Even under general circumstances, the first game of the season can be misleading. After an offseason, something still general, who knows what to collect in a first game?
Sure, BYU looked great, but the Navy spent its preseason dealing with bags and blocking mannequins to restrict imaginable exposure to the coronavirus. The Army was an opposing device to Middle Tennessee, which saw its first opponent be replaced 3 times due to pandemic-related scheduling adjustments.
The labor day weekend premiere of the school football season has been reduced to an aperitif, but this week the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference are getting involved. Or at least take a look to do it: 3 games involving Big 12 groups this weekend has already been postponed, the TCU did not have enough players to face SMU, Louisiana Tech had an epidemic, so not Baylor, and the opening of the No. 15 Oklahoma State opposite Tulsa was postponed over a week because the Golden Hurricane did not have enough practice to prepare.
The first full weekend (roughly) of games includes six ranked games, adding No. 1 Clemson.
It’s a lot, but there will be some major adjustments when the new Top 25 comes out on Sunday, whatever. For the preseason Top 25, the electorate was allowed to come with all groups. Now that the season has begun, only groups playing this fall will be eligible. Nine Big Ten and Pac-12 groups will want to be replaced.
Welcome to the 2020 season. It’s going to be strange. Strange hope is the worst.
Options:
No. 1 Clemson (minus 32 1/2) at Wake Forest
ESPN’s “College GameDay” visits Wake Forest for the first time. . . CLEMSON 35-10.
State of Missouri (no line) at number five Oklahoma
Bobby Petrino’s first as Missouri state coach. Yes, that Bobby PetrinoArray . . OKLAHOMA 56-7.
Duke (plus 19 1/2) at No. 10 Notre Dame
The first convention game in 124 years of Notre Dame Array history. OUR LADY 31-14.
UTEP (plus 43) at No. 14 Texas
The Longhorns have won every game against the Miners, average score 39-7Array . . TEXAS 39-7.
Syracuse (plus 22) at No. 18 North Carolina
Tar Heels is an elegant pick to succeed in the game of the season as of Mack Brown’s moment as coach of the ACC as a trainerArray . . . NORTH CAROLINA 38-20.
Louisiana-Lafayette (plus 1/2) at No. 23 in the state of Iowa
Perhaps the most attractive game of the weekend. The Ragin ‘Cajuns won 11 games last season and a large part of that team is back. STATE OF IOWA 31-21.
TWITTER REQUESTS
Carolina Coast (plus 7) in Kansas – @DanaBecker
Jayhawks seeks revenge for last season’s loss to the Chanticleers. Yes, Array. . KANSAS 24-20.
Georgia Tech (plus 12 1/2) at Florida State – @MatthewHLeach
Another new era begins for the ‘Noles when Mike Norvell trains his first game with Florida State. . . FLORIDA STATE 28-17.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo on https://twitter. com/ralphDrussoAP and pay attention to http://www. westwoodonepodcasts. com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
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More advanced school football: https://apnews. com/Collegefootball and https://twitter. com/AP_Top25