Alas, the season is finally here.
I can’t remember when week 0 became a thing, though I believe it was 2019 when Miami debuted with head coach Manny Diaz in an in-state rivalry between the Hurricanes and the Florida Gators. In fact, Week 0 this year will be the 5-year anniversary of that game between Miami and Florida and it will feature two ACC teams again with Georgia Tech and Florida State.
It was the first year after the controversy around waivers to bypass sitting out for transfers, when Shea Patterson was allowed to play for Michigan after leaving Ole Miss, burning his redshirt in 2016 and starting in 2017 after Chad Kelly departed Oxford. Additionally odd was a quarterback wearing a number in the 20’s (Patterson wore 20 at Ole Miss), though this would later be done by Richard Lagow (21) at Indiana and Devin Brown (33) at Ohio State.
Following the success of a waiver for Shea Patterson, two more players followed suit, with redshirt sophomore Tate Martell leaving Ohio State for Miami (FL), preceded by Justin Fields, a true sophomore, leaving Georgia for Ohio State. These three situations prompted the creation of the transfer portal, if it didn’t exist already after the 2017 season ended.
One correction from my previous post is that the rankings that were released prior to that post were the Coaches poll and not the AP poll. While not too different, there is some disparity based on the voters not being coaches (hence ‘Coaches Poll’).
For those who paid attention to my posts last season, my straight-up prediction success rate was .737 (661 of 897 games picked). Because I indicate score picks too, it is possible to compare against the spread as well.
As I read the schedule for weeks 0 and 1, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one team play the first game in one week and the last game in the following week. Florida State opens week 0 and will play on Labor Day to end week 1.
Without further ado…
Week 0 (4 games):
10) Florida State def. Georgia Tech, 38-14
Montana State def. New Mexico, 34-20
SMU def. Nevada, 41-13
Hawaii def. Delaware State, 44-10
Week 1
August 29 (21 games):
Rutgers def. Howard, 38-3
24) NC State def. Western Carolina, 49-14
Wake Forest def. North Carolina A&T, 41-7
UCF def. New Hampshire, 48-10
Jackson State def. UL Monroe, 33-27
Lafayette def. Buffalo, 31-24
Bowling Green def. Fordham, 42-7
Central Michigan def. Central Connecticut, 37-6
Arkansas def. Arkansas Pine-Bluff, 42-10
Toledo def. Duquesne, 52-14
11) Missouri def. Murray State, 35-6
22) Kansas def. Lindenwood, 45-13
Minnesota def. North Carolina, 27-23
North Dakota State def. Colorado, 45-38
Jacksonville State def. Coastal Carolina, 39-34
UAB def. Alcorn State, 34-20
Tulane def. Southeast Louisiana, 37-10
Tulsa def Northwestern State, 51-14
12) Utah def. Southern Utah, 48-13
Illinois def. Eastern Illinois, 42-6
San José State def. Sacramento State, 44-10
August 30 (6 games):
Army def. Lehigh, 28-7
16) Oklahoma def. Temple, 59-10
Michigan State def. Florida Atlantic, 42-7
Duke def. Elon, 35-6
Wisconsin def. Western Michigan, 41-17
TCU def. Stanford, 45-31
August 31 (67 games):
1) Georgia def. 14) Clemson, 33-23
8) Penn State def. West Virginia, 35-17
25) Iowa def. Illinois State, 38-7
Virginia Tech def. Vanderbilt, 45-10
Maryland def. UConn, 41-17
Louisville def. Austin Peay, 55-3
Purdue def. Indiana State, 52-7
Pitt def. Kent State, 49-10
Navy def. Bucknell, 42-3
15) Tennessee def. Chattanooga, 52-7
17) Oklahoma State def. South Dakota State, 38-17
Cincinnati def. Towson, 42-14
Washington State def. Portland State, 59-7
2) Ohio State def. Akron, 55-3
4) Texas def. Colorado State, 52-6
Florida def. 19) Miami, 27-24
Indiana def. Florida International, 38-13
Nebraska def. UTEP, 48-10
Eastern Michigan def. Massachusetts, 28-24
Appalachian State def. East Tennessee State, 50-7
Iowa State def. North Dakota, 44-7
Syracuse def. Ohio, 37-21
UTSA def. Kennesaw State, 38-10
Air Force def. Merrimack, 42-7
Northwestern def. Miami (OH), 30-24
Northern Illinois def. Western Illinois, 41-13
Boise State def. Georgia Southern, 35-21
South Carolina def. Old Dominion, 41-20
Marshall def. Stony Brook, 47-7
California def. UC Davis, 52-13
South Alabama def. North Texas, 34-27
Mississippi State def. Eastern Kentucky, 36-14
Liberty def. Campbell, 41-10
Virginia def. Richmond, 48-9
East Carolina def. Norfolk State, 30-3
Oregon State def. Idaho State, 43-10
5) Alabama def. Western Kentucky, 45-7
6) Ole Miss def. Furman, 55-10
18) Kansas State def. UT Martin, 48-14
Arkansas State def. Central Arkansas, 46-11
South Florida def. Bethune-Cookman, 54-13
Baylor def. Tarleton State, 49-7
UNLV def. Houston, 31-26
Middle Tennessee def. Tennessee Tech, 39-27
Rice def. Sam Houston State, 35-21
Troy def. Nevada, 32-18
Memphis def. North Alabama, 41-17
3) Oregon def. Idaho, 52-3
7) Notre Dame def. 20) Texas A&M, 30-27
9) Michigan def. Fresno State, 45-6
Auburn def. Alabama A&M, 49-7
UCLA def. Hawaii, 41-20
Texas Tech def. Abilene Christian, 52-3
Kentucky def. Southern Miss, 41-10
BYU def. Southern Illinois, 33-0
Georgia Tech def. Georgia State, 38-7
SMU def. Houston Christian, 44-9
Louisiana def. Grambling, 42-7
Louisiana Tech def. Nicholls, 45-10
San Diego State def. Texas Commerce, 47-7
Utah State def. Robert Morris, 43-13
James Madison def. Charlotte, 27-20
Texas State def. Lamar, 34-8
New Mexico State def. Southeast Missouri State, 41-3
21) Arizona def. New Mexico, 44-11
Arizona State def. Wyoming, 39-14
Washington def. Weber State, 40-17
September 1 (1 game):
13) LSU def. 23) USC, 35-24
September 2 (1 game):
10) Florida State def. Boston College, 42-13
With 130 teams in the FBS, at a minimum there would be 65 games to predict each week. In this case, week 1 alone has 96 games, with 4 more from week 0 to make 100 total. This might already be a make-or-break week as far as how I do for the season.
If all of my predictions are correct across weeks 0 and 1, my opinion is that the biggest / best win would be Notre Dame over Texas A&M, and the worst loss would be North Dakota State over Colorado. Texas A&M lost when Gameday came the week they hosted a playoff team (Clemson, 2018), so call the shot now that if Notre Dame wins, they’ll be a playoff team.
Famous words of Russell Wilson: “Let’s Ride!” Speaking of which, will he root for the Broncos or the Badgers?
College Football Prediction Central with Paul Shen 