FAVORITE TEAMS

Hey everyone, welcome to Week 0 of college football season. I will post the top 5 games of each week that I feel should be the most intriguing to watch. For those that haven’t seen my postings from my other website, sportsblog.com/xfactor25, I used to post top 5 games that were pretty obvious. But things are changing this season. It won’t always be the big games unless it has playoff implications, conference title opportunities, or upset potential. I’ll be tackling matchups that analysts seem to “underrate” and I’ll list them into my top 5, including one game that’s a possible upset game. I’ll try to have this figured out as the season goes on. Anyway, here are the only two games of Week 0.

MIAMI (FL) VS. #8 FLORIDA – 4PM PT / 7PM ET [ESPN] (ORLANDO, FL)

The battle for the Sunshine State begins with this matchup. The Gators’ defense have quality players to keep this team in games, but the loss of linebacker David Reese II and his leadership could affect them. They need others around him, including the inexperienced linebackers to step up. The offense returns quarterback Feleipe Franks to hopefully improve the passing game, but the only issue comes from the offensive line. Miami has a strong defense led by the entire linebacker squad that start their 4th straight season together, but the defensive backs must improve quickly. The offense announced freshmen quarterback Jarren Williams as the starter, but he has no experience and the offensive line’s replacing three starters from the right side. They didn’t have a reliable quarterback last season and hopefully they can focus on one for the entire season. Since 1986, the Hurricanes owned the Gators in six of the last seven matchups. The winner will have early leverage before their schedule in October gets rough.

ARIZONA AT HAWAI’I 7:30PM PT / 10:30PM ET, CBS SPORTS NETWORK

This West Coast matchup should be an electrifying one featuring two exciting dual-threat quarterbacks. Arizona has a healthy Khalil Tate looking to bounce back from a frail sophomore year. His passing game rose from 1,591 to 2,530 but his rushing yards drastically dipped from 1,411 for 12 touchdowns to 224 for two touchdowns. Due to his injury, it sent the Wildcats down to a 5-7 record. Outside of the backfield, he’ll need help from his new receivers to revamp this offense that scored an average 41 points per game. Hawai’i returns quarterback Cole McDonald who performed very well in his first season. He threw 3,875 yards for 36 touchdowns and rushed for 359 yards and four touchdowns. Receivers Cedric Byrd and JoJo Ward return, but McDonald needs one of them to account for John Ursua’s departure after netting over 1,000 yards receiving. Hawai’i’s 0-6 against FBS opponents since 2015 and there last win was at home against Colorado. They haven’t host an FBS opponent in the regular season since then. The Rainbow Warriors do return nine players on defense but struggled to stop the run. It should be a high-scoring game and may come down to one last possession if Arizona fails to stop Cole McDonald and the offense.

Check out my other postings on my profile and if you’re curious about seeing my past postings, go to sportsblog.com/xfactor25. I will be doing this all season long and hopefully post some videos on here, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Stay tuned!