(5) LSU vs (8) FLORIDA STATE, SUNDAY AT 7:30 ET ON ESPN-SWFL And ABC Highlight Week 1 In College Football

LSU and Florida State head to Orlando for this year’s opening game. The Tigers have lost eight of 10 games against the Seminoles, their worst record against an opponent they have faced at least 10 times.  These two teams opened up against each other last year also but in New Orleans.

Last year had a memorable finish with LSU scoring a touchdown as time expired in regulation, but the extra point was blocked, giving the Seminoles a 24-23 victory.

LSU has won seven straight AP Top-10 matchups, all coming in the 2019 season when the Tigers won the national title behind Joe Burrow. That is tied for the longest win streak in AP Top-10 matchups by a SEC team in the Poll Era (since 1936).

Brian Kelly won 10 games in his first season at LSU, becoming the third Tiger head coach to win at least 10 games.  in his first season (Les Miles went 11-2 in 2005, Mike Archer went 10-1-1 in 1987).

He’s looking to become the fourth straight LSU coach to win a national championship and the first FBS coach to win a title in his first two seasons at a school since Gene Chizik at Auburn in 2010.

Kelly has struggled in AP Top-10 matchups, going 3-9 in his head coaching career (all at Notre Dame). That .250 win percentage is the 4th-worst by a head coach in those games in the Poll Era (min. 10 games).

The Seminoles are coming off its first 10-win season since 2016 after going 8-13 in Mike Norvell’s first two seasons. The Seminoles averaged 484 yards per game last season, their best offensive production since averaging 519 yards per game on their way to the national championship in 2013.

Jordan Travis is back behind center after leading the ACC with an 86 QBR last season. Travis was also responsible for 32 touchdowns in 2022, tied for the third-most in a season in Florida State history.

He only trailed Jameis Winston in 2013 and Chris Weinke in 2000. Both Winston and Weinke won the Heisman Trophy in those seasons.

This game features two of the best quarterbacks from the 2022 season in Travis and Daniels as both players ranked in the top-15 in Total QBR among qualified quarterbacks.

Below is a list of other notable games for week 1.  In cased you missed it, here's the Florida-Utah preview.  More on all of these games and our conference and CFP picks on Shemon and Sheppard 2-6pm.

The Volunteers and Cavaliers are meeting for the first time since the 1991 Sugar Bowl. Virginia led 16-0 at halftime and 16-3 entering the fourth quarter before Tennessee rallied to win 23-22 on Tony Thompson’s one-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left.

The Vols won 11 games last season, their most in a season since 2001 (also finished 11-2). Tennessee led FBS in total offense (526 yards per game) and scoring offense (46.1 points per game) last season but only returns five offensive starters this season.

New-look Colorado will be tested in its first game in the Deion Sanders era vs No. 17 TCU. Last season, Colorado went 1-11 and was outscored by 349 points, the worst points differential in a season by any team since UMass in 2019.

On the other side, Sonny Dykes enters his second year at TCU after becoming the first Big 12 coach to start the year 12-0 in his first season at a program. That start culminated into a run to the national title game for TCU, becoming the first Big 12 school to win a College Football Playoff game. Repeating that magical run will be a challenge though since only 10 starters return from that team.

Good news for Michigan even with Harbaugh’s suspension? The Wolverines are 23-0 at home in August and September since Harbaugh took over in 2015, the most wins without a loss in FBS over that span. Overall, they’ve won 15 straight home games dating back to the start of 2021, the third-longest active FBS streak entering this season, trailing Alabama (20) and Georgia (18).

Washington is No. 10 in the AP Poll, its highest ranking in the preseason edition of the poll since 2018. Reason for the top-10 placement? The return of Michael Penix Jr. He threw for 4,641 yards in 2022, the most in a season in school history and the fifth-most in a season in Pac-12 history.

Ohio State (23) and Alabama (21) look to continue climbing this list of longest winning streaks in season openers (including vacated wins) in the AP Poll Era. The last time Ohio State lost a season opener was in 1999 against Miami. That is the same season Ryan Day would become the starting QB at New Hampshire under first-year offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. The last time Alabama lost a season opening game was in 2001 against UCLA.

Craig Shemon is hoping his Hoosiers can stay within 50.  Ohio State is favored by 31 points.

Texas begins its final season in the Big 12 vs Rice, who it has won 15 straight games against, last losing in 1994. In addition, the Longhorns have won 24 consecutive home games vs Rice with the last defeat coming in 1965. That is their longest home win streak vs a single opponent in school history.

Although Bijan Robinson is off to the NFL, Quinn Ewers is back at quarterback. There are high expectations for Ewers who is tied with Sam Hartman for the third-shortest odds to win the Heisman Trophy per Caesars Sportsbook, behind only Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.

Notre Dame had a strong start to the season in Ireland, winning 42-3 vs Navy. Sam Hartman had four passing touchdowns in his first game with Notre Dame, tied for the most in a team debut in school history.
The Fighting Irish will look for another high offensive output in this one. The last time they scored 40+ points in each of their first two games of a season was 1951.

Caleb Williams has a passing touchdown in 15 straight games for USC, tied for the second-longest streak by a USC player over the last 20 seasons. Kedon Slovis had a 16-game streak with a pass TD from 2019-21.

Since Williams’ arrival with the Trojans, they have averaged 42.3 points, the third-most in FBS, trailing only Tennessee and Ohio State,

Zachariah Branch shined his CFB debut, recording 232 all-purpose yards and a kickoff return touchdown. That marked the most all-purpose yards in a game by a USC true freshman since Marqise Lee in 2011.

This is the 60th time that South Carolina has faced North Carolina in a series that dates all the way back to 1903.The only schools the Gamecocks have faced more often are Clemson (119 times) and Georgia (75 times)

This is the fourth straight meeting between the teams that has taken place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The Gamecocks won 38-21 in the 2021 Duke Mayo’s Bowl and 17-13 in the 2015 season opener with the Tar Heels taking home a 24-20 win in the opening game of the 2019 season.

The Gamecocks averaged 44 points and 458 yards per game in their final three games last season. Spencer Rattler had 10 passing touchdowns in the last three games after throwing more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (eight) in the first 10 games.

North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is one of the top prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft, coming in at the No. 3 pick in Matt Miller’s latest mock draft. He accounted for 5,019 yards and 45 touchdowns last season, both ACC freshman records, and led FBS with 205 10-yard plays.

Clemson has had few problems in the ACC as of late, winning the conference in seven of the last eight seasons and eight times overall during Dabo Swinney’s tenure. Swinney’s eight ACC titles trails only Bobby Bowden for most in conference history.

The Tigers have won at least 10 games in 12 straight seasons. That is the third-longest streak in FBS history, trailing 2008-pres. Alabama (15) and 1987-2000 Florida State (14).  Cade Klubnik, the No. 1 dual-threat QB in the ESPN 300 Class of 2022 – returns for the Tigers after appearing in 10 games (one start) as a true freshman.

Duke has not had much success against AP Top-10 teams in recent memory, losing 28 straight games vs those opponents. The last time the Blue Devils defeated an AP Top-10 team was 1989 against No. 7 Clemson.

Since 1990, Duke are 0-28 vs AP Top-10 teams, the second-most losses without a win during that span. OnlyWake Forest has more such losses without a win since 1990 (0-36).