College football Week 1 - LSU-FSU, best bets, schedule picks - ESPN

Following Georgia's pasting of TCU in Los Angeles last January, 32 Saturdays passed without college football. We got a nibble last weekend, but now Week 1 of the 2023 season is upon us. For all of the questions, big and small, that we've spent nearly eight months asking — from "Can Georgia three-peat?" to «Can Caleb Williams pull an Archie Griffin?» to «Does Alabama have a QB?» down to «Who wins the ultracompetitive Sun Belt?» and «Who's this year's UConn?» (a.k.a. an out-of-nowhere bowl attendee) — we will now begin to get partial answers.

I'm probably in the minority, but I prefer a decentralized Week 1. I don't want too many big headliners to keep track of — I want to keep my head on a swivel and catch parts of as many games as humanly possible. For me, then, this weekend sets up perfectly. We get loads of medium-sized games on Saturday, followed by a prime-time main event with LSU-Florida State on Sunday. (And then we all go to Duke on Monday night, just for grins.)

Week 1 is a lot to keep up with. Let's dive into the key storylines:

Jump to a section:
LSU-FSU | UNC-South Carolina
Boise State-Washington | Colorado-TCU
Best bets | Weekend playlist

No. 5 LSU vs. No. 8 Florida State (Sunday, 7:30 p.m., ABC)

You don't want to assume that a sequel will be better than the original. LSU and Florida State played one of the most delightful games of the 2022 season this time last year — a 24-23 Seminoles win that saw LSU drive 99 yards in the final 80 seconds to score what appeared to be the score-tying touchdown, only to have the extra point blocked in walk-off fashion. (You should've gone for two, Brian Kelly.) But just because that game was awesome doesn't automatically mean Sunday night's affair in Orlando will be its equal,