The 10 biggest games in college football this season w/ score predictions (247 Sports)

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Every week during the college football season, certain games swing and turn its trajectory, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. There are dozens of those turns every season. But here we look at the 10 games this year that look to be the best and most pivotal out of the 830 this upcoming regular season.

They include four marquee non-conference matchups and one that served as a de facto conference title game -- and may again this year. Three will be played at neutral sites. There are fierce rivalries and Top 10 matchups -- not mutually exclusive categories -- included in this list. All pit two of the country’s best teams against each other and are projected to be decided by one score, including five by less than three points.

Among the best games not listed here include Florida State-Louisville, Alabama-Auburn, Clemson-Auburn, Oklahoma-Texas, Ohio State-Penn State, Florida-LSU, Notre Dame-USC, Clemson-Virginia Tech, Penn State-Michigan, Auburn-Georgia, Miami-Virginia Tech, Miami-Notre Dame and Wisconsin-Michigan.

The projections used here are produced by the preseason model assigning every FBS team a rating based on how well they played last year and how much they have coming back this season. The two main criteria in selecting these games were the strengths of the two teams involved, as measured by their ratings in the preseason model, and how close the games were projected to be by that preseason model. Here they are:

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10. Oct. 28 -- Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)

Florida has won the last three installments of this rivalry by an average of 18.7 points per game, using the victory over Georgia to propel itself to the SEC title game in each of the last two years. The Gators, who have beaten the Bulldogs in 21 of the past 27 years, are hoping to make it three SEC East championships in a row. But they are projected to be a slight underdog against Georgia this year. The Bulldogs will be in their second year under head coach Kirby Smart and with Jacob Eason behind center. They also have Sony Michel and Nick Chubb back but face a Florida defense that ranked fifth in total defense in the country last year. It shouldn’t be as lopsided of a game this year.

Preseason projection: Georgia 27, Florida 23

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9. Sep. 2 -- Michigan vs. Florida (Arlington)

This is one of the best games of the opening weekend and of the entire regular season and is a re-match from the 2015 Citrus Bowl when the Wolverines pounded the Gators, 41-7. This one is projected to be much closer than that, with the preseason model projecting the Gators by a mere 1.3 points. Both teams got off to much better starts than the way they ended their seasons in 2016, with Florida going from 6-1 to 9-4 and Michigan losing three of its last four after a 8-1 start and each coming close to getting into the College Football Playoff.

Preseason projection: Florida 33, Michigan 32

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8. Sep. 9 -- Georgia at Notre Dame

After a dismal 4-8 season, the Fighting Irish are looking to bounce back in a big way in 2017. Hosting one of the SEC’s top teams in Georgia in Week 2 will be a great way to see if Notre Dame is for real this year. The Fighting Irish will be breaking in a new quarterback, Brandon Wimbush, who will be facing a Bulldogs defense that only allowed one player to pass for at least 300 yards in 2016, and only three others for 200 or more.

Preseason projection: Georgia 37, Notre Dame 35

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6. Oct. 14 -- Auburn at LSU

These two teams played one of the most memorable games of this past season, when LSU hit on a game-winning touchdown pass with no time left, only to have it overturned when replay revealed that LSU actually didn’t get the snap off in time. The Tigers are projected to play a game about as close again this year when it’s in Death Valley. Jarrett Stidham, if he wins Auburn’s starting quarterback job, will face an LSU defense that ranked 10th in total defense in 2016 and a running attack led by Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson will go up against an LSU defense that ranked 8th in yards per carry allowed last year. These are two preseason Top 10 teams and it should be another great game when they meet up this October.

Preseason projection: LSU 33, Auburn 28

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1. Sep. 2 -- Alabama vs. Florida State (Atlanta)

This was a no-brainer. Alabama is the perennial powerhouse taking the field for the first time since its heartbreaking one-point loss to Clemson in last year’s national title game, denying the Crimson Tide a second straight national title. They are the preseason model’s No. 1 team but Florida State is not far behind at No. 2, representing the biggest threat on Alabama’s regular season schedule. Both return their quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Deondre Francois after each had fantastic freshman seasons and, as always, should have two of the nation’s best defenses when they meet in Atlanta next month. Seventeen years after Nick Saban hired Jimbo Fisher as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU, where they won a national title in 2003, Fisher will try to do what no other Saban assistant has done -- beat his old boss as a head coach. Neither team’s Playoff hopes will be completely dashed if they lose this one, but the winner of this one will get a huge boost to their Playoff chances. Look for it to come down to the wire.

Preseason projection: Alabama 35, Florida State 30

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