2026 Week 1 College Football Game Predictions

Week 0 of the college football season has wrapped up, and we’ve moved on to Week 1 where there’s some incredibly exciting games on the slate. We’ll highlight some interesting matchups, and give our predictions for some of these key contests.

2026 Week 1 College Football Predictions

East Carolina Pirates at Alabama Crimson Tide

The announcement of Keelon Russell as the starting quarterback gives Alabama more options on offense this season. He has the ability to use his legs and spent his redshirt freshman season getting his physique ready for the gauntlet that is SEC play, but also only has game experience in mop up duty. While the offensive line and skill positions are still somewhat murky on the Alabama side, he has the potential to lift the play of the others around him.

On the other side, East Carolina got cleaned out on offense in the offseason, only returning one wide receiver and one running back even worth writing home about. Not to mention, they lost all five of their offensive line starters from last season.

The Alabama defense looks more susceptible on the ground, but not through the air, as the Crimson Tide returns a defensive backfield that should be a top-10 defensive unit. Does this version of East Carolina have the tools to expose Bama on the ground? It doesn’t seem like, at least on paper, that they have the personnel to accomplish that. Also, breaking in basically an entirely new offense on the road at Bryant-Denny is too high of a hill to climb in game one of the season.

Score Prediction:  East Carolina 10, Alabama 42

What to Watch Moving Forward

• If East Carolina’s offensive identity changes with a ton of turnover or if it will be plug and play
• How the Bama offense chooses to use Keelon Russell in the running game and the defensive run stop unit

Liberty Flames at James Madison Dukes

James Madison is coming off of a historic season, but one that is going to be impossible to match this season. Pretty much everyone who was on JMU is gone from last season, with new head coach, Billy Napier, fresh out of the Florida job taking over the reins.

There is some talent coming in from JMU this season, but the roster is littered with FCS and low-level G6 team transfers filling out starting roles.

Liberty comes into this game after a disappointing season in 2025, looking for a bounce back season and to reestablish their winning ways in game one. Head coach Jamie Chadwell should be back to 100-percent after dealing with health concerns last season and somewhat losing the locker room. Liberty returns four starters on the offensive line and quarterback Ethan Vasko, who had a poor year, but also brings in transfer Deshawn Purdue from Wake Forest. So, there are options at the quarterback position this time around. While there are similar questions at the skill position level on Liberty, Kanye Udoh transfers in at running back from a short stint at Arizona State last season and should make an immediate impact in the running game. While neither team has a defense that seems game ready yet, Liberty has more continuity heading into the opening week of the season.

Score Prediction:  Liberty 27, James Madison 24

What to Watch Moving Forward

• How the presumed change in tempo will affect James Madison’s offensive output 
• Is Liberty ready to re-assume dominance in 2026 or was the 2025 season a sign of things to come?

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at West Virginia Mountaineers

Coastal Carolina is pretty much bringing in the entire Missouri State coaching staff to retool their team this season, after losing most of their offensive and defensive production from last season. There is quite a bit of FCS and JUCO flavor coming in at key positions for the Chanticleers this season, in what is likely to be a year zero rebuild.

Meanwhile, West Virginia is relying on a portal heavy class for starting roles on both sides of the ball. CCU won’t have many answers for a lethal WVU ground attack. The offensive line looks to be improved from last season, paired with former Oklahoma dual threat quarterback, Michael Hawkins, transferring in (still retaining the starter from last season, Scotty Fox). They also added in former Jacksonville State 1,500+ yard rusher, Cam Cook, who formerly played under Rich Rod. It looks like this may be too much for Coastal Carolina to handle right off the bat and will get worn down in the run game as the game progresses.

Score Prediction:  Coastal Carolina 13, West Virginia 42

What to Watch Moving Forward

• The quarterback play for Coastal Carolina
• If West Virginia’s defense looks improved against an inferior opponent or remains leaky

Clemson Tigers at LSU Tigers

Everyone probably knows the recent news about LSU trying to bring in former NFL players to their team. They also know how Dabo Swinney feels about the whole process, and in all honesty, he isn’t wrong. It is embarrassing for LSU and for college football in general. It is the wild west right now and there are no rules. However, LSU brings in a talent rich, number one portal class in 2026. And love him or hate him, Lane Kiffin is a good coach and will have the team ready.

Clemson has had recent struggles in marquee openers as of late, losing to a far worse LSU team last season at home. They got throttled by Georgia in Week 1 of 2024, and losing to Duke by three touchdowns on the road in 2023. While Clemson has a very solid receiving group returning this season, the offensive line loses most of their starters and junior quarterback Chris Vizzinia comes into a Death Valley night game with one career start. Clemson also loses nine NFL draft picks from last season’s 7-6 disappointment. While Clemson has the ability to keep this close, LSU has too much for Clemson to handle.

Score Prediction:  Clemson 20, LSU 31

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Clemson quarterback Chris Vizzinia’s performance and a Clemson secondary that lost three starters
• Does LSU look buttoned up in game one or are all of the former and recent off season distractions still lingering?

Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan Wolverines

Western Michigan lost eight defensive starters at the conclusion of their incredible 2025 season, including MAC Defensive Player of the Year, Madame Tucker. WMU’s offense returns surprisingly intact, returning both quarterback Broc Lowry and running back Jalen Buckley, and an experienced offensive line. The Broncos’ defense will no longer be able to prop up any offensive struggles and give them the opportunity for more possessions, which will be a tough ask on the road in Week 1 at Michigan.

Michigan is under new leadership this season, as Kyle Whittingham comes over from Utah, bringing with him several Utah transfers and a new offensive system. The question is always going to be, “how much will Michigan show in this game with Oklahoma on deck in Week 2?”, but Michigan doesn’t really have much of an option here. They will need to get the offense up and going for at least three quarters in order to establish some comfortability for the big matchup next week. The depleted WMU defense offers an opportunity for Michigan to iron some things out in week one, while we will get to see how the established and run heavy WMU offense does punching up in competition.

Score Prediction:  Western Michigan 13, Michigan 45

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Does Western Michigan up their pace in this game to try to keep up or will the offense be snail slow in order to give their under-tooled defense a break on the sideline
• How much Bryce Underwood uses his legs and top running back recruit, Savion Hiter’s performance

ULM Warhawks at Mississippi State Bulldogs

ULM is going to try to run an up tempo offense this season, with more air raid concepts and less running the ball. This will likely play into the hand of a Mississippi State, team trying to put up a number in Week 1. It’ll be a pivotal year three campaign under head coach Jeff Lebby and his electric quarterback, and now full-time starter, KaMario Taylor. The offense also returns a solid back in Fluff Bothwell and several capable receivers.

Mississippi State will want to put the right foot forward in game one to stay in the fan’s good graces. They have too much firepower for a ULM team breaking in a new offense that could see more possessions in Mississippi State’s favor, to keep up. The Bulldogs roll.

Score Prediction:  ULM 10, Mississippi St. 42

What to Watch Moving Forward

• The overall performance of the Mississippi St. offensive line that has been a disaster for multiple season
• Does ULM have any bright spots at the skill position level to run an up tempo offense?

UNLV Rebels at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

UNLV and Hawaii both already have tune up games thanks to Week 0. Yet, both teams are up against it this week, after losing their season openers and starting the season 0-1. Both defenses played poor last week, despite both offenses showing flashes and the ability to move the ball and score. It is difficult to think that both teams will have the time to revamp their defenses in one week, especially with Hawaii being on the mainland in Week 0 and UNLV having to travel to the island this week.

This one should be a fun late night shootout to tune into after a full day of Week 1 action. UNLV has more to lose this week, as the Rebels are already dealing with major ramifications after losing to Memphis in a game where they were dominated in the second half. Yet, UNLV should have enough to get the job done this week.

Score Prediction:  UNLV 38, Hawaii 31

What to Watch Moving Forward

• Does either defense look better against capable offenses?
• Will Hawaii’s stud receiver, Pofele Ashlock, play in this game after missing last week at Stanford? 

Louisville Cardinals vs. Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss was the other half of the LSU drama at the end of last season, so everyone knows the story. Yet, the Rebels are also coming off of a College Football Playoff semifinal loss that they were only a couple of plays away from winning.

Heisman hopefuls Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy return this season, and the expectations are even higher coming into this year. The Ole Miss offense should remain electric and the defense looks stacked with nine starters back. However, how will the team adjust to a new offensive play caller? And, how much of Chambliss’ “surprise factor” come into play this season with everything from last season being heavily studied on film?

Louisville comes into the 2025 season with a new dual threat quarterback, Lincoln Kienholz, who comes in from Ohio State. Near 1,000-yard rusher Isaac Brown also returns this season, presumably 100-percent healthy after missing some games last year. Kienholz comes in receiving rave reviews from the Ohio State’s coaching staff, but is untested with only 10 games of action under his belt. Yet, he provides an interesting wrinkle to the Jeff Brohm offense.

The Louisville defense definitely has questions to answer in the backfield with only one starter returning. However, returning is their best pressure-getter, and a top-notch linebacker group. Brohm has had plenty of time to draw up an excellent game plan and has the advantage of limited film of their transfer quarterback, paired with a healthy and productive running back room. Ole Miss has the pieces to be a contender again and can put some doubt to rest in this game, but Louisville has enough to keep it competitive.

Score Prediction:  Louisville 28, Ole Miss 33

What to Watch Moving Forward

• The Louisville offensive line after losing four starters and heavily relying on the portal to fill the spots
• How the Ole Miss offense looks with a new playcaller and head coach without the “us vs. the world” chip on their shoulder from last season

SMU Mustangs at Florida State Seminoles

Florida State played an extremely ugly game last week at home versus New Mexico State. However, how much of that was actually working through the gameplan, mistakes and a vanilla game script, as this was a competitive game into the third quarter? All of those questions will be answered this week when SMU rolls into Tallahassee, in a game that could make or break both team’s seasons.

Florida State should have an advantage on the ground against an SMU defensive line that lost most of their pressure production from last season and could be taken advantage of in the passing game. They’ve only returned one starter from a secondary that gave up nearly 300 yards through the air.

However, Florida State has the unenviable task of defending a now-healthy Kevin Jennings, a solid running back room, and an offensive line that brings back most of their starters from a unit that only allowed 19 sacks last season. The FSU secondary was very poor last week, giving up 272 yards through the air at 10.5 yards per catch. Yet, SMU lost five of their top seven receivers from last season, including their top two that combined for 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns.

There is a lot on the line in this primetime Monday night game. If Florida State gets embarrassed again, they might be in freefall mode after only two games and a trip to Alabama on deck. FSU is going to throw the kitchen sink at SMU in what should be a rowdy home environment. It might be ugly, but FSU may not be as bad as everyone made them out to be after a sloppy Week 0. Yet, if they are, we will at least know early.

Score Prediction:  SMU 24, FSU 26

What to Watch Moving Forward

• If the FSU offensive line, who returns four starters from last season, can play up to expectation or if this unit is going to be a continuous problem
• If Jennings is back to 100%, the offensive backfield with running back and Cal transfer, Kendrick Raphael, and three returning offensive lineman will be legit