Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Technically, this will be Week 2 of a very unusual college football season during a coronavirus pandemic and with the Big Ten and Pac-12 sitting out the fall. However, in reality it’s Week 1 because it’s the first time teams from one of the three Power 5 leagues – ACC, Big 12 and SEC (no schools from that league yet) – will take the field.

The first such school overall to play will be Miami of the ACC on Thursday night when the Hurricanes host UAB of Conference U.S.A. Miami will allow a limited number of fans at Hard Rock Stadium. Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz enters 2020 on a hot seat after UM hugely disappointed last year. Diaz does welcome two talented transfers, though, in quarterback D’Eriq King – a Heisman candidate – and defensive end Quincy Roche, a projected 2021 first-round NFL draft pick.

However, Diaz lost arguably the program’s most talented player, defensive end Gregory Rousseau, to an opt out. He was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Freshman All-America in 2019 with 15.5 sacks. UAB at least got a warm-up game, beating FCS school Central Arkansas 45-35 last Thursday. Miami is a 14-point favorite and on an 18-game home winning streak in September.