Predicting this week’s state, SEC and ACC winners

The college season got going in the state Thursday with several games, including Mercer and Fort Valley State, and the schedule heats up Saturday with a full slate of games around the state, the SEC and the ACC.

Here are my predictions for this weekend’s state, SEC and ACC games.

Appalachian State at Georgia: Kirby Smart’s team was this close to winning the SEC East title last year in his first season. Look for the Bulldogs to get over the hump this year, but they will have to work hard in this non-conference game in their opener. ... Georgia.

Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee (Monday, Mercedes-Benz Stadium): Yep, this is a tough one for Georgia Tech to open the season, and that was before the Yellow Jackets’ best offensive player (Dedrick Mills) was kicked off the team. But don’t count out the Yellow Jackets just yet. ... Georgia Tech.

Georgia Southern at Auburn: The Eagles will be improved in their second season with Tyson Summers as their head coach. But if the predictions about Auburn are correct, this will be a difficult opener for the Eagles. ... Auburn.

Other SEC games

Florida State over Alabama

Michigan over Florida

Kentucky over Southern Miss

LSU over BYU

Mississippi over South Alabama

Mississippi State over Charleston Southern

Missouri over Missouri State

N.C. State over South Carolina

Vanderbilt over Middle Tennessee

Texas A&M over UCLA

Other ACC games

Clemson over Kent State

Duke over N.C. Central

Louisville over Purdue

Miami over Bethune-Cookman

North Carolina over California

Pittsburgh over Youngstown State

Virginia over William & Mary

Virginia Tech over West Virginia

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Predicting this week’s state, SEC and ACC winners."