The Season Starts Saturday
The 2026 college football season kicks off Saturday with a surprisingly loaded Week 0 slate: eight games featuring FBS teams, headlined by the Aer Lingus Classic in Dublin and a pair of conference matchups that will matter in December. CBS Sports' Cody Nagel ranked every game by watchability and fired his final predictions. Here is the full slate, from the can't-miss to the skip.
1. North Carolina vs. TCU (Dublin, Ireland, Noon ET)
The marquee. Bill Belichick's Year 2 UNC team takes on No. 23 TCU in Aviva Stadium, seeking revenge for last year's 38-17 embarrassment. The Tar Heels added 12 portal starters in the offseason; the Horned Frogs return 15 and harbor playoff ambitions. The betting line has moved from TCU -6.5 to -4.5 as UNC money flows in — the sharpest line movement of the entire opening weekend. Prediction: TCU 27, UNC 24.
2. Hawaii at Stanford (10:30 PM ET)
Stanford opens the Troy Taylor era against a Hawaii team that led the Mountain West in scoring offense in 2025. The Cardinal's rebuilt offensive line faces immediate pressure from the Rainbow Warriors' blitz-heavy front. Prediction: Stanford 31, Hawaii 21.
3. East Carolina at Georgia Tech (1:00 PM)
A revenge game after ECU's 2025 upset of the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech's new quarterback, transfer Zach Pyron, makes his debut in a game that will tell us whether the Jackets' portal-heavy rebuild is real. Prediction: Georgia Tech 34, ECU 24.
4. Sam Houston at SMU
The Bearkats bring a top-25 defense to Dallas; SMU starts transfer Caden Veltkamp, succeeding Preston Stone. The under is the play. Prediction: SMU 24, Sam Houston 17.
5. Texas State vs. UTEP
Two programs trending in opposite directions. Prediction: Texas State 38, UTEP 13.
6-8. The Rest of the Slate
Per Cody Nagel's ranking, the remaining games round out the opening weekend: No. 25 James Madison vs. Charlotte, Fresno State vs. UConn (in the Bronx), and Coastal Carolina vs. Appalachian State. James Madison should handle Charlotte handily; UConn's home-away-from-home against Fresno State is the sleeper — Fresno's pass rush against UConn's rebuilt line. Predictions: JMU 28-13, Fresno State 27-24 (the weekend's upset alert), App State 30-24.
With the opening weekend set, the pickers' conference championship leans are locked in: Ohio State (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), Miami (ACC), and Texas Tech (Big 12) remain the consensus favorites — Texas Tech's 90-plus offense is the Big 12's only elite unit. The Group of Five favorites (Tulane, Boise State, and UTSA) all open at home, a scheduling advantage that matters in the CFP Group-of-Five race.
What This Means for CFB 27
In College Football 27, Week 0 is a test-drive weekend for the game's Season Simulation: the opening slate's results feed directly into the weekly momentum system that shapes team ratings for the first month. Dynasty players should not overreact to Week 0 surprises — the game applies a 'small sample' correction that dampens single-game rating swings until Week 4. Early-season away underdogs (like TCU's road favorite role being faded by the market) are exactly the kind of simulation divergence the game models through its home-field rating bonus. Start your Dynasty saves this weekend, tune the difficulty to the game's Week 0 patch level, and remember: the weekend's biggest winner is whichever team covers the under in Dublin.
