Tater Rater 2026: Ranking the Most Anticipated College Football Games of Weeks 0 & 1

If you’re reading this, I can only assume you’re thinking to yourself, “What in the world is a Tater Rater.” And, it’s an excellent question, to be fair. Let me provide you with some backstory. Growing up, my nickname was “Tater”. I don’t really know what the meaning behind it was, but it couldn’t have fit my life much more perfectly. There aren’t many things that I find more satisfying than a good potato, and there aren’t many things that I find more satisfying than a good college football game. So, I decided to combine the two. Thus, the Tater Rater was born for  2026 college football coverage.

2026 College Football: The Tater Rater

Here is how this will work. Prior to each week, I will choose my five most highly anticipated games. I will correlate each of them with a form of potato, based on where they rank amongst the other games. For example, if Ohio State played Texas in Week 1, I would give that my French Fry game of the week, because I have French Fry as my top form of potato. Below are the five different forms of potato, along with their rank and reasoning for each.

1. French Fry: Zero chance of being bad and can save a mediocre main dish (i.e. can be so good it saves a mediocre week of football and is guaranteed to be at least average)
2. Mashed Potato: Slim chance of being bad, but more often than not is an excellent addition to any meal (i.e. small chance of being a dud game, likely going to be a really good game)
3. Baked Potato: Has a chance to be a bit meh, but can also be the best thing on the plate (i.e. could just be an okay game, but has the opportunity to be a banger)
4. Hashbrown: Might get lost on the plate, but could also save the meal (i.e. could be a game that nobody remembers in a week, but could also be the game of the week)
5. Tater Tot: More often than not it’s just average, but could be top tier on their best day (i.e. likely not gonna be anything special, but has the slightest chance to be a Game of the Year contender)

To all you tater tot lovers out there, just know that this does not mean they are my least favorite form of potato. They are, in fact, my fifth favorite form of potato. I know this makes it seem like I hate tots. I don’t. It correlates to my fifth most anticipated game of the week.

I will also do post-week ratings for my five best games of the week, but that will be done using a 1-5 Tater scale (i.e. a pretty good game but nothing special would get something like a 3.5 Tater rating). This also has the chance for a Cold Fry game, which is a game that was highly anticipated and ended up being a complete dud (blowout, low scoring, etc.). I’m also working on something for the offseason, but I have plenty of time to iron out those details.

Now, for the first ever edition of the Tater Rater. This will be for Weeks 0 and 1, since there are only eight games in Week 0 and most of them appear to have stinker potential.

Tater Tot: SMU at Florida State

There are two major things in play here.

First, SMU is a legit College Football Playoff contender. They are tied for the second-highest win total in the ACC, behind only Miami. The Mustangs missed out on the ACC Championship game by just a single game in 2025, and couldn’t have come much closer than they did. They lost two conference games last year, one on a walk-off field goal and the other on a touchdown with 43 seconds left. In other words, they were less than a minute away from being a perfect 8-0 in conference play. With a 2026 win total of 8.5, all it would take is exceeding expectations by just a couple wins and they would have an argument to get an at-large bid with 10 or 11 wins.

Second, Mike Norvell may have the hottest seat in all of college football. Having won just seven total games in the past two seasons, those in support of the Seminoles are starting to turn on their head coach. Assuming they take care of New Mexico State in Week 0, this will be the first of back-to-back huge tests and what could be the beginning of the end for Norvell’s time in Tallahassee.

I don’t think this will necessarily be a super entertaining game to watch, but there are at least a couple storylines that could begin to unfold.

Hashbrown: Baylor at Auburn

Speaking of storylines, there are multiple to watch for in this game. For Baylor, Dave Aranda is (or should be) on the hot seat after a roller coaster last few seasons. We are now five years removed from the magical Big 12 Championship run in 2021, and they’ve won more than six games just one time since. His new quarterback, DJ Lagway, is also looking to right the ship after a disappointing 2025 season at Florida. Entering the year as one of the more exciting young quarterbacks in the country, Lagway threw for just 2,200 yards and led the SEC in interceptions. Both will be leaning on each other, and the rest of the Baylor program, to correct their own paths.

Auburn on the other hand, appears to be heading in the opposite direction. There is a lot of hope that head coach Alex Golesh can translate his success at USF to the SEC. He’ll have his star quarterback coming with him to help with the transition.

Byrum Brown is coming off a 2025 season that included over 4,000 total yards, 42 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions. Oh, and they brought along four of his five leading receivers from that USF team. They start their 2026 season against a Baylor team that ranked 122nd in points allowed. With a daunting conference schedule looming, they’ll likely need to take care of their non-conference opponents in order to find success this season.

Baked Potato: NC State at Virginia

These two teams have played a couple phenomenal games in their last two meetings, one of which may have cost the losing team a spot in the CFP. In 2023, Virginia took the lead with 36 seconds left, just for NC State to drive down and kick a game-winning field goal as time expired. Last year, the Wolfpack used a 21-point third quarter to topple the Cavaliers. Virginia would go on to lose in the ACC Championship, which knocked them out of the CFP picture.

Dave Doeren had to replace his two leading rushers and all five of his leading receivers, but he does bring back the engine. C.J. Bailey is back and looking to build on an impressive 2025 campaign. For Virginia, they’ll be replacing the same amount of skill position productivity as NC State, as well as their quarterback. Beau Pribula will look to fill the shoes of Chandler Morris, and he will do so coming off a nasty ankle dislocation that cost him a month of action and clearly hampered him the rest of the 2025 season.

In other words, there are a LOT of moving parts for two teams with high hopes in 2026.

Mashed Potato: Clemson at LSU

I know a lot of people have this as their marquee game of the first couple weeks of the season. Two of the biggest names in the sport going head to head. Two of the best coaches squaring off. I don’t doubt that this could be a really good game, which is why I have it in my Mashed Potato tier. Mashed potatoes CAN be an elite tier side, but they can also be a let down.

Clemson is slowly losing it’s footing at the top of the college football world, and a 7-6 record in 2025 is making people start to wonder if Dabo Swinney is built for this new era. They once again disappointed in the transfer portal, ranking just 31st in the country, while also having just the 22nd rank freshman class according to On3. They will also be starting a quarterback who has just over 100 collegiate passes under his belt.

LSU, on the other hand, is trending up more than maybe anyone else in the country. They had the splash signing of the offseason, pulling Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss. The Tigers had the third best transfer class according to On3, highlighted by the top player in the portal, Sam Leavitt. They join the 12th ranked freshman class with hopes of bringing LSU back to college football prominence.

Like I said, this could be a really good game. Maybe 2025 was just a down year and Clemson will be right back near the top with a 10-plus win season. Perhaps it will take some time for Kiffin to get all the new pieces to fit together. Maybe this is the game that everyone talks about for multiple weeks. Maybe this is some of the best mashed potatoes in the country.

Yet, maybe, Dabo’s unwillingness to fully commit to the transfer portal and live in the modern era continues to hurt them. Perhaps Kiffin will get the most out of Leavitt and the rest of the big names click right away. Maybe LSU boat races Clemson and the murmurs start to get louder in South Carolina. Maybe this is some bland mashed potatoes with the skins (skins in mashed potatoes, yuck).

French Fry: Louisville at Ole Miss

This game, compared to other games during these two weeks, is how I would compare french fries to other forms of potato. They may not be the best at any given time, but you know they won’t be bad. When they’re at their best, there may not be anything better. When they’re at their worst, they’re still pretty good. That’s how I look at this game.

Louisville will be rolling out Lincoln Kienholz at quarterback, who will be making his first collegiate start after spending his first three seasons at Ohio State. To help make things easier for him, they return their running back duo that combined for nearly 1,600 yards on more than eight yards per carry. They also have a ton of experience everywhere else on the field, with just five players across both sides of the ball that aren’t at least redshirt juniors or true seniors. Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals have been knocking on the door at the top of the ACC, and are looking to finally break through in 2026.

Ole Miss will be looking to keep the momentum going from the past few years, especially after a CFP birth in 2025. They will have to do so without the man who revitalized the program, the aforementioned Lane Kiffin. Pete Golding will look to fill those enormous shoes, but he did get a bit of a head start on doing so. He led the Rebels to a semifinal birth in the 2025 CFP, knocking off Tulane and Georgia after Kiffin announced his departure to LSU. His offense will look very similar to the 2025 unit, with both of the stars returning. Trinidad Chambliss, who led the SEC in passing yards and amassed nearly 4,500 total yards, is back under center. He will joined by his backfield mate, Kewan Lacy, who led the country in carries and led the SEC in touchdowns, while also collecting nearly 1,600 rushing yards. Those two will be heavily leaned on for most of the year, but especially early on while the newcomers to the team iron out the kinks with each other. Louisville was top 30 in the country last year in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game, so they should be a good early test for the Rebels offense.

Well, there you have it. That’s the first ever pre-week Tater Rater. You will see, in some form or another, something like this in post-week form as well. For now though, I thank you for making it through an utterly silly, completely unnecessary, totally nonsensical, and undeniably awesome (for me) article.

See ya later, tater.