BEST NCAA FOOTBALL GAMES OF WEEK 1

BY ADAM GREENE

Week 1 of the NCAA season is officially underway, with some solid games to open the year Thursday night. Here are my three picks, in a week full of high spreads and lopsided match ups, for the best games of the weekend and some picks.

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LOUISVILLE AT GEORGIA TECH (+7.5, O/U: 49)

Location: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta Ga.

Kickoff: Friday, Sep. 1, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Considering both of these teams are in the ACC, it might shock you to know this will just be the third all-time meeting between these two schools and the Yellowjackets have won both previous matchups emphatically. The closest game was in 2020, with Georgia Tech claiming a 47-27 victory. Expectations are a tad different this time. The Cardinals are coming off an 8-5 campaign that saw them knock off Cincinnati in the Fenway Bowl. Georgia Tech went 5-7 and got to watch all the postseason action at home, though they did beat two Top 25 teams last season — No 24 Pitt and No. 13 UNC. Cardinals 31, Georgia Tech 23

NORTH CAROLINA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (+2.5, O/U: 64)

Location: Bank of America stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

Kickoff: Saturday, Sep. 2, 7:30 p.m. ABC

This is the first regular season border bowl battle between these two teams since 2019, when UNC won 24-20. They last faced off against each other in the disgustingly named Duke’s Mayo Bowl in 2021, with South Carolina claiming a 38-21 victory. The No. 21 Tarheels are coming off a 9-5 season and a one-point, 28-27 Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon. No one really knows what’s up with South Carolina and their quarterback, Spencer Rattler, who was considered the best QB in college football two seasons ago. The Gamecocks finished 8-5 with a bowl loss of their own, falling 45-28 to Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl, but that was after a tremendous two-game stretch where Rattler seemed to rediscover the magic of his early days, knocking off both No. 5 ranked Tennessee and No. 8 ranked Clemson to end the year. I think South Carolina picks up where they left off. Gamecocks 31, Tarheels 24

LSU AT FLORIDA STATE (+2.5, O/U: 56)

Location: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

Kickoff: Sunday, Sep. 3, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Look at us, getting a potential high-end bowl matchup in the first real week of the NCAA Football season. No. 5 ranked LSU comes into this one off a 10-4 season, a dominating 63-7 Citrus Bowl win over Purdue and a lot of high expectations. As for No, 8 Florida State, this could be the best team they’ve fielded since the Jameis Winston/Jimbo Fisher era. They finished 10-3 last season and defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the Cheez-It Bowl, 35-32. The Tigers are in the mix not only for the SEC West, in its final season, but a possible College Football Playoff spot. No one is thinking the same with the Seminoles, with maybe an ACC title shot being where they top out. In this match up last season, FSU won it 24-23, holding off a fourth quarter Tigers comeback. This one could be just as good. The safe pick is LSU, but a Seminoles win would shock no one. A less than three-point spread is basically a pick-em. Tigers 27, Seminoles 23

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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