College Football Week 1 Picks: Who Will Open With a Victory?

A big opening weekend is on tap for the sport, including Ohio State–Notre Dame, Georgia-Oregon, Utah-Florida and more.

Week 1 of the 2022 college football season is finally here, and the sport has a great opening weekend on tap.

Five days of games will kick off with the return of the Backyard Brawl on Thursday night as West Virginia and Pitt meet at Heinz Field (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Purdue will also host Penn State (8 p.m. ET, Fox) that night, while another Big Ten clash will be held Friday night when Illinois travels to Indiana (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

On Saturday, the headline games include Georgia hosting Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), Utah meeting Florida in The Swamp (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Notre Dame and Ohio State battling in Columbus (7:30 p.m., ABC). 

With the NFL still a week away from starting, college football will also take center stage Sunday night with Florida State–LSU (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and Monday night with Clemson–Georgia Tech (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Who will win the above matchups and more? Sports Illustrated’s picks are in for 14 key games.

Looking for more preseason college football insights? Be sure to check out SI’s preseason bowl projections, All-American team and most interesting Week 1 matchups.

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