College Football Predictions Week 0: Best Bets & Odds for Every Week 0 Game

Only two more weeks, football fans. Only two more weeks until real, meaningful games bring us joy.

College football’s Week 0 is underappreciated by the masses. This year’s rendition has grown, up to eight games between FBS teams, and five of those games feature spreads within one possession. Better yet, the two games that should be distinct blowouts are not stuck in standalone spots, so you can have some investment in them while still watching competitive football.

Finding college football Week 0 predictions requires an appreciation for the sport from dreadful New Mexico State to newcomer North Dakota State to Playoff hopeful USC.

🏈 College football predictions: Week 0

North Carolina vs. TCU (in Dublin): Wait for 48

Patience, friends. This total currently sits at 47.5, but it should climb to 48 simply because too many traffic-hungry sites will encourage casual bettors to bet the Over. Last year’s Dublin kickoff climbed from 49.5 to 51.5 in the days before the game, Iowa State then beating Kansas State, 24-21.

Four of the last five games in Dublin have gone Under their totals and by an average of 8.13 points in those four games. Some of that ties to the stadium, some of it ties to the distractions, and some of it ties to the hesitancy inherent to coaches knowing everyone in the college football universe is tuned into what should otherwise be a regular game.

When this total gets to 48 or 48.5, grab the Under. Neither of these teams is coherent enough to expect an outburst.

San Jose State vs. USC -38.5 (-105 at FanDuel)

Three thoughts are at play here, all backing USC to cover this massive spread.

First of all, the Trojans know the time has come to validate the Lincoln Riley Era or start scampering for the exits. The latter is more likely by the end of the season, but in Week 0, expect USC to make a statement.

Secondly, San Jose State returns no defensive starters from 2025. Sure, such roster turnovers are more and more common in our portal era, but USC senior quarterback Jayden Maiava is the wrong opponent to break in your defense against.

Lastly, Riley has gone 6-1 against the spread in the first two weeks of the season when facing Group of Six competition while at USC. Well, 5-1, the sixth ATS win coming at Stanford in 2022, but the Cardinal were effectively Group of-quality.

Riley and Maiava have a chance for a loud start to the season, and they know they need to capitalize on it.

North Carolina State vs. Virginia Under 54.5 (-110 at bet365)

First of all, the preview magazine you bought in June or July is wrong. This game is not in Rio de Janeiro. The logistics of such an endeavor on such short notice were always going to be a problem, and certain political decisions within this calendar year rendered it effectively impossible.

The NCAA did not force the two teams to reschedule the game, Week 0 theoretically being reserved for teams who play abroad or who travel to Hawai’i during the season, so Virginia gets an August home game.

While North Carolina State returns quarterback CJ Bailey, it has little other offense to buttress him; both defenses should have a decent idea of their intents this season.

It would take unfounded faith in Missouri transfer Beau Pribula leading the Cavaliers’ offense to inspire anything but an Under here.

Jacksonville State vs. North Dakota State -7 (-110 at bet365)

North Dakota State makes its FBS debut at home against a fallible Jacksonville State team. And while the Gamecocks can and should be doubted a bit — look to Liberty to return to the top of Conference USA — this bet is largely faith in the Bison.

North Dakota State is ready for this move up in competition. The Bison paid $5 million to expedite the process; that is clearly a program confident in its quality right now.

The Fargodome will be a raucous home environment for this debut, and North Dakota State’s offensive and defensive lines should take care of the rest.

Sacramento State vs. Eastern Michigan -8.5 (-105 at FanDuel)

While North Dakota State was ready for this move up in competition, Sacramento State is not. The Hornets had tried to make this jump for a few seasons, and the window of opportunity was going to be a short one, one provided because Northern Illinois joined the Mountain West.

Yes, Sacramento State is now at the FBS level because Northern Illinois is now in the Mountain West. Welcome to the dominos of 2026.

Anyway, Eastern Michigan’s trademarked physical play should be an abrupt shock to the Hornets.

Hawai’i Moneyline (+182 at Caesars) vs. Stanford

To some extent, this is a variance play. Hawai’i’s “Spread’n’Shred” offense led by quarterback Micah Alejado can rise up and beat any team on its schedule, though it can also run into inefficiency that leads to a loss.

Alejado should be less prone to that worry, though, in his second season as a starter. Meanwhile, Stanford’s offense is going to struggle this season, particularly early.

If Alejado can put some pressure on the Cardinal to keep up, the Rainbow Warriors could turn this into a rout before too long.

Furthermore, Hawai’i head coach Timmy Chang has gone 3-0 against the spread in the first game against Power Four competition in the last three seasons, each coming in Week 0 or 1. When enjoying such an ATS advantage in a one-possession game, suddenly there is value in the moneyline, as well.

New Mexico State vs. Florida State -31.5 (-108 at DraftKings)

Similar to USC, Florida State needs to deliver itself a message to start this season. Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell is well aware the only reason he still has this job is that the university cannot find the money for his buyout, better than $50 million.

But each lackluster season raises the direness of that need.

New Mexico State is, well, bad. This is a chance for Norvell to slow some of the fundraising.

Memphis vs. UNLV -5.5 (-115 at BetMGM)

Give credit to Memphis head coach Charles Huff. He left Marshall two winters ago because the Thundering Herd did not care that he had won the Sun Belt; the administration wanted a different head coach.

So Huff took a massive chunk of that roster with him to Southern Miss and went 7-5 last season, to then land the Memphis job. Again, Huff brought a significant chunk of the roster along with him.

The Tigers have one returning starter from last season, not including Southern Miss thoughts.

That mass-transfer import worked well for Huff at Southern Miss, but one may be skeptical of it succeeding a second time in two years, simply because pulling from a roster fresh off massive churn should yield diminishing returns.

Against one of the best offenses in the Group of Six, led by senior running back Jai’Den Thomas, Memphis is simply not going to be able to get up to speed quick enough in Week 0.