Welcome to the Defector College Football Watch Guide, where Israel Daramola and Ray Ratto will tell you which of the weekend’s college football games are worth giving a crap about.
Ray: Week 0 is behind us, as well you might want it to be if you watched South Carolina State beat Savannah State 87-0 in Saturday. There will be more of that this week, undoubtedly, and every one of those games will serve as blessed relief from the hailstorm of turgid analyses about North Carolina being 1-0 without Mike Lombardi and TCU being 0-1 without the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (and yes, there may be lessons in those disparate things for all of us). But we have miles and thousands of administrative outrages to go before we sleep, starting with five days of ball glut as the industry tries to keep up with the NFL's new promotional masterstroke of Extreme Calendar Glut.
But here's something to make your blood run cold this early in the year: Bill Belichick is the only coach who could conceivably win the season's opening and closing game, and if that happens, spring will next emerge in 2183, at which point Punxsutawney Phil will have been replaced by an eye-clawing psychobadger from the 11th dimension.
And now, let the fun expire.
Israel: Will there be one week this season in which Lane Kiffin doesn't try to make himself the main character of football? Will Nick Saban, out of jealousy, promote a new "returning student athletes to being less than dirt" bill that will get thrown out of court while leading the top of the second hour of every ESPN show? Why do people insist on believing in Ohio State and Oregon but not Indiana? These questions and more should be answered during the 2026 college football season. With an opening weekend that features so many games that it is physically impossible to keep track of, you will surely lose your mind trying to watch it all. Your families will be so worried about your wellbeing. Your partners will leave, because you are no longer the person they thought they knew. You will risk watching Florida State "play" "football." It's gonna be nuts!
Onto the games:
UMass at Rutgers — Thursday, 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network
Just another movable object v. resistible force showdown, this between one of the worst teams in the Big Ten and the worst team in the country. It is (supposedly) one of the closest games on the board; that's not saying much, as Rutgers is minus-28.5 on most early lists, while the average favorite is giving 32.5. UMass hasn't won a football game in 700 days, but we live in hope. What specifically we're hoping for is between us and highly paid therapists across the nation. — Ray
Colorado at Georgia Tech — Thursday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Hey, did you know Deion is still coaching at Colorado? It seems that without his kids or the top recruit he smooth-talked into choosing him over a blue blood, he’s a lot less interesting to talk about all the damn time. I have no feel for either team in this game. Sanders is supposed to have a better quarterback this season, but it’s not like there’s much of a foundation that's been built here. This team could make a bowl or go 3-9. But now that Curt Cignetti has applied the pressure on all the FBS schools that were never considered national champion contenders before, this might be the make-or-break year for the Buffs. Celebrity only gets you so far. And speaking of celebrity, what is Georgia Tech without The White Juggernaut, aka Haynes King? They still have a quality coach and a much sturdier infrastructure, but where’s the juice? Baby Mendoza will have to be the provider of it. — Israel
Idaho at (21) Utah — Thursday, 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU
No disrespect to the Vandals, but this is really about our first look at Utah’s post- Kyle Whittingham era, which is a change but maybe not a very dramatic one since former defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley is now the man in charge. What can you do? Utah is a place that fears outsiders and people that aren’t already bought into their way of life, even as that way of life includes playing through bad injuries. Devon Dampier is back for another year, aiming to add his name to the list of potential star QBs for next year’s draft. They’ve got multiple defensive stalwarts returning, and although the Vandals beat the Utes the last time they played in the 1990s, a lot of things have changed since then. And their 38-34 Week 0 loss to Cal Poly does not inspire much confidence that they will be able to hang on the field Thursday night. This is really just Scalley’s opportunity to establish his own identity for Utah football and how it’ll differ from Whittingham's, either for better or worse. — Israel
Alabama-Birmingham at Illinois — Thursday, 9 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network
What a doubleheader. UAB's new-ish coach, Alex Mortensen, is the son of ESPN-when-it-was-less-shameless NFL insider Chris Mortensen, which is reason enough to wish them well; Illinois is working off consecutive nine- and 10-win seasons, and a giant scoreboard for whatever reason. You may be burned out with lopsided games by now, but it's only just beginning. Tape down the windows, Giggles. It only gets worse from here. — Ray
San Jose State at Eastern Michigan — Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+
San Jose was a non-entity against USC in Week 0, as was the home crowd. We should get a better feel of whether or not this is the same old disappointing Spartans when they face a similarly troubled Eastern Michigan program. EMU had an impressive performance against Sacramento State, with Noah Kim throwing for a pair of touchdowns and rushing for another. I suspect this will be a points heavy matchup, as neither defense is exactly a lights-out variable for the game. Eastern Michigan still has a linebacker whose name sounds like a really racist Bart Simpson pulling a prank phone call at Moe’s bar, and I might favor them just based off that alone. — Israel
Toledo at Michigan State — Friday, 8 p.m. ET on FS1
Michigan State is currently 10-point favorites to win their opener against Toledo, I assume purely based on Big Ten reputation. From a football perspective, there are a lot questions around MSU, starting with new coach Pat Fitzgerald. Toledo has a new coach, too, with Mercer’s Mike Jacobs graduating to a bigger league. And while succeeding at Mercer does not necessarily dictate that Toledo will be a juggernaut, I’m much more moved by the consistency of excellence here than with whatever we’ve gotten from the Spartans for the last decade. I’m not exactly predicting a Toledo upset, but this outcome may be a closer than expected. — Israel
(7) Miami at Stanford — Friday, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN
The 'Canes haven't been this formidable in years, and having spent $40 million on this year's roster, the new in-metric, are justifiably thinking national championship. A word of caution about this game, though. If you want to see quarterback Darian Mensah or wide receiver Malachi Toney, tune in early because they aren't likely to be playing much after halftime. Stanford is already 1-0 after the first hilarious bad beat of the year, nearly blowing an 16-point fourth-quarter lead at home against Hawai'i before scoring on a late drive and then killing the game out with Tevarua Tafiti's scoop-and-score, thus not only winning Tavita Pritchard's first game as coach but allowing the three people on earth who bet Stanford minus the four to win money they clearly didn't deserve. Now there's a metaphor for modern America. — Ray
Fresno State at (14) USC — Friday, 9 p.m. ET on FOX
The Bulldogs are part of the new, not at all improved Pac-12, but coming off a 9-4 season in the Mountain West, they are an interesting team if you don't mind watching non-P4 teams. Lincoln Riley, on the other hand, is coming off an easy 42-26 win in thousand-degree heat over San Jose State before what looked like 37 people at the Coliseum. Jayden Maiava completed 25 of 29 passes in three quarters in a game that tells us virtually nothing about what kind of year he'll have in more stressful games, but completing almost all your throws is still completing almost all your throws. Riley is now only 15 wins away from getting the fans off his ass. — Ray
North Texas at (6) Indiana — Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on FOX
Indiana is still defending national champion no matter what you say, and Curt Cignetti is still the best coach on earth. This, though, is the year that either makes him Sabanesque or a mild disappointment, just because that's how this sort of thing is graded. North Texas was 12-2 a year ago, but that success meant it was the right time for coach Eric Morris to march his ass to Stillwater and take over the crashed-and-burned Oklahoma State program along with 20-some-odd of the Mean Green's best players, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker. If your preseason prep is last year's standings, this is a barn burner. If you're paying better attention, the barn is an already an ash heap. — Ray
East Carolina at (13) Alabama — Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on ABC
Let’s understand something: there’s a real argument that Alabama is the worst job in football. It’s thankless work that requires national championships, plural. Anything less is considered a failure. That was true before Nick Saban’s dynasty and it’s doubly true afterwards. It really does not matter what Kalen DeBoer’s squad looks like, the man is doomed to be lambasted and criticized at every step. Anyways, Alabama will likely hang 50 on the Pirates. — Israel
New Hampshire at Syracuse — Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on ACC Network
This is only interesting if you're curious to see what a stadium looks like when the secondary ticket market is quoting $4 as a price. Not convinced? Well, neither were we. — Ray
Liberty at James Madison — Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on ESPNU
The cost of success has finally hit JMU, after making the best-recorded transition from C to B (FCS to FBS). It's only cost them two coaches, Cignetti and Bob Chesney (UCLA), and has more recently netted them former Sun Belt terror Billy Napier, who was crushed at Florida. Mmmm, coach talk, we can actually hear your eyelids lowering. Liberty endured an uncharacteristically if not undeservedly bad season last year but is expected to be much improved by people who pay attention to Conference USA, of which we are none. We suppose this is a defining game for both teams, though we suspect the definitions emitted won't move many of you. — Ray
Boise State at (2) Oregon — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. on CBS
You know Boise State has been the Gonzaga of college football for three decades now, and you also know that Oregon is considered the likeliest West Coast challenger to win a title in this least West Coast of sports. Thus, this game will do little to make Dan Lanning skeptics change their tune about his inability to overcome the established order, because unlike so many other games this week, this one should be a tough one. Apparently he has not yet subscribed to the Cignetti theory that with nine conference games, the other three deserve to be baked goods. — Ray
Texas St at (5) Texas — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Despite Archmania, the vibes coming out of Texas are a bit up and down. There have been disjointed moments in practice that has lead to a lot of concern trolling reports to start the season. There are disciplinary issues on the team and apparently angry parents tweeting through their frustrations with the coach. There is a loose Will Muschamp roaming the premises. It’s crazy over there!
But Texas cannot afford to start slow again this year if they hope to make the playoff. Luckily, they get a litmus test in their first game. How well they can take care of business here will give us all and indication of where Texas is in their goal to achieve some lofty expectations. Hopefully Sark’s team and Arch Manning can work through whatever kinks they need to throughout the course of this game. Talent has never been an issue at Texas, it’s just a matter of if we see the Arch from the second half of last season a lot more consistently, and whether Sark gets a better grip on his offense and skill players this time around. — Israel
Marshall at (18) Penn State — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1
The first game of the post-James Franklin era in Happy Valley begins with the predictable recliner in Marshall, who will be better than they were a year ago now that they've had time to deal with a departed coach (Charles Huff, to Southern Mississippi) and all the players he took with him, because that's the sport now. Further proof of that is Penn State, which is now largely Iowa State East, given that Franklin was canned and replaced by ISU's Matt Campbell. Being Iowa State East might get them a couple of extra wins, especially since there's no Indiana, Ohio State, or Oregon on their schedule. Those three schools aren't on the Marshall schedule either, for what that's worth. — Ray
Baylor at Auburn — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Two dumb football teams saying, "exactly!" Auburn just hired a real good coach in former USF honcho Alex Golesh, who is fresh from overachieving in one program and now trying to do the same at perennially cursed Auburn. This team could win 10 games and lose a dumb Iron Bowl, or win four games including a dumb Iron Bowl. Golesh will show signs of improvement, but I suspect it’ll be another year before we see anything that truly indicates what direction this program is headed. On the other hand, Dave Aranda is still at Baylor, dining out on what he did at LSU nearly a decade ago (Joe Brady can relate). Baylor under Aranda is full of chaotic highs and predictable lows, never bad but also never quite elite. Man, Auburn would give anything to have such a reputation right about now. — Israel
Boston College at Cincinnati — Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX
Fun fact: Cincinnati has quietly put together a quality roster through the transfer portal, and there’s excitement around what Scott Satterfield’s team could do this year, and not just offensively. They’ve got a stud safety named MJ Cannon that might be lining up all over the field to try and wreck shop. I don’t expect them to exactly make a run like they did almost a decade ago or anything, but I find them more exciting than the Bill O’Brien beef ball being played at Boston College, aka Up North NC State. — Israel
HALFTIME:
Oklahoma State at Tulsa — Saturday, 3:45 p.m. ET on ESPNU
Oklahoma State enters its Eric Morris era, which already sounds too plain and uneventful. Mike Gundy and his Mar-a-Lago tan have finally been given the boot, and where Morris can't match Gundy's outsized theatrics or Reagan-era hair, he may make up for that in actual quality coaching. He made the Mean Green at North Texas a viable program, and there’s already a lot of hype surrounding the transfers he’s brought into Stillwater, including from North Texas. There are enough of those to make this a feisty program to face this year, and they'll get their first chance at a proof of concept when they face off against Tulsa. Tre Lamb’s squad got Gundy out of here last season and they will either inspire confidence for their new regime or show that they are now a problem to be reckoned with for another season. Either way, it’s a good time for some good old fashioned country hate. — Israel
Abilene Christian at (12) Texas Tech — Saturday, 7 p.m. ET on FS1
This is not a sentence one normally conjures let alone reads, but on this day, College Football Nation is Abilene Christian fans. They're the Wildcats, in case you're quizzed. — Ray
Edward Waters at Jackson State — Saturday, 7 p.m. ET on HBCU Go
I like to remind people as much as possible that Jackson State has continued to be an HBCU power since Deion left. It’s less about who deserves credit for that than it is about the beauty of it still happening. The program deserves as much light upon them as they can get, and Jared Lockhart is a stud. If you have space for some non-FBS football in this jam packed hour, spend a little time watching JSU. — Israel
Clemson at (11) LSU — Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC
Credit where it's due: Lane Kiffin never met a controversy he could not make about himself. Ever since Louisiana ruled that athletes that declared or trained for the NFL can come back to play in college, Kiffin has been in a tug-of-war between the SEC and the NCAA over enforcement. I’ll wager that by the time you’re reading this we STILL won’t be any closer to figuring this out. Kiffin’s shamelessness is unfortunately just sound business, and early adoption of a reality that a conference, a league, and other coaches can’t fight off forever. But while Kiffin embraces the villain role, it’s worth asking, when do we actually focus on playing football for Saturday?
Luckily for Kiffin, he’s going against the original college football cartoon villain. Dabo Swinney is probably telling his Clemson squad full of third-, fourth-, and fifth-year recruits something like, “Aw shucks, the dadgum media done forget all about lil' old us, don’t that just stiffen your socks,” or however he talks. But Clemson is no less washed this year than the last couple years. Dabo still refuses to change with the times, though I heard he’s taken in a whole handful of transfers this year! This team will have talent, but no vision and no juice. That's because, try as he might, Swinney cannot manufacture actual championship resilience based on Paul Finebaum not liking him. So here we have two versions of contemporary college football's satanic magic going against each other. It's deep southern Baptist conservatism vs. mega church corporate progressivism. A Tiger bowl for the soul of college football. — Israel
FAU at Florida — Saturday, 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network
It's a new day at the University of Florida. We promise! The Jon Sumrall regime will set this ship right once again, and this is undoubtedly still one of the best recruiting programs in college football. We struck out with our coaching decisions since Urban Meyer, but this is the one that will fix everything. Definitely! Absolutely! I guarantee it. Some guy fell to his death after stepping off a ledge at the Gators’ stadium, but that’s definitely not an omen of anything or symbolic in any possible way. It’s a goddamn new day! — Israel
Utah Tech at (14) BYU — Saturday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+
The only reason to care here is because BYU coach Kalani Sitake just won a power struggle with athletic director Brian Santiago—you can do that when you're 23-4 the last two years, and your contract has been extended four times in the last four years—and now reports directly to some other suit higher up the chain. In other words, football runs outside the athletic department now, which is the way most of the other big schools operate, only without saying so. Utah Tech used to be Dixie State despite not being located anywhere near Dixie and has changed conferences three times in five years; they're a Big Sky school this week. They got mauled by defending FCS champion Montana State, 54-0, in Week 0. See? It's all about everything but the football now. — Ray
UNLV at Hawai'i — Saturday, 10 p.m. ET on CW
Neither team covered themselves in much glory during Week 0, but at least Hawai’i had an excuse. UNLV’s quarterback, Jackson Arnold, spent their game against Memphis running for his life due to a combination of bad O-line play and equally bad quarterbacking instincts. Hawai’i should have fun with that. Micah Alejado will be throwing all over the place, and Kona Moore will be all over the field. Dan Mullen continues to bring more of the same disappointment in terms of actual gameplay to UNLV that he’s brought to his other head coaching stints. I guess learning under the tutelage of walking heart attack Urban Meyer does not prepare anybody for coaching at a high level. — Israel
UCLA at Cal — Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Cal's new coach Tosh Lupoi had the maintenance folks take the tarps off the seats at Memorial Stadium as part of his We're Done Acting Like We're UC Santa Cruz campaign. The Bears reached a bowl game during their second year in ACC jail, and would like to pop the Bruins in the snout for leaving the old conference for the ritualized beatings of the Big Ten. UCLA, for their part, has finally jumped on a trend rather than let it jump on them by hiring Bob Chesney from the James Madison football factory. We'll see how quickly he can cure L.A.'s third most important football team—behind USC and the Rams but ahead of the Chargers, if you're keeping track—of its well-deserved inferiority complex. — Ray
Western Kentucky at Nevada — Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN
Look at this little stinker. How can you say no to him? He can stay up past his bedtime! He can have all the ice cream he wants! — Israel
Washington State at (17) Washington — Sunday, 4 p.m. ET on NBC
The Apple Cup is one of the country's longest-running in-state rivalry games, so what better time to play it than the start of September. WSU is back in the reconstituted Pac-12, in which its closest geographical foes being, naturally, Boise State and Utah State. Washington has bigger salmon to fillet in the Big Ten than the Apple Cup, and still has both head coach Jedd Fisch and quarterback Demond Williams Jr. in the fold. But the money tells you what's important, and this game being played now rather than in November should tell you how meaningful it actually is. — Ray
Wisconsin at (4) Notre Dame (but not really) — Sunday, 7 p.m. ET on NBC
Notre Dame is Notre Dame and will almost certainly Notre Dame the hell out of a Wisconsin team coming off a 4-8 record, and with a coach in Luke Fickell who may be among the first coaches fired this season. Added bonus: the game is being played at Lambeau Field, so some folks might think it's actually a Packers game. — Ray
(24) Louisville @ (9) Ole Miss — Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC
This might be the best game of the entire day, but it would have been the best game of the entire day on Saturday, too. — Ray
(19) SMU at Florida State — Monday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
I hope we get pounded into Middle Earth. Perfect end note to this exhausting weekend. — Israel
