My good 'ole buddy, Marc "The Zombie" Lawrence, has a 4-star LOCK on today's only CFB game:
Sunday, September 4
4★ BEST BET
Florida State over LSU by 6
The Brian Kelly era at LSU gets underway tonight on a ‘neutral
field’ at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Kelly finished with
a 92-39 record at Notre Dame and we’re eager to see if he can
continue that level of success in what is arguably America’s
toughest division, the SEC West. PFF ranks the Tigers’ defensive
line as the 4th best in the nation, but as usual Kelly is trying
to downplay his team’s chances so they can cope with huge
expectations. The good news for FSU head coach Mike Norvell
last season was that the Seminoles won fi ve of their final eight
games, although they finished just 5-7. It was the fourth straight
losing season for the once-feared program after 41 straight
winning campaigns. That is about to change this season as
QB Jordan Travis, the Louisville transfer, returns after posting
a 148.9 Passer rating last season, the best of his career. He’s
also rushed for over 1,000 yards the past two seasons. The best
news for Norvell is that nearly 32% of last year’s starts were
made by freshmen, the third highest in the nation, assuring a
breakthrough in 2022. Meanwhile, Kelly hasn’t exactly been an
ATM early in the season, going 0-3 ATS in season openers the
last three years, and 5-13-2 ATS in the first three games of the
year versus foes that won 5 or fewer games the previous season.
We seal the deal for the Seminoles with this from the well-oiled
machine: Norvell is 16-9 SU and 11-7 ATS versus non-conference
opponents, including 7-0 ATS the last seven contests, and 7-1
ATS during the first three games of the season.