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The ESPN College Pick Em game kicks off this weekend! There will be ten games to pick every Saturday. Each week you assign a confidence total on each game from 1-10 points. If you win, you get that many points. Simple, right?
Now that you've got the hang of it, I've created a group on ESPN for you faithful RotoBaller readers. This year we are going to offer a little prize. The winner of the group this season will win FREE access to RotoBaller's college football DFS premium tools for the 2023 season which include lineup optimizers for DFS and real time answers to your questions in the Discord. Here is the link! I will be locking this group once the season kicks off, so get in there before Saturday for a chance to win!
For those of you that want a little bigger challenge, I have created a group that picks these against the spread as well. You can find that group here, but there isn't a prize for that one. It's just for bragging rights.
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College Football Pick Em Overview
This article will be for the confidence game mode. You can also read my against the spread picks here every week for every game so you know how I'm leaning for that version of the game. Each week, I will recap who's dominating the group before I get into the picks. If you're going to beat everyone, all of the readers will know about it!
Let's get to the countdown! I will count them up from least confident (1) to most (10). You know, for dramatic effect. If I do change my pick or points at sometime during the week, I will try to update the article or post it on Twitter. Otherwise, you know all of my picks each week. Good luck out there. Week 1 is always interesting, especially in this new world of rapid-fire transfers.
(1) Oregon State over Boise State
The Beavers return most of last year's seven-win team. Boise's roster is largely the same as well, but they are going to feel the loss of Khalil Shakir. He's the guy that Boise could go to when they needed the big play. This game is in Corvallis, not on the Smurf Turf. Boise had narrow losses in Orlando and Stillwater last year. They are going to collect one of these power-five wins on the road sometime soon. It may be here, but I give the Beavers the slight advantage at home.
(2) Mississippi State over Memphis
I'm probably still a little rattled by the Bulldogs getting bulldozed by Texas Tech in the Liberty Bowl last December in, you guessed it, Memphis. The Leaches lost in Memphis to the Tigers last year as well back in September. This one is in StarkVegas, but forgive me if I don't trust Mississippi State. They're the better team, but they don't always play like it. There's no way Texas Tech should have beaten them last year on paper, but the Red Raiders won by 27. There's no way I'm wagering more than this no matter how much better the Bulldogs look.
(3) Houston over UTSA
Every part of me wants to pick the Roadrunners, and I will take them not to get covered at home. However, Houston is a dangerous team. I'm just lowering the bet in case it takes Trelon Burks some time to get acclimated in the UTSA backfield. Frank Smith and Zakhari Franklin are going to make Houston work for this though.
(4) Boston College over Rutgers
Rutgers is getting better, but Phil Jurkovec returns to a Boston College team that played well when Jurkovec was healthy. Pat Garwo returns to the backfield and Zay Flowers is still out there to bust the field wide open. I do think Rutgers is going to be much improved this year, but it's a tough start for them against an experienced Boston College team that is heading in the right direction.
(5) Utah over Florida
This one is intriguing only because it is in the Swamp. Utah is the better team, probably on both sides of the ball. That said, this is the Swamp...at night. Strange things can happen, especially now that Anthony Richardson doesn't have to worry about being pulled every other play.
(6) Georgia over Oregon
I've watched Bo Nix enough against Georgia to know that he doesn't have a chance at beating them. Georgia has plenty of questions with only 10 of their 22 starters returning. One of those returning is quarterback Stetson Bennett, so that decreases the learning curve a little. Can Georgia reload like Bama does? We're about to find out!
(7) Arkansas over Cincinnati
This is more fueled by the proven commodity that is KJ Jefferson than the state of the Cincinnati roster. It's tough to open against a strong Arkansas team while trying to replace Desmond Ridder, Jerome Ford, and Alec Pierce. If this game were a month later, I would have to think about it a little more.
(8) San Diego State over Arizona
I may end up moving this one down. Arizona is going to be nearly unrecognizable after a disastrous 2021. They made many improvements on the roster. Braxton Burmeister transferring in for the Aztecs shores up the only dead spot they had last year, which was quarterback. The off-field issues may be a distraction for the Aztecs, but probably not enough to lose to Arizona.
(9) Ohio State over Notre Dame
Marcus Freeman is absolutely the right hire for the Irish, but coaching his first game at the Horseshoe against a top-two team is really tough. Not only that, but the Irish lose the strength of their offense in Kyren Williams. Again, if this game were played in a month it might be more of a toss-up. Here it clearly is not.
(10) BYU over South Florida
Baylor transfer Gerry Bohanon will undoubtedly help the USF offense, but this team won just two games last year. They allowed 34.7 points per game, which was 117 out of 130 FBS schools. The problems at USF were more than just the quarterback...especially considering quarterback Timmy McClain was one of the few bright spots on this team in 2021. Good luck, Bulls. You're going to need it.
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