NCAA Week 1 Early Games

NCAA Week 1 Early, Early Games

WEEK 1 NCAA Footall - late games

All times Eastern

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Saturday, September 2

12:00 pm Akron at #6 Penn State (-30, 66) - Out of the Mid-American conference, the Zips are usually contending for their division, but last season was an aberrant one, with a 3-5 record in conference and 5-7 mark overall.

The good news is that Akron is returning 15 starters, including QB Tommy Woodson. The bad news is that they're playing at Penn State, a team that was 11-3, didn't lose a home game last season, won the Big Ten championship and lost to USC in the Rose Bowl, 52-49. The Nittany Lions return nine starters on offense and seven on defense. Looking like a huge blowout.

Coin Flip: Akron

Prediction: Nittany Lions 49 Zips Zip, as in 0

12:20 pm California at North Carolina (-11, 55) - Cal was nothing special last season, going 5-7 overall and 3-6 in the PAC-12. Somehow, after losing four straight, they managed to defeat UCLA to close out their 2016 campaign.

The Tar Heels start the season unranked, even after posting a solid, 8-4 record in 2016. Perhaps the reason is that their recruiting has been a question mark and they're returning only five offensive players and seven on the defensive side. Among the graduates was QB Mitchell Trubisky, who will likely be the starter for the Chicago Bears this season.

North Carolina will look to LSU transfer Brandon Harris to take care of the football, but the defense, which wasn't very good in 2016, isn't looking much better. Give Cal its due as it may be a long season in Carolina.

Coin Flip: California

Prediction: Golden Bears 34 Tar Heels 21

3:30 pm #11 Michigan (-3 1/2, 45) at #17 Florida - Excellent match-up to open the season, and a huge game for both teams, despite it being non-conference.

The Wolverines may or may not be as good as they were in 2016 since they're returning only one starter on defense and just four on offense. Their defense ranked #1 in yards allowed last season (261.8) and second in points allowed (14.1). Don't expect that kind of performance this year, even with Jim Harbaugh in his third season at Michigan.

The Gators look to build on their successful 2016 campaign in which they were 9-4 and took down Iowa in the Outback Bowl, 30-3. An important addition is Malik Zaire from Notre Dame, which should help the offense. Florida returns nine offensive and five defensive starters, and their defense was stout last season, ranking sixth in points allowed (16.8) and fifth in yards per game (292.8). Anybody who believes in preseason rankings is likely to get taken to the cleaners here. The game is at Florida and the Gators are loadedŠ for bear or wolverine.

Coin Flip: Florida

Prediction: Gators 38 Wolverines 24

3:30 pm Temple at Notre Dame (-17 1/2, 53 1/2) - Temple was tops in the American Athletic last season, going 7-1 and winning the championship over Navy, 34-10. They finished with a 10-4 mark overall, losing to Wake Forest in the Military Bowl, 34-26.

The Owls have a new head coach in Geoff Collins, and only return 10 starters, but they may have hope, playing a Fighting Irish team that was not even good in 2016, going 4-8. Coach Brian Kelly has been a disappointment at 59-31 in seven seasons. A non-winning year may be his last at Notre Dame. Despite the game being played at Notre Dame, the Owls should be good enough to keep this close or win outright.

Coin Flip: Notre Dame

Prediction: Owls 24 Fighting Irish 16

7:30 pm #16 Louisville (-24 1/2, 69) at Purdue - The ACC was very kind to Louisville last season, as the Cardinals finished with a 7-1 record in conference and were 9-4 overall, the only conference loss was a nail-biter at Clemson, the eventual national champion, 42-36.

Louisville brings back five offensive and seven defensive starters, including Heisman winner, Lamar Jackson. They will be explosive when he has the ball.

Purdue was 3-9, losing their last seven straight in 2016. They may be a little improved, but not enough to challenge the Cardinals right out of the gate.

Coin Flip: Louisville

Prediction: Cardinals 56 Boilermakers 17

8:00 pm #3 Florida State at #1 Alabama (-7, 49 1/2) - Florida State has a very good football team, but Alabama is usually in a class by itself and has never lost a season opener under Nick Saban (10 years). Last year they buried a very good USC Trojan team, 52-6, in their first game and didn't lose until Clemson slipped by them in the national championship, 35-31.

That's all one needs to know about this game.

Coin Flip: Florida State

Prediction: Crimson Tide 38 Seminoles 16

9:30 pm BYU at #13 LSU (-16, 48) - BYU just barely defeated a weak Portland State squad on Saturday, 20-6, and didn't impress anyone. Now they have to turn around and play at LSU, one of the toughest road venues in the country.

The Tigers were 8-4 last season, losing only to Wisconsin, Alabama, Auburn and Florida, by a total of 23 points (Alabama, 10-0). The defense, which brings back five starters was exceptional, ranking fifth nationally, at 15.8 points per game. Six offensive starters return, including star running back, Derrius Guice, who rushed for 1387 yards and 15 TDs last season.

Looking like a long night in the swamp for the Cougars.

Coin Flip: LSU

Prediction: Tigers 31 Cougars 14

Sunday, September 3

7:30 pm #22 West Virginia at #21 Virginia Tech (-4, 51 1/2) - Both teams are ranked preseason, so this ought to be an exciting contest. Mountaineers come out of the Big 12 after going 10-3 in 2016. Only losses were to the Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys, and, 31-14, to Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl. West Virginia returns only eight starters, three on defense, which was a weakness last year. Florida transfer Will Grier starts at QB.

The Hokies went 10-4, played Clemson to a standstill in the ACC championship, falling, 42-35, then won the Belk Bowl over Arkansas, 35-24. Tech has 12 starters coming back, seven on defense, a strong unit. Noting the small odds here, Virginia Tech should start the season with a strong defensive victory over a team that has trouble stopping anybody.

Coin Flip: West Virginia

Prediction: Hokies 27 Mountaineers 17

7:30 pm Texas A&M at UCLA (-3 1/2, 56 1/2) - The Bruins have 15 starters (nine offense, six defense) from their 4-8 2016 team. Whether that may or may not be good tidings depends greatly on the offense, which generated just 24.9 points per outing last year, ranked 96th in the country.

The Aggies went 8-5 last year, ending the season wth a 33-28 loss to Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. They were 4-4 in the rugged SEC, losing to Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LSU. They've got a solid running game and are decent defensively (a must in the SEC). They look like a team poised to make noise in 2017.

Coin Flip: UCLA

Prediction: Aggies 34 Bruins 19

Monday, September 4

8:00 pm (Atlanta, GA) #25 Tennessee (-3, 56) vs. Georgia Tech - The Yellow Jackets went 9-4, won the Taxslayer Bowl, 33-18, over Kentucky, making three wins over SEC teams last year (Vanderbilt, 38-7; Georgia, 28-27). They return eight players on both offense and defense, including the bulk of the offensive line, QB Matthew Jordan and a slew of capable running backs. They ranked 9th in rushing in 2016 (258.1 ypg).

Rocky Top fans have been hearing for years that the Vols were about to break out into national prominence, and 2016 was as close as they've been in a while, going 9-4, taking down Nebraska, 38-24, in the Music City Bowl to finish the season.

Tennessee returns seven starters on both sides of the ball and is pretty deep and talented, but, both junior Quinten Dormady and redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano were listed as starting quarterbacks, so there may be some odd looks offensively. This should be a wild one.

Coin Flip: Georgia Tech

Prediction: Yellow Jackets 34 Volunteers 31