2016 College Football Week 1 SU Picks

Posted by Jordan Walterss on Thursday,August 4, 2016 8:03, EDT in

Just 22 days from today, Thursday, Aug. 4, until the 2016 college football season kicks off! It’s almost hard to believe — but then before you know it, the season will fly by. The NCAA season is really too short. But here are three winning picks for the Week 1 season in online college football betting.

Let’s Take a Closer Look at the 2016 College Football Week 1 SU Picks

Appalachian State at Tennessee (-22 in NCAA betting)

This game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 1 from Neyland Stadium on Knoxville and will be televised by the SEC Network. The Vols are the preseason betting favorites to win the SEC East Division as they appear to have their most talent since Phil Fulmer’s glory days.

This game wasn’t originally scheduled for Thursday of Week 1 but was moved to accommodate TV. And if you happen to be a student at Tennessee, there won’t be any classes that day. Additionally, most campus offices will be closed. However, to keep the number of days in the academic calendar consistent, another day of class will be added at the end of the semester. The measures were taken to accommodate traffic, parking and security. The season opener will mark the first time since 1938 that UT has hosted a Thursday night game.

App State, a fairly new FBS program, is no pushover. Appalachian State was one of just 14 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to win 11 or more games last fall, joining Alabama, Stanford, San Diego State, Western Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, TCU, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Clemson, Houston and Navy. The Mountaineers have as much momentum as anybody in the Sun Belt and should win their first FBS conference title this fall. Key returners are QB Taylor Lamb and all-purpose back Marcus Cox. Last year, Lamb had one of the best seasons at the quarterback position in App State history, where he threw for a single-season school record 31 touchdown passes, surpassing Appalachian State and SoCon Hall of Famer Armani Edwards’ 30 touchdown tosses in 2008. The 31 touchdowns through the air ranked first in the Sun Belt and ninth in the nation. Lamb also threw just nine picks, which led to more than a 3:1 touchdown-to- interception ratio. Lamb’s 2,387 passing yards were good for 10th in App State history and third in the league. He also ranked fourth in the conference in total offense with 2,823 yards.

I like App State to cover that large spread but UT to win.

Rice at Western Kentucky (-16 in NCAA betting)

This Sept. 1 game kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network from L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. These teams are members of Conference USA and Western Kentucky is the defending conference champion.

WKU visited Rice early last October and rolled 49-10. Brandon Doughty threw for 409 yards and four first-half touchdowns. D’Andre Ferby added two touchdown runs for the Hilltoppers, who piled up 504 yards. Doughty finished 28 of 38 for 343 yards. He connected with Taywan Taylor for 10 yards, Jared Dangerfield for 39 and Antwane Grant for 45 in the first quarter. In the second he connected with Tyler Higbee for 30 yards to make it 28-3. Doughty, the best player in WKU history, is gone now, however.

Rice finished 5-7 overall last year and 3-5 in C-USA. Coach David Bailiff said senior Tyler Stehling, who was the backup QB in 2015, is the Owls’ starter under center. He closed out spring drills by completing 15-of- 21 for 167 yards in the Blue-Gray game. Last year, Stehling saw action in five games, completing 24-of- 48 passes for 320 yards and a touchdown. He came on in of Driphus Jackson vs. WKU and set career bests by hitting on 11 of 19 for 150 yards. His best attribute is his arm strength. At 6-6 and 210 pounds, Stehling can get a lot of power on his passes.

Go WKU on NCAA football odds.