Hi, I’m Dan Gartland. I love that Week 1 starts early with a series of games on Thursday night.
In today’s SI:AM:
🅾️ Ohio State’s Spending Spree
🏈 The Steelers QB Competition
🏌️♂️ PGA Tour Top Rankings
Technically, the college football season has already started. But with all due respect to the four games played last weekend in Week 0, it really begins on Thursday night. There are nearly 100 games involving FBS teams between now and Monday night. If you’re doing the math and wondering how the 134 FBS teams can play that many games, it’s because many of them are playing FCS opponents. There are plenty of games on the schedule like Arkansas State vs. Central Arkansas and Northern Illinois vs. Western Illinois, not exactly the kind of matchups football fans have been dreaming of during their spring and summer. But there are still a decent number of games that neutral fans should be paying attention to. Let’s break them down.
Colorado vs. North Dakota State (8 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN)
Year two of the Deion Sanders era in Boulder begins with a very tough matchup against perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. The Bisons are the No. 2 team in the FCS coaches poll after finishing third last season.
Most FBS programs haven’t wanted to take a chance on NDSU lately. The Bisons won six straight against FBS opponents from 2010-16 (beating Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado State, Kansas State, Iowa State and Iowa) and then didn’t play another FBS game until 2022, losing 31-28 to Arizona. They don’t have another FBS game on their schedule until a matchup with Oregon in 2028. Losing to a team as consistently successful as NDSU shouldn’t be too embarrassing, but there’s certainly a stigma associated with losing to a lower-division program — and most teams aren’t willing to take the risk.
The Bisons have shown that they can beat teams in the mid-tier of powerhouse conferences, and there are questions about whether Colorado can even be considered part of that mid-tier. The Buffaloes’ 2023 season started off with a bang, picking up an upset road win over a ranked TCU team, but they were quickly humiliated in conference play and finished 4-8. Sanders’ team is expected to take a step forward this year, hopefully resulting in the team’s first six-win season since 2016. Colorado has two of the best players in the country in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, but there are questions about the rest of the roster. About 40 players left through the transfer portal and just as many arrived in Boulder as transfers, so this roster is barely recognizable. It should be better than last year’s 4-8 team, but will it be enough to beat North Dakota State?
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 14 Clemson (at Atlanta, noon ET Saturday on ABC)
This is the most hyped game of the weekend, though it seemed much more enticing when the game was scheduled in 2018 and Clemson was in the midst of a six-year streak of top-three finishes. Georgia’s 2023 season ended in disappointing fashion after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and being left out of the playoffs. Clemson’s year was even more disappointing, however. The Tigers went 9-4, their most losses in a season since 2011. They return a lot of talent from last year’s roster, so they should improve, but Georgia is the No. 1 program in college football right now and is favored by two touchdowns.
No. 19 Miami at Florida (3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC)
Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Florida’s Billy Napier were hired ahead of the 2022 season, and neither hire went as planned. Cristobal went 5-7 and 7-6 in his first two seasons, while Napier went 6-7 and didn’t even make a bowl game last year at 5-7.
The Hurricanes appear to be in a better position to succeed this season. The biggest change is the addition of former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward in the transfer portal, who should be an upgrade over last year’s starter Tyler Van Dyke (now at Wisconsin). They also have a fairly easy schedule: Their only game against a team ranked in the preseason AP poll is against Florida State at home. The Gators, meanwhile, have a brutal schedule that includes eight games against currently ranked teams.
Hosting a ranked rival in Gainesville is a tough way for Florida to start the season. It’s quite possible the Gators, coming off their second-worst season of the past decade, will find themselves 0-1 with a game against a tough Texas A&M team looming in two weeks.
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 20 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC)
Speaking of Texas A&M, the Aggies are struggling to get their season off to a good start, facing Notre Dame at Kyle Field. The Irish have played well in Marcus Freeman’s first two years in charge and will have their sights set on the expanded 12-team playoffs this year. Reaching the playoffs is a bit of a challenge for an independent team, however, as there is no way to secure an automatic berth. If Notre Dame wants an at-large berth, picking up some big-time wins against teams like Texas A&M is crucial.
No. 13 LSU vs. No. 23 USC (at Las Vegas, 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC)
Last year was a major disappointment for USC. The Trojans had reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, but the defense was a disaster (ranked 121st out of 133 teams in points allowed per game) and cost them dearly, leading to an 8-5 record. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was fired after a 52-42 loss to Washington on Nov. 4. He was replaced by D’Anton Lynn (son of former Los Angeles Chargers coach Anthony Lynn), who was the defensive coordinator across town at UCLA last season, leading a Bruins defense that ranked 14th in points allowed per game. LSU had the best offense in the country last season, but lost Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels to the NFL draft, along with several other key offensive players. Still, how the Tigers fare against a revamped USC defense will tell us a lot about what we can expect from the Trojans this year.
Boston College vs. No. 10 Florida State (7:30 p.m. ET Monday on ESPN)
The Seminoles’ season got off to a disastrous start with a loss to Georgia Tech last weekend in Ireland. That wasn’t good news for a program that spent much of last year bragging about being too good for the ACC. Traveling halfway around the world to play a game in a foreign country can (and did, in this case) lead to a crazy result, so playing at home is a chance for FSU to get back in the win column in a more familiar environment. But what if the Seminoles lose? Oh, baby.
…things I saw yesterday:
5. The Yankees are crazy Double game 8-6-2-3-2-5-4.
4. Nationals hopeful Dylan Crews first career home run.
3. The dazzling James Bree winning goal in injury time from outside the box in Southampton’s EFL Cup win over Cardiff City. It was only the third goal of Bree’s career.
2. Travis Jankowski’s take on steal a home run that could be a winning hit.
1. Shohei Ohtani’s Dogs “first throw.”
