The 2023 USFL season begins on Saturday with an intriguing matchup at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The Philadelphia Stars visit the Memphis Showboats to kick off a weekend that includes four USFL matchups. Philadelphia reached the title game last season, while Memphis is in its first year after taking over for the Tampa Bay Bandits.

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET. Philadelphia is a 2.5-point favorite in the latest Stars vs. Showboats odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 39.5. Before you make any Stars vs. Showboats picks or USFL predictions of your own, you need to hear what pro football expert Emory Hunt has to say.

Hunt is the founder and CEO of Football Gameplan, which has been supplying analysis of all levels of football since 2007. He is a former running back for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and knows the game from a player's perspective. Hunt's dedication to analysis of all levels of college and professional football helped him start the USFL season 24-18 last year and he's also off to a fast 21-11 start on his XFL spread picks this season. 

Hunt knows Philadelphia was excellent last season. Part of that was a dynamic passing game behind Case Cookus, and the Stars add an NFL-caliber player in Corey Coleman on the outside. The Stars also have Channing Stribling in the secondary, who led the USFL with seven interceptions. Hunt also knows Memphis allowed fewer than 300 total yards per game in Tampa Bay last season. That includes the third-best passing defense in the league, and the Showboats racked up 21 sacks while allowing only 19.1 points per game.

Now, Hunter has locked in another confident against-the-spread pick for Stars vs. Showboats. We can tell you he's leaning Over on the point total, but he knows a crucial X-factor makes one side of the spread a MUST-BACK! You ABSOLUTELY need to see what it is before locking in any picks of your own.

Who wins Stars vs. Showboats? And what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see which side of the Stars vs. Showboats spread to jump on, all from a red-hot football expert.