COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OPENING WEEK PREDICTIONS

After a one year hiatus, my college football prediction blog is back. As in the past, I will be picking games that involve teams ranked in the top 25 in the coaches poll and any inter-conference matchups. The FBS season begins today with two games, both in tropical environments. Eighth ranked Florida takes on instate rival Miami just a few miles from Disney World and Pac-12 hopeful Arizona will travel to the islands to meet Hawaii.

(8) Florida 24 vs. Miami  13(Orlando, Florida): The Florida Gators are coming off a successful season under first year head coach Dan Mullen. After a week two lass o Kentucky, they went on to win nine of their next 11 games to finish with a 10 - 3 record, capped by a 41 - 15 drubbing of Michigan in the Peach Bowl. The strength of the team is on the defensive side of the ball, where they return eight starters off a solid unit. They are expected to challenge Georgia for the SEC East title. Miami, following the unexpected retirement of Mark Richt, have a new head coach in former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. The Hurricanes return just four starters from an offense that was one of the worst in the Power Five last season, so they will probably need to play solid defense if they’re going to have a chance to upset the Gators. I believe Mullen has Florida headed in the right direction while Diaz has a tough task in front of him to bring Miami back to prominence. If this game was a couple of weeks later, I’d like Miami’s chances better.

Arizona 41 at Hawaii 31: Kevin Sumlin, former Houston and Tezas A&M coach, begins his second campaign with Arizona. The Wildcats’ 5 - 7 record was a little deceiving as the losses to UCLA and Arizona State were both by a single point. The offense, which returns eight starters, was inconsistent at times but scored 40 points or more in three of their last four games. They’ll be taking on a Warriors team that excels in the passing game, finishing ninth in the FBS a season ago while going 8 - 5 with a loss to Louisiana Tech as the host in the Hawaii Bow.. Arizona ranked in the bottom ten in pass defense, so they’ll either need to find improvement or take full advantage of Hawaii’s porous run defense. This isn’t a great matchup for Arizona, but they have more talent and should be able to win in what could be a shootout.

Hear my recent interview with legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, where we discussed his agency, concussions, franchise relocation and philanthropy at http://thechtonsports.com/cold-hard-truth-sports-radio-show-1242017/

Also listen to our conversation with author and sports journalist Mike Carey, as we discussed his latest book "Bad News" about Marvin Barnes and reminisced about Mike's coverage of the Boston Celtics during their glory years with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge and Robert Parish. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/golongmedia/2017/02/08/the-cold-hard-truth-on-sports-radio-show

Don't forget to check out my new book, "Offsetting Penalties - A PK Frazier Novel" at  Amazon.com .  Check out www.thechtonsports.com for our podcasts and live broadcast on Tuesday's at 9:00 pm EST. I can also be reached via email at kevin@pkfrazier.com.