The realignment of rhe College Football landscape had become clear towards the end of the 2023 season, but actually seeing the huge Conference and the disintegration of the Pac-12 will have gotten fans talking.
Instead of Divisions, the new look Conferences are still determining how they want to figure out their schedules in the years ahead and so they have not tied themselves down this year. Eventually you have to figure Divisions will be back as the best way to really separate teams and give us the 'best' possible Championship Games, although there is also beginning to be a feeling that College Football is moving in a direction similar to the NFL and the individual Conferences will end up being brought together under a single umbrella.
That will be something that will play out in the months and years ahead, but the focus in 2024 will be the expanded College Football PlayOff.
Teams have been encouraged to remove some of the easier games on the schedule outside of Conference play and instead face other Power Conference opponents and we see a number of high-profile games in Week 1 of the season. The one that will perhaps pick up the most attention is the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Clemson Tigers, two teams that will have big aspirations of being crowned National Champions at the end of the season.
There are plenty of other tough looking games and the Florida State Seminoles found out that you would be ill-advised to look past any opponent in any given week. However, with the expanded PlayOff, the Seminoles still have plenty to play as they look to bounce back to conclude Week 1 and there will be plenty of time impress with the schedule being played.
Big name players leave College Football every year as they look to take the next step in their careers in the pro Ranks, but Nick Saban was the big name Head Coach who called time on his tenure leading the Alabama Crimson Tide. He has left the school in good shape, but replacing Saban is going to be a huge challenge in the expanded SEC.
Moves have been made in other places too, but this was the big story at the end of the 2024 season and Saban will now allow the fans to all know his thoughts as an analyst going forward.
2024 was another good year for the NFL Picks, but not so much for the College Football selections. An improvement is going to be needed, but a good start will allow some momentum to be built and that has to be focus right now.
Poor weeks can be overcome, so the focus has to be on a week by week basis and not to worry too much about the end of season record while in August. Instead you have to believe that will take care of itself as long as some early consistency can be produced and that is the key in Week 1 of the 2024 year.
Georgia Bulldogs vs Clemson Tigers Pick: The College Football season of the Super-Conferences has kicked off with a big upset in Week 0, but Week 1 is when the majority of teams get underway.
In the ACC, the Florida State Seminoles were downed by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and that has just hardened the position of the Clemson Tigers when it comes to being the favourite to win the Championship. It will be a grind with the entire Conference placed in one Division, rather than the usual split Divisions, and the Clemson Tigers are coming into 2024 having produced their worst season in some time.
Any team that wins nine games in a season will be pleased, but the Clemson Tigers have set a really strong standard under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. It was the first time since 2010 that the Tigers had not ended the season with double digit wins and there is a pressure on this team to build on 2023 and make sure they are playing in the expanded College Football PlayOff this time around.
Only the Alabama Crimson Tide have had more invites into the College Football PlayOff than the Clemson Tigers, and missing out two years in a row will feel like a massive underperformance.
This time around, the Tigers bring an experienced Defensive unit back and they also have a Quarter Back that played last year and that is a boost for Clemson. No one will doubt the talent on the Defensive side of the ball, but the key for the Tigers is whether Cade Klubnik can grow having thrown for over 2800 passing yards and 19 Touchdowns last season.
Turnovers proved to be the Achilles Heel for Klubnik and he is going up against the Georgia Bulldogs Defensive unit that may be amongst the very best in College Football.
Last year was a disappointment for the Georgia Bulldogs- they won the National Championship in 2021 and 2022 and had been unbeaten until being upset in the SEC Championship Game. With so many Conference Champions producing strong seasons, the Bulldogs were another team left out of the PlayOff in controversial circumstances and this is a team that will head into 2024 looking to make a real statement.
Head Coach Kirby Smart has really taken the Bulldogs to the next level and any team that has won thirty-two of the last thirty-four games played since the beginning of the 2021 season has to be respected. The NFL will take some of the top talent, but this Bulldogs team is filled with those talented players ready to come in and show how good they can be and this is a team loaded again.
The consistency at Quarter Back is always a boost for the top contenders and Georgia will have Carson Beck behind Center in his second full season as the starter in this position. Last year he almost threw for 4000 yards and 24 Touchdowns, although Beck will know that his main ambition is to make sure he does not lose any game.
With a powerful Offensive Line, the Bulldogs can really grind opponents down with the run and even this Tigers Defensive Line may struggle to contain Georgia.
Both Defensive units are going to feel like they can control the outcome of this game, but the edge has to be with Georgia and the same can be said in the Quarter Back position. An expanded College Football PlayOff means there is perhaps less jeopardy in losing this opening game as there would have been last year, but both Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart will be keen to see their team make a big, early statement.
The last time these teams met was in September 2021 and it was Georgia who won by 7 points in a game they had been the underdog. This is a big spread considering the kind of talent and expectations that the Clemson Tigers will have, but the Georgia Bulldogs will be angry about not being given a chance to three-peat as National Champions and they can come out and just remind the rest of their rivals about how good they can be.
Clemson have been a productive double digit underdog in recent years, but it is rare to find them in such a position- if the Quarter Back is still struggling with his turnovers, Georgia can make use of the extra possessions to win this game and cover a big mark.
Penn State Nittany Lions @ West Virginia Mountaineers Pick: Returning some key players on the Offensive side of the ball has raised expectations around the Penn State Nittany Lions who have won at least ten games in half of the ten seasons under current Head Coach James Franklin.
The problem in recent years has been the fact that Penn State have been playing in the same Division as the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes, two teams that have been regularly earning a spot in the College Football PlayOff. Adding the likes of the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans to the Big Ten Conference has just meant a change in format in 2024 and the Nittany Lions are now part of one big Conference, rather than Divisions to win to earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.
It makes the expanded PlayOff a target for the Nittany Lions, but Head Coach Franklin has made it clear that this an immediate tough test right out of the gate. A real road game is always going to be tough to open a season, but even more so when travelling to face the West Virginia Mountaineers who play out of the new-look Big 12.
After three losing seasons in four, Head Coach Neal Brown had to be concerned about his chances of holding onto his job at the beginning of the 2023 season. However, the Mountaineers put together a 9-4 record, which included winning a Bowl Game, and West Virginia will also be bringing back some experienced players to lead them.
Once again the big challenge is going to be deal with the raised expectations around the team after coming close to a double digit win total last year. The likes of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns have moved to the SEC so there may be something of a void to fill at the top of the Big 12 Conference and that is certainly what the fans will expect from the Mountaineers.
Garrett Greene is returning at Quarter Back for West Virginia and the hope is that his experiences from 2023 will stand him in good stead in this campaign. He proved to be a dual-threat at the Quarter Back position with almost 2500 passing yards and 800 yards on the ground, but there is a hope that Greene will be able to grow as a passer.
These teams met last year, albeit in a game hosted by Penn State, and Garrett Greene really struggled with his passing having been restricted to 162 yards through the air. The problem for the West Virginia Quarter Back is he is going against a Penn State Defensive unit that looks experienced and having put up some very strong numbers last season.
Bigger news for the Nittany Lions is having Drew Allar returning at Quarter Back after a year in which he was not tasked with trying to win games. Instead he was a solid manager and Allar looked after his turnovers, which is vitally important, although this time there is more expected from him now he has the experiences of 2023 under his belt.
The Nittany Lions have added some quality Receiving options and a new Offensive Co-Ordinator is going to want to make an immediate mark on the team. A number of transfers have come into the Mountaineers Defensive unit, which could give them the depth that was lacking last year, and West Virginia played well enough to have something to build upon.
However, the Nittany Lions look a team that should be targeting a place in the new College Football PlayOff and they may just be able to quieten down a crowd before really taking control of this game. The spread is a big one, but the Nittany Lions Defensive unit may step up to force a couple of drives to stall and perhaps even turn the ball over, and that can give Penn State the chance to pull away from their hosts and cover this spread set.
Virginia Tech Hokies @ Vanderbilt Commodores Pick: For a long time, the Virginia Tech Hokies set the benchmark for success within the ACC, but those days look behind them.
For now.
There is a real belief that the end of the 2023 season may spark the Virginia Tech Hokies to not only finish near the top of the ACC standings, but to actually find themselves in a position to compete for the Championship and ultimately a place in the expanded College Football PlayOff.
Four of the previous five seasons had finished with a losing record and it felt like 2023 was going to be another, but the Hokies rallied to win their last two regular season games and then the Bowl Game to earn a 7-6 record. That alone might not have given the fans as much enthusiasm as they have going into the season, but the Hokies are bringing back a lot of the starters from last season, on both sides of the ball, and that is where Virginia Tech can grow.
Kyron Drones led the team at Quarter Back and the ability to present a dual challenge to Defensive units makes him and the Hokies that much more dangerous. This might be a road game to start the season, but Virginia Tech may not have been able to ask for too many opponents better than this one and especially not out of the Power Conferences.
The Vanderbilt Commodores have made several changes to their Coaching staff since the end of the 2023 season, but they have struggled in the SEC and have won just three Conference games since 2019. With changes there is always a hope that things can change quickly, but Vanderbilt will need time and they are changing the Offensive style, which leaves them vulnerable in 2024 as the new systems bed in.
Diego Pavia is expected to be given the starting job at Quarter Back having played at New Mexico State under the new Vanderbilt Head Coach Jerry Kill.
It should make the transition a little easier, but Pavia is stepping up his level and this Virginia Tech Hokies Defensive unit may be more accustomed as to how to deal with a dual-threat Quarter Back than most. We should see the team a little more aware of what they need to do and Vanderbilt suffered some big losses when playing the better teams last season, which is a concern in this game.
They are set as a considerable underdog, all things considered, but the Commodores can at least offer some resistance. However, eventually you would have to believe that the Virginia Tech Hokies will be able to show off the talent that had found momentum at the end of last season and the consistency should help the road favourite come away with a big win.
MY PICKS: Georgia Bulldogs - 11.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Penn State Nittany Lions - 7.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Virginia Tech Hokies - 13.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Virginia Tech Hokies - 13.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish + 3 Points @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)
UCLA Bruins - 13.5 Points @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Alabama Crimson Tide - 31.5 Points @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
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