College Football Challenge Picks-Week 1 with Group Invitation

Nov 26, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley (7) takes the snap from center Khaled Holmes (78) against the UCLA Bruins at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated UCLA 50-0. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

It’s time for College Football’s kickoff week and weekend! There’s sure to be some awesome games this weekend as several top teams face each other and other’s face tough tests on the road. We’ll take a look at the top ten matchups of Saturday tomorrow in our Pick’Em Post, but today we’re actually more interested in the lopsided matchups of the coming weekend.

Throughout the season, Fantasy CPR will cover the ESPN mini-game College Football Challenge. We’d love to have you join our group with the editors and fans from around the FanSided network. Follow this link or create your entry on ESPN and join the public group Fantasy CPR. It’s free to play, so invite anyone you want and hopefully we can get a good-size competitive group going.

The first week it’s mainly about picking the players who will rack up the touchdowns against easier opponents. There’s no adjustment for quality of opponent so grab the guys with cupcake matchups. The only tricky part is making sure they don’t spend the game on the bench after their team runs out to a 40 point lead. Let me know what picks your making in the comments section at the bottom of the page or contact me on twitter @FantasyCPR and let me know what players from your college team is going to light it up this week.

Here’s my picks for this weekend:

Jan 4, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) celebrates after the Mountaineers scored a touchdown during the third quarter of the 2012 Orange Bowl game against the Clemson Tigers at Sun Life Stadium. Mountaineers won 70 to 33. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-US PRESSWIRE

Quarterbacks

Matt Barkley-USC: The Trojans get things started against visiting Hawaii. Hawaii gave up 29 points a game last year and USC will look to show why they’re the #1 team by piling on against their Polynesian guests.

Geno Smith-WVU: If you watched the Orange Bowl where the Mountaineers dismantled Clemson, you know Smith has the talent to tear up Big 12 defenses this season. He’ll start with a Conference USA defense as the Thundering Herd rolls into Morgantown to kickoff the season.

Running Backs

Dec 3, 2011; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys running back Joseph Randle (1) runs with the ball prior to the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Joseph Randle-OSU: Randle is all that’s left of the “big 3″ for the Cowboys after Brandon Wheeden and Justin Blackmon in the NFL Draft. The Cowboys will rely even more on Randle this year after he put up 1,216 yards and 24 TDs last year. Oklahoma State opens by hosting Savannah State who went 1-10 last year in the MEAC. Should be a solid opener…

Stepfan Taylor-Stanford: Taylor will now be the focus of the offense with Andrew Luck in Indianapolis. He ran for 1153 yards and eight TDs last year. He and Stanford open at home against San Jose State.

Wide Receivers

Robert Woods-USC: Woods appears to be fully healthy and showed flashes of brilliance last year. I expect him and Barkley to shred Hawaii in the opener.

Kenny Stills- Oklahoma: Stills and the Sooners open on the road (a rarity for a top team) as they travel to El Paso to face UTEP. Stills will look to become the #1 WR this season with Ryan Broyles playing on Sunday’s. He was second on the team last year with 818 yards and eight TDs. Landry Jones and he should have the chemistry needed to get OU back in the top five in passing offense like they were last season.

Kicker/Denfense

Oregon TK: Oregon’s “blur” offense always results in points but they’ll be breaking in new players against Arkansas State. They should still be able to put major points on the board with all the offensive talent the ducks have.

Oklahoma St Team Defense: Savannah State isn’t very good (1-10 in MEAC) and at home the Cowboys defense will try and show the same form that helped them dominate Oklahoma last year in Bedlam and edge out Luck’s Stanford team in OT in the Fiesta Bowl.