national perception's sake. Even though the game is being played on a neutral field, it's too far from home for Washington to escape Atlanta with a win. Auburn 27-20
#14 Michigan @ #12 Notre Dame, NBC, Saturday 6:30 pm - This matchup is one of the biggest games of the season's first full weekend. Michigan head man Jim Harbaugh needs a big win to start his fourth season in Ann Arbor. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is trying to restore the glory to his proud program as well. This will come down to a battle of quarterbacks in Michigan's Shea Patterson and Notre Dame's Brandon Wimbush. I give Patterson the nod. Michigan 38-31
#8 Miami vs. #25 LSU, ABC, Sunday 6:30 pm - Mark Richt's Hurricanes had a better than expected season in 2017. Miami's defense looked like the 'Canes defense of old at times. LSU, meanwhile, turns to graduate transfer Joe Burrow at quarterback. Burrow was J.T. Barrett's backup at Ohio State the past two seasons. I give the slight edge to Mark Richt over LSU coach Ed Orgeron. 'Canes 24-13
Give me your top picks in the comments.