We’re soft launching the 2024 season this weekend. Here is what you need to know about it.
Welcome to the 2024 college football season. A lot has changed, but this is still college football, and it’s still the greatest – and most quirky – sport on Earth. One of those loveable quirks is Week Zero, the soft launch of the season, a week before week one where we get an appetizer-sized portion of college football. This is the toe dip before the cannonball, the opening of one small present on Christmas Eve, the spoonful out of the pot to make sure the meal is ready to serve.
Here is your guide to it:
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The Irish Unification of 2024 Shift
- Florida State-Georgia Tech: Florida State is going to win. I’m sorry if that ruins the suspense of the first game of the season, but the real reason to watch this game is to gauge Georgia Tech, as I think they will be one of the more fascinating teams this season. They went 7-6 in Brent Key’s first full season and while there are valid reasons to doubt the bees, there are also reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
FCS Spotlight Shift
- McNeese State-Tarleton State: By far the best part of Week Zero is that it provides FCS schools the opportunity to get airtime that they normally wouldn’t get. Which makes it sort of disappointing that both of the FCS vs. FCS games shouldn’t be close games. But who knows, maybe the Pokes will be good for it.
- Montana State-New Mexico: Presented without comment: you can grab Montana State -11.5 for this game, and some models say that’s a conservative number.
Death By SMU SMU Shift
- SMU-Nevada: Rhett Lashlee had the Ponies running hard last year when SMU went 11-2 on their way to an American title. Preston Stone is back for his junior year after a 3,000 yard sophomore season with nearly 30 touchdowns. Nevada…probably just wants to win more than two games this year.
- Florida A&M-Norfolk State: Sadly, this is the other FCS game that doesn’t appear to be close.
Robert Kekaula Memorial Shift
- Delaware State-Hawaii: ALOHA FRIENDS.