As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.
Saturday
Noon:
- Syracuse vs. Tennessee (@Atlanta, GA; ABC): This game is first on the list, but that’s more of a reflection of “ABC” coming first in alphabetical order than the importance of this game. The Vols should roll.
- Texas @ Ohio State (FOX): Whoa nellie! In what almost has to be the biggest Week 1 game in the recent history of college football (in that, you wouldn’t be crazy to pencil these teams in for the playoff final) both teams actually enter with a lot of questions. The hype, of course, centers around new Texas starter Arch Manning. (You may have heard of him and his famous uncles and grandfather.) Ohio State also has a new quarterback: Julian Sayin. (I will try to refrain from “sayin'” jokes. Promise.) Unlike the Longhorns, Ohio State has a proven quantity in Jeremiah Smith, and at any rate the Buckeyes seem to produce wide receivers as though they grow on the trees in central Ohio.
So any rate, who’s going to win this game? I don’t know, y’all. This should be a hell of a game, I can say that for sure. I’ll take the Buckeyes at home. - Mississippi State @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN): Remember that thing last winter were Marshall didn’t have a coach and enough players to field a team for a bowl game? Yeah, so a lot of them wound up in Hattiesburg, and the visiting Bulldogs are going to see what they’re made of. I mean, Marshall was pretty good last year, but I Miss State isn’t the sort of bad that really makes me think they’re going to drop this.
- Ball State @ Purdue (BTN): Meanwhile, I would definitely take Marshall, er, Southern Miss over Purdue, which a team that will be contending with Stanford for most of this season for the title of “worst team in the Power 4”. Fortunately for the Boilermakers, they get Ball State week 1, so their fate is somewhat spared.
- Florida Atlantic @ Maryland (BTN): The Terps should be fine here.
- Northwestern @ Tulane (ESPNU): Oh, right, add Northwestern to that list with Purdue and Stanford. I completely favor Tulane here.
- Duquense @ Pittsburgh (ACCN)
- Virginia Military @ Navy (CBSS)
- Merrimack @ Kent State (ESPN+)
12:45: Toledo @ Kentucky (SEC): Hugh Freeze’s seat is pretty hot, but it’s not looking good for ol’ Mark Stoops in Lexington. They should still win this one, but Toledo is consistently the MAC’s friskiest (and most talented) team and could well give them more than just a scare.
2:00:
- Fordham @ Boston College (ACCNX/ESPN+)
- Robert Morris @ West Virginia (ESPN+)
2:30: Old Dominion @ Indiana (FS1)
3:00: Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville (ACCN)
3:30:
- Nevada @ Pennsylvania State (CBS): My grand prediction for the 2025 regular season is that James Franklin will finally get over the hump and beat Ohio State, and then drop one of their remaining regular season games in November. Suffice it to say, the Nittany Lions have nothing to worry about here.
- South Dakota @ Iowa State (FOX)
- Alabama @ Florida State (ABC): Florida State is probably going to win more games this year, heck, I’ll say that they’ll even get above 0.500. But… they’re not going to win this one.
- Marshall @ Georgia (ESPN): This is certainly a way to ease into the season.
- Bucknell @ Air Force (CBSS)
- Holy Cross @ Northern Illinois (ESPN+)
- Temple @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)
4:00:
- Montana State @ Oregon (BTN): Hey, remember that thing Oregon did last season where they let Idaho hang out for an uncomfortably long time? Well, it could happen again here.
- Maine @ Liberty (ESPN+)
4:30: Tennessee-Chattanooga @ Memphis (ESPN+)
6:00:
- UAlbany @ Iowa (FS1)
- Coastal Carolina @ Virginia (ACCN): I mean, UVA should be a heavy favorite here, but, woof. I can’t predict the upset but I wouldn’t be surprised.
- Illinois State @ Oklahoma (ESPN+)
- Weber State @ James Madison (ESPN+)
7:00:
- Texas-San Antonio @ Texas A&M (ESPN): You know UTSA will be up for this one, but I don’t think it’ll matter much.
- Long Island @ Florida (ESPN+)
- Charleston Southern @ Vanderbilt (ESPN+)
- Southeast Missouri State @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)
- Morgan State @ South Alabama (ESPN+)
- Nicholls State @ Troy (ESPN+)
- Austin Peay @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPN+)
- North Alabama @ Western Kentucky (ESPN+)
- North Dakota @ Kansas State (ESPN+)
7:30:
- New Mexico @ Michigan (NBC): Michigan has a ton of questions, but not a lot will be asked of them here.
- Louisiana State @ Clemson (ABC): One of the other huge games of the day. For LSU, the question is whether Brian Kelly will finally figure it out. For Clemson, the question is whether Dabo has finally put together a competitive roster in the post-NIL world. For my money, I think the latter is more likely.
- Missouri State @ Southern California (BTN)
- Texas-El Paso @ Utah State (CBSS): What the heck, let’s go Miners.
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Texas Tech (ESPN+)
- Southeastern Louisiana @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN+)
7:45: Georgia State @ Mississippi (SEC): This will be a walk over for the Fightin’ Kiffins.
8:00:
- Portland State @ Brigham Young (ESPN+)
- Rice @ Louisiana (ESPN+)
- Lamar @ North Texas (ESPN+)
- Eastern Michigan @ Texas State (ESPN+)
- Abilene Christian @ Tulsa (ESPN+)
9:00:
- East Texas A&M @ Southern Methodist (ACCN)
- Bryant @ New Mexico State (ESPN+)
9:30: Georgia Southern @ Fresno State (FS1): We love to see this sort of intersectional game, that’s what the early part of the season is about. I like Fresno here.
10:00:
- Idaho @ Washington State (The CW)
- Northern Arizona @ Arizona State (ESPN+)
- California-Davis @ Utah Tech (ESPN+)
10:30:
- California @ Oregon State (ESPN): Cal lost all of their running backs, and then some, to the portal. Oregon State has had a year to recover, so I like them in one of the two Pac-12 After Dark revivals here.
- Hawaii @ Arizona (TNT): Hawaii beat Stanford last week, yeah, but Zona all the way here.
11:00:
- Utah @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): There are a ton of question marks for both teams (hey, what else is new in Week 1?) but I tend to prefer the “Kyle Whittingham’s Last Ride” narrative, so let’s go with that.
- Colorado State @ Washington (BTN): The Huskies shouldn’t have any issues with this one.
Sunday
3:00: South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (@Atlanta, GA; ESPN): There’s questions a-plenty here, but they’re all almost of the Hokies. Such as: will Brent Pry still be the coach in November? Not a great start.
7:30: Notre Dame @ Miami (ABC): I’m bullish on the Irish this year, and while I’d prefer Mario save the annual Clock Commander incident for later in the season, well, there’s no time like the present.
Monday
8:00: Texas Christian @ North Carolina (ESPN): And finally, we get to… whatever the heck is going on here. I won’t be the first person to note that TCU seems to have a knack for gimmick openers (as they were also Coach Prime’s first matchup). Unlike that time, though, I don’t think they lose this one. I just have a feeling something is going to wrong for Belichick that just would never happen in the NFL and he, and his staff of mostly lackeys, won’t know what to do.