As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Iowa @ Iowa State (“¡El Assico!”; FOX): This particular edition features a lot of questions for both teams. On a basic level, I have no idea who’s going to win. That said, it can’t be especially common that its the Cyclones coming in ranked, right? And it’s in Ames. Let’s go with the ‘clones here.
• San Jose State @ Texas (ABC): Texas, by a lot.
• Illinois @ Duke (ESPN): I just don’t really believe in Duke. Going with the Illini.
• Virginia @ North Carolina State (ESPN2): Obligatory: this is not a conference game. With that out of the way, let’s also talk about both of these teams being a little bit on the struggle bus this season. I don’t know who is on the bus more, but I generally assume that’s UVA, so I’ll stick with that here.
• Baylor @ Southern Methodist (The CW): I like the Bears here.
• Kent State @ Texas Tech (TNT): Texas Tech.
• Kennesaw State @ Indiana (FS1): Hoosier.
• Florida International @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State.
• Northwestern State @ Minnesota (BTN)
• Central Michigan @ Pittsburgh (EPSNU): Pitt.
• East Texas A&M @ Florida State (ACCN)
• Liberty @ Jacksonville State (CBSS): Oh this one is probably worth talking about it, but then that means I have to think about Liberty more than I’d prefer. Let’s go Cocks.
• Connecticut @ Syracuse (ACCNX): ‘Cuse.

12:45: Utah State @ Texas A&M (SEC): Aggies. Er, the Texas ones.

2:00:

• Western Carolina @ Wake Forest (ACCNX)
• Howard @ Temple (ESPN+)

3:00: Idaho State @ New Mexico (MWN)

3:30:

• Mississippi @ Kentucky (ABC): There’s no university where Kentucky wins, this, right? I’m not sure there’s more of a “fall from grace” or “stayed too long” story in college football right now that’s worse than what’s going with Mark Stoops and Kentucky.
• Delaware @ Colorado (FOX): Fortunately for Deion, his clock management skills will not be in question in this game, as well as the arguably bigger issue of somehow losing a game that his team had a +3 turnover margin in.
• Oklahoma State @ Oregon (CBS): Apparently there was a bit of a spat between the coaches involved here, but the main thing I saw is that Mike Gundy lifted his shirt during his press conference? Things seem great in Stillwater. Ducks romp here.
• Kansas @ Missouri (“Border War”; ESPN2): Though it’d still be more morally correct for this to be in November, this game is back on the schedule for a bit and I’m here for it. As for who’s going to win, uh, no clue! At least in this case, I think that’ll make it fun. I’ll take the Tigers.
• Fresno State @ Oregon State (The CW): I’m having a hard time judging this one and I’m not sure where to land on it. I think I like the Beavers at home? This could be a secretly fun one to watch.
• Grambling State @ Ohio State (BTN)
• Troy @ Clemson (ACCN): Tigers. Oh, also, the rest of this is going to be a lightning round (with some exceptions). Next!
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Navy (CBSS): Navy! Like, by a lot.
• Miami @ Rutgers (Peacock)
• Gardner-Webb @ Georgia Tech (ACCNX): Okay, so last week was an excellent start. It’s always good to overcome a -3 turnover margin against a P4 team. That said, we also obviously have some things to clean up. And frankly, if Haynes King is still taking hits in the second half of this game something has gone drastically wrong. I love running the quarterback, and I enjoy his toughness, but we have to figure out how he can take less hits in a 12+ game season.
• East Tennessee State @ Tennessee (ESPN+)
• Austin Peay @ Georgia (ESPN+)
• Saint Francis @ Buffalo (ESPN+)
• Texas State @ Texas-San Antonio (ESPN+)
• Bowling Green @ Cincinnati (ESPN+)
• Bryant @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)
• Lindenwood @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)
• North Texas @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Middle Tennessee State @ Wisconsin (FS1): Wisky!
• West Virginia @ Ohio (ESPNU): ‘Neers!

4:15: South Florida @ Florida (SEC): Florida?

5:00:

• Sacramento State @ Nevada (MWN)
• Arkansas State @ Arkansas (@Little Rock, AR; ESPN+): Just a quick note that this is the first ever meeting between these two teams.
• Jackson State @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN+)

6:00:

• Texas Southern @ California (ACCNX)
• North Carolina Central @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)
• Missouri State @ Marshall (ESPN+)
• California Polytechnic @ Utah (ESPN+)
• Florida A&M @ Florida Atlantic (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Army @ Kansas State (ESPN): K-State!
• Northern Colorado @ Colorado State (MWN)
• Bethune-Cookman @ Miami (ACCNX)
• South Carolina State @ South Carolina (ESPN+)
• Houston @ Rice (ESPN+)
• North Carolina A&T @ Central Florida (ESPN+)
• Tulane @ South Alabama (ESPN+)
• Western Kentucky @ Toledo (ESPN+)
• Memphis @ Georgia State (ESPN+)
• Long Island @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)
• North Carolina @ Charlotte (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Michigan @ Oklahoma (ABC): This is probably the game of the day, but I’m coming down on the side of “Brent Venenables will know how to confuse a freshman QB”.
• Boston College @ Michigan State (NBC): Sparty.
• Arizona State @ Mississippi State (ESPN2): I’m considering Arizona State here.
• Georgia Southern @ Southern California (FS1): USC.
• Southern Illinois @ Purdue (BTN)
• Akron @ Nebraska (BTN): Huskers.
• Ball State @ Auburn (ESPNU): Tigers.
• Vanderbilt @ Virginia Tech (ACCN): Vandy?
• Louisiana Tech @ Louisiana State (ESPN+)
• Charleston Southern @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)

7:45: Louisiana-Monroe @ Alabama (SEC): Jokes aside, uh, Bama? Probably? My point is that I have been saying for years that I remember when Bama was bad, and that it isn’t Manifest Destiny for the Tide to be national title contenders. I remember when they lost to ULM the last time. Will this time? No. But the point remains the fact we even have to discuss this means that DeBoer needs to figure out how to right the ship, and quick. (Note: I don’t mind this turmoil at all.)

8:00:

• California-Los Angeles @ Nevada-Las Vegas (CBSS): UCLA?
• McNeese @ Louisiana (ESPN+)

9:00:

• Tennessee-Martin @ Texas-El Paso (ESPN+)
• Tulsa @ New Mexico State (ESPN+)

10:00: Weber State @ Arizona (ESPN+)

10:15:

• Stanford @ Brigham Young (ESPN): BYU!
• San Diego State @ Washington State (The CW): Wazzu?

11:00: California-Davis @ Washington (BTN)

Midnight: Sam Houston State @ Hawaii (Spectrum)

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.

 

 

 

Welcome to the traditional opener before the opener. The usual out-of-conference scheduling review is nearly ready and will go up early next week. In the meantime, enjoy this this curated selection of pre-Week 1 games.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon: Iowa State vs. Kansas State (“Farmageddon” @ Dublin, Ireland; ESPN): We’re starting off with a probable banger. Naturally, we enjoyed last year’s Ireland game, but as far as exporting a rivalry goes I’m not sure they could’ve done much better. That said, I like K-State a lot here.

6:30: Fresno State @ Kansas (FOX): The Sunflower State is well represented in Week 0, with KU hosting the usually frisky Bulldogs. It’ll be interesting to see if KU and QB Jalon Daniels have their mojo back after a disappointing, injury filled 2024. If they do, then this one sets up pretty good for KU.

7:00: Sam Houston State @ Western Kentucky (CBSS): The earlier games are likely to be a lot more fun than the later games. Unfortunately here WKU is still one of the better CUSA teams and SHSU is… not.

7:30: Stanford @ Hawaii (CBS): Stanford is likely to be the worst P4 team this season (it’s a close competition with Northwestern), so this figures to be their “bowl game” essentially. Also, Hawaii is also kinda turbo-bad, so it may also be the Cardinal’s best chance at a win.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

9:00: Idaho @ Montana State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN)

Saturday

Noon:

• Incarnate Word @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN)
• South Carolina State vs. Jackson State (Celebration Bowl @ Atlanta, GA; ABC)

3:00:

• Army vs. Navy (@Landover, MD; CBS): Welcome to a rare instance of this game where both teams are good. To me, that says that there’s a fair chance there might actually be multiple touchdowns scored! While this doesn’t seem to matter a lot in this game, this should be Army’s game to lose. Their offense is hitting on all cylinders and the AAC champs should retain the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
• California-Davis @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN+)

3:30: Mercer @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ABC)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

7:00: Sam Houston State @ Jacksonville State (C-USA Championship; CBSS): Rich Rod might turn this Jax State thing into getting the West Virginia job again. Stranger things have happened.

8:00:

• Tulane @ Army (American Athletic Conference Championship; ABC): There’s a couple things in Army’s favor here. The main thing is that this is probably the biggest home game at Michie Stadium in decades, if not ever. And on that point, it’s going to be cold in West Point tomorrow night. Tulane is rolling in from New Orleans with a bunch of southern boys who are used to running a fluid offense. That said, while Army’s offense is always a talent neutralizer, Tulane’s athletes will just be on a different level. Not as big of a gap as the Knights faced against Notre Dame, but a gap nonetheless. I like the Wave here.
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Boise State (Mountain West Conference Championship; FOX): Boise already did it once down in Vegas. With a game in the cold confines of the blue turf, I like Boise to prevail again.

Saturday

Noon:

• Arizona State vs. Iowa State (Big 12 Conference Championship @ Arlington, TX; ABC): It’s a bit of a shame this is an early game (kicking at 11am local time, even!) as this might be the best game all day. They’re certainly very evenly matched, and this is also a very “styles make fights” type game, with the relative “meat and potatoes” Cyclones and the flashy Sun Devils. I like the Cyclones, but this is seriously a coin flip on a day that’s going to be full of coin flips.
• Ohio vs. Miami (Mid-American Conference Championship @ Detroit, MI; ESPN): Speaking of which, we have two trends facing off here. Ohio is 0-5 all-time in the MAC championship, and Miami is trying to become the first team to repeat as MAC champs since Northern Illinois did it in 2011 and 2012. So who do we like here? As with most games today, this is going to be pretty even, so while I didn’t literally flip a coin this time, I’m going with the Bobcats.

2:00:

• Southern @ Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship; ESPN2)
• Montana @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Villanova @ Incarnate Word (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Rhode Island @ Mercer (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

3:00:

• Tarleton State @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Tennessee-Martin @ Montana State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Abilene Christian @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

4:00:

• Texas vs. Georgia (Southeastern Conference Championship @ Atlanta, GA; ABC): A quick comment about last weekend. With Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate being on more or less unopposed in primetime on Black Friday, I got the sense that there were a lot of people watching it for the first time. Take it from me, someone who has been watching this game with intent every season it’s happened since 2003: it is always like that.
  So anyway, this game. It’s another rematch, but these are different teams than the last time they met. Texas has discovered the run game, and they’re the ones coming into the game with the defense that scares you. Yeah, Georgia won last Friday, but the dominate theme of the evening until like 5 minutes left the game was this Georgia team is soft. Carson Beck had a significantly better second half, but he had plenty of poor throws and even when the throws were good, his receivers dropped them. Suffice it to say, Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers are not walking out of the tunnel at the Benz on Saturday. Texas is the team with the dudes and the motivation to go out and seize the day. Maybe I’m over-indexing on how their rivalry games went, but the Horns were in Kyle Field for the first time since 2011. There were 109,000+ people there who paid a month’s rent or more to show those snooty Austin urbanites who’s the real Texas SEC team, and the Horns just completely suffocated them. Suffice it to say, I think they can do the same thing in the Benz.
• Illinois State @ California-Davis (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

7:30: Marshall @ Louisiana (Sun Belt Conference Championship; ESPN): I think the Cajuns are just too good in this one.

8:00:

• Clemson vs. Southern Methodist (Atlantic Coast Conference Championship @ Charlotte, NC; ABC): There’s really only one of two ways this is going to go. The first is: SMU really is that good, and they just run and pass all over Clemson and it’s over early. The other is that SMU has had a really soft schedule and lost to the by far best team they’ve played (BYU), and Clemson, while not great, is just a step above SMU and they win easily. The problem is, I watched Clemson-South Carolina and I still don’t know even with better players if Clemson is going to score enough. I like SMU.
• Pennsylvania State vs. Oregon (Big Ten Conference Championship @ Indianapolis, IN; CBS): This is the easiest game to predict. Penn State will play well, they won’t shoot themselves in the foot, but Oregon will take a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter, the Nittany Lions will kick a field goal, and then Oregon will win. It’s destiny.

9:00: Lehigh @ Idaho (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)