While the Power Five kicks off the college football season 2020 two weeks later than initially planned as the COVID-19 pandemic changes the sporting schedule, ACC and Big 12 are officially starting their collegiate soccer season Saturday with nearly every team in action. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is still two weeks away from the start of its season (Sep 26), and the Big Ten and Pac-12 are currently conducting a play survey in Spring 2021, but major college football is still on board at the end of this week.
Prior to Season # 1, Clemson will be in action Saturday night as a nearly five-point favorite over Wake Forest, while Notre Dame # 10 – a temporary ACC member for 2020 – has a featured game afternoons as a triple plane. Favorite on Duke. The Big 12 does not have any marquee games in the schedule, although both No. 5 and No. 14 ranked Oklahoma in Texas will be in action in games likely to end before the first quarter.
With the action beginning early in the day and continuing late into the night, let’s take a look at the biggest games on Saturday’s schedule along with our picks and forecasts for what will happen in those competitions. The football experts at our CBS Sports College hand-pick each match live and against its prevalence, giving you ample opportunity to determine how your choices will be determined before kick-off. All times are oriental
Syracuse at # 18 North Carolina (-22.5) – noon on ACC: That’s a startlingly huge number for the conference game that will be the first action for any team after the limited spring or lack thereof and the pre-season camp is socially distant. While I’m all in North Carolina facing one of the ACC’s best fouls this season, you have to leave room for some first week hiccups in your predictions for this game. These points may appear on fewer touches but also in having to settle for field goals when this high-octane offense enters the center of scoring and the field shrinks. Then I look at Tommy DeVito and wonder if, after a very disappointing 2019, he took the steps forward to go ahead with a pair of landings on the board against the North Carolina defense. Tar Heels would win easily, but more than three touchdowns are a huge demand at this point in the season. Choice: Syracuse (+22.5) – Chip Patterson
Duke at No. 10 Notre Dame (-20.5) – 2:30 pm on NBC: Choosing games will be harder than ever this year because we may not discover that there are players missing right before kick-off. However, given what we know about both teams heading into Saturday, I find it difficult not to take part in the Irish fight. The Irish beat the Duke 7-8 last season in Durham, North Carolina, and I don’t think it has changed enough for either team to expect this year’s competition to go much differently. I feel comfortable taking the Irish for anything better than three landings. Picking: Notre Dame (-20.5) – Tom Fornelli
Georgia Tech in Florida (-12.5) – 3:30 pm on ABC: Both defenses should have an early advantage due to their returning talent and the fact that neither of them inspires confidence as a unit capable of outstanding performance in the first week. It will take time to install the Seminole and implement everything new coach Mike Norville wants to do, and for this reason, it’s hard to see Florida score enough goals to outdo it. Georgia Tech’s running game must generate enough hits to score at least twice and keep the yellow vests within the point difference. Choice: Georgia Tech (+12.5) David Cobb
No. 1 Clemson (-33) in Wake Forest – 7:30 pm on ABC: National TV will be a stage for the entire country to realize that Clemson’s line of defense is back to the 2017-18 levels of depth and dominance. Student Tyler Davis will be one of the nation’s best indoor defenders this season, her sophomore KJ Henry ready to be the best player on Clemson’s next great pass and the true new duo of Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy “on their promise of five stars, according to Clemson coaches.” The group will work five or six deep with a player who can start at any line in the conference, and will cause all kinds of problems for Wake Forest in this match.Even if Trevor Lawrence makes a slow 2019-like start with his top goals gone, the defense will be very devastating and will be Deacons’ attack of demons is difficult to get any kind of rhythm. Picking: Clemson (-33) – Chip Patterson
UTEP at # 14 Texas (-14) – 8 p.m. on the Longhorn Network: Bookmakers are predicting this will be a blast, and I’m not inclined to disagree. Personally, huge streaks at the start of the season like this aren’t fun because it’s obvious who the team is better – it’s just if they keep their feet on the throttle long enough to cover. The Miners have been bad for a while, having only won two games in the past three years. The 24-14 win over FCS Stephen F. Austin in Week 1 did not inspire much confidence for this week’s cover. Put the points, I think. Choose: Texas-43.5 – Ben Kirchval
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