College football picks, Week 1: Louisville vs. Georgia Tech prediction, odds, spread, game preview, more

The Louisville Cardinals and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will meet up in Week 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Kickoff for this ACC showdown is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN. Georgia Tech has a five-year agreement with Mercedes-Benz Stadium to play an annual home game in the venue. The Jackets are scheduled to host Notre Dame at the Benz in October of 2024.

Louisville (0-0, 0-0 ACC) finally got the head coach its coveted for a long time as Jeff Brohm begins his first season leading his alma mater. He will attempt to elevate of Cardinals program that has won nine games just twice since joining the league in 2014. Quarterback Jack Plummer followed Brohm from Purdue and he will have a nice receiver weapon to throw to in Georgia State transfer Jamari Thrash.

Georgia Tech (0-0, 0-0 ACC) pulled the plug on the Geoff Collins experiment early in the 2022 season and offensive line coach Brent Key was named interim head coach for the rest of the year. After leading Tech to a 4-4 record down the stretch, Key had the interim tag removed and was named the permanent head coach. The GT alum will be tasked with lifting his alma mater out of the basement of the ACC. Texas A&M transfer Haynes King will be GT’s starting quarterback in 2023.

SP+ Rankings

Louisville: 40 overall, 50 offense, 22 defense
Georgia Tech: 75 overall, 91 offense, 65 defense

Injury update

Louisville

DB MJ Griffin - Out for season (leg)

Georgia Tech

TE Brett Seither - Probable (back)
WR Leo Blackburn - Out for season (knee)

ATS/Total

Against The Spread in 2022

Louisville: 8-5 ATS
Georgia Tech: 6-6 ATS

Total in 2022

Louisville: Over 4-9
Georgia Tech: Over 4-7-1

Current lines at DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread: Louisville -7.5
Total: 49.5
Moneyline: Louisville -285, Georgia Tech +230

Opening line: Louisville -8.5
Opening total: 50.5

Weather

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a dome.

The Pick

Under 49.5

Both of these programs have a pair of first-year head coaches that will be roaming the sidelines in this opener and both will have transfer quarterbacks making the start. It’s going to take several weeks for both of these rosters to get in sync, so we can expect some sloppiness in this opener tonight. Even with Jeff Brohm teams being known for their explosive offenses, I’d still lean on the under hitting in Atlanta.