College Football Picks 2022: Big Blue Pick ‘Em Week 1

The Sea of Blue group chat is blowing up this week as excitement builds for the first week of the college football season. All 14 SEC teams will be in action this weekend. There are six SEC schools ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll: Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky and Ole Miss. Staff writers will share weekly SEC picks in what they're calling "Big Blue Pick 'Em" with a champion to be crowned at the end of season: "2022 Big Blue pick 'em champion".

Kentucky takes on Miami (OH) in the season opener on Saturday. The RedHawks are a strong mid-major program that has been picked to win the MAC’s East Division this season. Brett Gabbert, brother to NFL quarterback Blaine Gabbers, is the quarterback for the Redhawks. Kentucky needs to beat Miami before playing at Florida in week 2.

Georgia takes on Oregon in the first game since beating Alabama in last year's national championship game.

Georgia is a 17.5-point favorite over a team ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll for the season opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Tickets for this game have been sold out since mid-July.

Dan Lanning will be the new head coach at Oregon. He was the defensive coordinator at Georgia for the last three seasons. Last year's team was considered one of the best of all-time.

Bo Nix won the starting job at Oregon after hitting the transfer portal in December. NIX was the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Tigers since 1946. He finished his Auburn career with 7,251 passing yards and 39 touchdowns.

Florida Gators will host a ranked team in the 2022 season. Utah has been picked to repeat as Pac-12 champions. Florida's freshman quarterback Billy Napier will make his debut in The Swamp.

Mark Stoops won his first game as a coach against Miami (OH) in 2013. He is now 60-6 as coach at Kentucky.

Brian Kelly and Billy Napier are new conference coaches. They will make their debuts this week. Jon Sumrall will also be making his head coaching debut. Troy plays at Ole Miss this weekend.

Ole Miss and LSU are yet to name their starting quarterbacks for the 2022 season. Brian Kelly has someone in mind for LSU, but he wants to keep it under wraps until the game. Lane Kiffin is expected to make a game day decision between Jaxson Dart and Luke Altmeyer for Ole Miss.

Ball State plays Tennessee on September 1st at 7pm on SEC Network and Louisiana Tech plays Missouri at 8pm, on ESPNU.

Sam Houston State at No. 6 Texas A&M is on September 3rd. No 11 Oregon at Georgia is also on ABC at 3:30 pm. Cincinnati at Arkansas is at ESPN at3: 30 pm, Troy at Ole Miss is 4:00 pm on SEC Network, Miami at Kentucky is 7: 00 pm and Auburn at Auburn is7:000 pm (on SEC network + | ESPN+)

Sam Houston State at No. 6 Texas A&M is on SEC Network at 12:00 pm. No 11 Oregon at Georgia is at 3:30 pm on ABC. Cincinnati at Arkansas is 3.30 on ESPN. Troy at Ole Miss is 4: 00 pm, Miami at Kentucky is 7:20 pm and Auburn at Vanderbilt is 8:15 pm at SEC. Memphis at Mississippi State is also 7. 30 pm on the ESPNU. Utah at Florida is at 7 p.m. onESPN.