COLLEGE FOOTBALL: WEEK ZERO PREDICTIONS

Most fans are looking forward to the Labor Day Weekend as the college football season begins in earnest. But there are two ranked teams in action this week, as a limited slate kicks of the season. There are some serious travel miles getting logged, as Stanford and Rice go Down Under, Hawaii heads to the east coast and South Florida flies west. It’s not as exciting as what we’ll see next week, but it’s college football at last.

Saturday, August 26

Oregon State 27 @ Colorado State 31: Colorado State will open the season in a new on-campus stadium. This game was moved from Sept. 23 and gives the Rams a challenging opening game. They return thirteen starters from a team that lost to Idaho in the Potato Bowl. Their opponent, Oregon State, won only four games last season, but two of them were the final ones they played, including a big win over rival Oregon. The Beavers’ defense isn’t bad, but I don’t think it will be enough to overcome Colorado State. I guess I’m starting the season with a mild upset.

Portland State 14 @ BYU 37: Portland State is a second division FCS team that shouldn’t give the Cougars much trouble. BYU needs an easy one to start the season, because the front end of their schedule is brutal, with games against LSU, Utah and Wisconsin.

Hawaii 34 @ UMass 31: Talk about a long road trip for Hawaii. Fortunately for the Rainbows they’ll be playing at 5:00 pm EDT and their opponent is considered one of the worst teams in the FBS. These teams met in the final regular season game last year, with the Minutemen coming within a touchdown of pulling an upset and keeping Hawaii out of bowl contention. Although this could be a very close game, I’ll take Hawaii to outscore the home team.

(19) South Florida 30 @ San Jose State 14: South Florida, who went 11 – 2 including a bowl win over South Carolina, welcome Charlie Strong as their new head coach to replace Willie Taggert, now at Oregon. Expectations are high for South Florida as they head west to play a Spartans squad that returns thirteen starters off a 4 – 8 team. If the jet lag isn’t an issue, the Bulls should prevail.

(14) Stanford 27 vs. Rice 13 (Sydney, Australia): The Endowment Bowl features a Stanford team that will need to find a replacement for Christian McCaffery’s insane offensive production. Rice only won three games last year and isn’t expected to challenge the leaders in Conference USA. This will be a good opener for Stanford to find some contributors on offense before they travel to USC in week two to open Pac-12 play.

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 and listen to me Friday's at 8:40 am EDT/ 7:40 am CDT on Lou in the Morning, streaming live on www.WPFLradio.com, 105.1 FM. Also check out www.thechtonsports.com for our podcasts and live broadcast on Tuesday's at 8:30 pm EST. I can also be reached via email at kevin@pkfrazier.com.