Misses from Week 0
Week 0 is in the books, with most games playing out as expected. My predictions from week 0 are here. I went 6 for 7 in Week 0 with my only miss being Massachusetts over New Mexico State. Don Brown’s Minutemen came up big on defense when it needed to, with a pick-six in the fourth quarter.
As a Michigan fan, it grew more difficult to trust Don Brown’s scheme especially as it kept getting beat on crossing routes against Ohio State while he was Michigan’s defensive coordinator. An interesting pattern from his last year at Michigan is that as Michigan’s season went on, it gave up more points with each game until holding off Rutgers in triple overtime. Points allowed that season by Michigan per game were 24, 27, 38, 49, 42, and 27.
I also underestimated how more level the playing field is among most of the teams that played in week 0 than I actually thought it was. In the games not featuring a ranked team, four of the five were decided by one possession. Ironically, or, un-ironically, the the one I missed among unranked teams was the one that wasn’t decided by one possession. And I predicted it would not be a one-possession game.
Previewing Week 1
One notable game this week will feature two teams ranked in the top 10, though I expect most games featuring highly ranked teams expect to be easy victories.
Predictions for Week 1
Before going onto the predictions, I will note here that the AP Poll rankings will not change from week 0 to week 1, and the next set of rankings will not be released until after the last game on Labor Day night (September 4).
August 31 (11 games)
Wake Forest def. Elon, 41-3 (Actual: WFU 37, ELON 17)
UCF def. Kent State, 49-21 (Actual: UCF 56, KENT 6)
Georgia State def. Rhode Island, 45-10 (Actual: GAST 42, URI 35)
Western Michigan def. St. Francis (PA), 47-12 (Actual: WMU 35, SFPA 17)
NC State def. UConn, 45-21 (Actual: NCST 24, CONN 14)
14) Utah def. Florida, 36-31 (Actual: UTAH 24, FLA 11)
Minnesota def. Nebraska, 34-24 (Actual: MINN 13, NEB 10)
Missouri def. South Dakota, 42-14 (Actual: MIZZ 35, SDAK 10)
Tulsa def. Arkansas Pine-Bluff, 55-20 (Actual: TLSA 42, ARPB 7)
UAB def. North Carolina A&T, 46-14 (Actual: UAB 35, NCAT 6)
Arizona State def. Southern Utah, 51-7
September 1 (6 games)
Eastern Michigan def. Howard, 38-7
Michigan State def. Central Michigan, 35-21
Miami (FL) def. Miami (OH), 36-20
Louisville def. Georgia Tech, 35-24
Kansas def. Missouri State, 48-10
Hawaii def. Stanford, 37-34
September 2 (65 games)
2) Michigan def. East Carolina, 52-10
12) Tennessee def. Virginia, 45-24
17) TCU def. Colorado, 51-14
20) Oklahoma def. Arkansas State, 48-13
25) Iowa def. Utah State, 42-7
Kentucky def. Ball State, 38-10
Liberty def. Bowling Green, 37-24
Fresno State def. Purdue, 34-28
SMU def. Louisiana Tech, 40-28
Boston College def. Northern Illinois, 35-17
Ohio def. Long Island University, 34-10
Air Force def. Robert Morris, 35-7
22) Ole Miss def. Mercer, 45-17
Jacksonville State def. East Tennessee State, 37-14
Northern Iowa def. Iowa State, 27-23
Temple def. Akron, 35-27
15) Oregon def. Portland State, 49-3
3) Ohio State def. Indiana, 55-10
10) Washington def. Boise State, 41-14
11) Texas def. Rice, 45-10
13) Notre Dame def. Tennessee State, 51-7
19) Wisconsin def. Buffalo, 37-7
Auburn def. UMass, 38-13
Maryland def. Towson, 48-17
Pittsburgh def. Wofford, 44-10
Cincinnati def. Eastern Kentucky, 43-7
Appalachian State def. Gardner-Webb, 48-20
Arkansas def. Western Carolina, 52-13
Mississippi State def. Southeast Louisiana, 46-10
California def. North Texas, 38-17
Syracuse def. Colgate, 41-17
UNLV def. Bryant, 48-24
1) Georgia def. UT Martin, 56-3
Charlotte def. South Carolina State, 33-19
Florida Atlantic def. Monmouth, 42-14
Georgia Southern def. The Citadel, 37-33
James Madison def. Bucknell, 34-29
Marshall def. U-Albany, 43-20
6) USC def. Nevada, 63-17
Florida International def. Maine, 39-16
16) Kansas State def. Southeast Missouri State, 50-10
23) Texas A&M def. New Mexico, 45-7
Army def. UL Monroe, 34-17
Vanderbilt def. Alabama A&M, 45-24
Washington State def. Colorado State, 34-27
Baylor def. Texas State, 38-14
Houston def. UTSA, 30-23
Oklahoma State def. Central Arkansas, 45-16
Memphis def. Bethune-Cookman, 48-14
Alcorn State def. Southern Mississippi, 33-27
Troy def. Stephen F. Austin, 39-17
4) Alabama def. Middle Tennessee, 47-7
7) Penn State def. West Virginia, 38-17
South Carolina def. 21) North Carolina, 38-34
Illinois def. Toledo, 41-17
Texas Tech def. Wyoming, 38-28
24) Tulane def. South Alabama, 43-22
Virginia Tech def. Old Dominion, 37-14
Louisiana def. Northwestern State, 41-23
New Mexico State def. Western Illinois, 33-24
UTEP def. Incarnate Word, 29-7
Arizona def. Northern Arizona, 44-14
BYU def. Sam Houston State, 48-12
UCLA def. Coastal Carolina, 42-31
San Diego State def. Idaho State, 37-21
September 3 (3 games)
Rutgers def. Northwestern, 31-17
18) Oregon State def. San José State, 38-26
8) Florida State def. 5) LSU, 41-38
September 4 (1 game)
9) Clemson def. Duke, 45-14
College Football Prediction Central with Paul Shen 