Hello Thunder faithful! WELCOME BACK to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG, The THUNDERBLOG’s Weekly College Football Series. If you noticed the emphasis on “BLOG,” that is because we also have the Funvee Tailgate Podcast that ties into the blog series. Here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. For those newer readers, the blog version of the Funvee Tailgate looks at the full slate of Top 25 FBS teams along with a few other selections. I make picks on games with less than a 20-point spread and try to make everyone some money. Matt and I will have more on that next week. College Football is BACK, folks. Five teams in the Top 25 have already played their first games of the season and the first full Saturday of football should have its moments. Labor Day Weekend. Beers. Burgers. College Football. LET’S FIIIIRRRREEEE IT UP!

Big Games This Week:

Thursday Night Special:

While the NFL wrapped up the preseason and the USWNT dominated Portugal at the Linc, a number of teams in the Top 25 kicked off their 2019 campaign including the defending champs. Clemson throttled Georgia Tech and Travis Etienne was an unstoppable freight train throughout the game, including a 90-yard TD run. None of these results were very surprising and that’s how most of this week should go.

Friday Night Throwdowns:

Two Top 25 games for you on Friday with #18 Michigan State hosting Tulsa (MSU had a near disaster on the first Friday of the season a year ago) and #19 Wisconsin traveling down to South Florida. I’d expect both Big Ten squads to take care of business but the Wisconsin -10 line with a 58.5 over/under is intriguing. I’d still recommend staying away from those tonight and saving your funds for Saturday.

Saturday Slate:

The first full Saturday of football will have a less-than stellar afternoon before a banger of a night-cap. In fact, the Top 25 is so bare that the most afternoon exciting FBS game may be between the unranked Carolina schools at 3:30. Maybe Memphis vs. Ole Miss but Memphis only being a 4.5 favorite smells like free money to me. Anyway on to the official picks. #2 Alabama, #3 Georgia, #4 Oklahoma, #5 Ohio State, #6 LSU, #7 Michigan, #10 Texas, #13 Washington, #15 Penn State, #20 Iowa, #21 Iowa State, #23 Washington State, and #24 Nebraska are all MASSIVE favorites and should win. Let’s take a look at the rest of the slate:

• Northwestern (+6) @ #25 Stanford at 4:00 pm on Fox–A low scoring game but Stanford’s defense stifles NW as the Cardinal start the 2019 year right. Stanford wins and covers.
• #22 Syracuse (-18) @ Liberty at 6:00 pm on ESPN+–Liberty is one of those programs that took the express lane from starting a program in the FCS right to FBS. Both teams feature high offensive potential and a 68 over to kick off the year may be a fun play but laying 18 on the road tough. Syracuse wins but doesn’t cover.
• #11 Oregon (+4) vs. #16 Auburn at 7:30 pm from Jerry World (AT&T Stadium) on ABC–The big kickoff game should show us a lot from Oregon QB Justin Herbert and what type of year we’ll be getting from the Ducks. Auburn should be able to contain the Ducks but if Herbert has a huge night, we may be looking at an upset. That said, Auburn wins and covers.
• #9 Notre Dame (-18) @ Louisville at 8:00 pm on ESPN–One of ND’s required ACC opponents shouldn’t be a problem. The Irish have a lot question marks coming into 2019 and we probably won’t get any answers from this game. If we do, that’s very bad news for the Irish. I like the Irish by a mile though as Louisville isn’t bring much to the table. Notre Dame wins and covers.

My Lehigh Mountain Hawks kick off a 2019 campaign that may be a long road to the 155th playing of The Rivalry. Lehigh hosts Saint Francis Saturday afternoon at 12:30. I’ll be excited to get updates on the first game of the season from them.

Only four picks to kick off the 2019 blog series. Make sure to follow me on Twitter for my Degenerate Geordie picks. I’ll be giving picks for college football, NFL, and more as baseball is heating up so definitely keep an eye out for those picks. Matt and I will go in depth about our guest pickers and how all of that will work out next week as the NFL will be back. Make sure to check out the podcast for our full in-depth analysis. Let me know what picks you disagree with in the comments.

Follow @geordo9

(cover photo via)