Free College Football Picks Today for Week One, 2023

Our free College Football picks are out for Week One, 2023! Make sure you check our College Football picks before the action kicks off.

Look below to find our free College Football picks for the five best games on today’s schedule!

Saturday September 2nd

Colorado @ #17 TCU – 12PM ET

Tony Battalio

The Colorado Buffaloes will open up a new era here on Saturday afternoon, as they look to once again establish some respect for their once storied program. Colorado is coming off of one of their worst stretches in their programs history, and they will be looking to turn things around really soon. They will certainly have a tough task ahead of them as they open up the season with the national runner-ups, after TCU lost in last year’s national championship game. The Deion Sanders era has brought a lot of hype and expectations to Colorado and it will certainly take a massive step in the right direction if they can upset TCU here on Saturday afternoon to open up their season. 

TCU had an incredible run to the national championship game last year but they didn’t quite show up for that game as it was one of the most lopsided losses in the history of the competition. Now they will have aspirations of getting themselves back to a second consecutive national championship game, and it starts with a victory over Colorado in their season opener. They will have to replace last year’s starting quarterback, Max Duggan after he’s off to the NFL and it’ll be interesting to see if the transition is as smooth as they will be hoping for. Luckily for TCU. I still think they pick up the victory in the opening game of the season as Colorado still has a long way to go before they turn into a competitive football team.

Boise State @ #10 Washington – 3:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

Boise State will be looking to open up their season with an upset of a top 10 ranked football program. That is certainly something they have done in the past as they are known for upsetting powerful teams, both at home and on the road. Boise State finds themselves as two touchdown underdogs coming into the opening game of the season, and they will be looking to prove the doubters wrong here against Washington on Saturday afternoon. This will be Andy Avalos’ third season as the head coach and he has led them to 17 victories in 26 games over the past two years. 

Washington comes into the season with a lot of expectations, and they will potentially be competing to win a PAC-12 title alongside USC, Utah, and Oregon. They come into the year as a top 10 team in the country and they will be looking to get their season off on the right foot with a victory over Boise State here on Saturday afternoon at home. They are favored by a couple of touchdowns over the Broncos and I do look for Washington to get a solid victory to open up the season on the road but I expect it to be a lot closer than most people think. As I look for Boise State to cover the spread here in the opening game of the season.

New Mexico @ #23 Texas A&M – 7PM ET

Tony Battalio

New Mexico has the opportunity to be a solid team this season, but they will be fighting a massive uphill climb in the opening game of the year against Texas A&M. This will be their fourth season under head coach Danny Gonzales, and he has only managed to leave them to seven victories in 27 games throughout his first three seasons at the helm. They will have a lot of work to do if they want to be a competitive team this season, and they will have a lot of work to do if they want to keep this game against Texas A&M close to open up the season as well. This is a New Mexico team that only managed to pick up two victories in 12 games last season, and they went winless in the Mountain West Conference.

The Texas A&M Aggies will be looking to improve upon a less than stellar season last year. If they do not have a successful season this year, it seems more and more likely that head coach. Jimbo Fisher will be on the chopping block despite the massive contract he is currently owed in College Station. Texas A&M opens up the season ranked just inside of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings and they will be looking to pick up a statement victory in their opening game of the series here on Saturday night at home. That is exactly what I expect as I look for the Texas A&M Aggies to cover the spread against New Mexico to open up the year.

South Alabama @ #24  Tulane – 8PM ET

Tony Battalio

The South Alabama Jaguars will be looking to pull off a massive upset over a top 25 ranked Tulane  team to open up the season. This will be Kane Wommack’s third season at the helm of this South Alabama football team and he has led them to a record of 15-10 in 25 games as the head coach. Last season was one of their best seasons in program history as they picked up double digit victories and were named co-champions of the Sun Belt West division although unfortunately they didn’t get to play in the conference championship game after finishing the regular season with a 7-1 record inside of the conference. 

The Tulane Green Wave will start the season ranked inside of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in the history of their program. They will be looking to prove that the voters made the correct choice with a comfortable victory over South Alabama in their opening game of the season here on Saturday night at home. Tulane had an incredible season last year and they capped it off with an upset victory in a New Year’s Six game over the USC Trojans in the Cotton Bowl in a high scoring contest. They finished the season ranked inside of the top ten in the nation and I expect them to pick up where they left off and pick up the victory in this game as well. 

Sunday September 3rd

#5 LSU @ #8 Florida State – 7:30PM ET

Tony Battalio

The LSU Tigers come into this season with plenty of expectations of making a run to the college football playoffs. They had a fantastic season last year under their first year head coach Brian Kelly, after he exited South Bend after over a decade at the helm of Notre Dame. Now LSU will be looking to get this season off to a fantastic start when they take on a fellow top 10 team Florida State to open up the season on Sunday night. They managed to pick up ten victories last season and even play in the SEC championship game, despite losing to eventual national champions, Georgia. However, they managed to cap off their season with a blow out win over  Purdue in their bowl game to finish off the year on a strong note. 

Florida State comes into the season with plenty of expectations as they are enjoying the first top 10 ranking to start the season in quite awhile. They will be looking to knock off a top five team here on Sunday night as they look to get their season off on the right foot after they have struggled over the past few years to beat elite football teams. Mike Norville has this Florida state team heading in the right direction and there is a chance that they could compete for an ACC championship and even a college football playoff spot this season as well. However, unfortunately for Florida State, I don’t see them picking up the victory here on Sunday night as I look for LSU to pick up the win in this top 10 matchup to kick off the year.

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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.