What to watch: College football Week 1 viewer’s guide

We made it to the official start of the 2026 college football season.

Unlike last year, we don’t have a matchup of top-five teams to begin the season. We’ve got to wait until Week 2 this year. But LSU and Clemson provide us with an intriguing game on Saturday night, and Ole Miss and Louisville on Sunday should also be a fun watch.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Week 1.

Boise State at No. 2 Oregon

If this game is anything like the matchup two seasons ago, Boise State is going to feel really good about its chances of making the College Football Playoff.

In 2024, the teams met in Week 2 with the Ducks taking a 37-34 win on a field goal as time expired. Oregon only beat Ohio State by fewer points in the regular season, as it went undefeated on the way to a Big Ten title. (We won’t talk about the Rose Bowl.)

That game turned out to be Boise State’s only loss of the regular season as the Broncos went 12-1 and earned the non-power conference berth into the first College Football Playoff.

This year, we’re unanimous in believing that Boise State is the favorite to get the Group of Six’s playoff berth again. As the headliners of a rebuilt Pac-12, the Broncos can make a big step towards the playoff by avoiding a blowout on Saturday and then taking down Memphis at home in Week 2.

QB Maddux Madsen is back, though he completed fewer than 60% of his throws in 2025 and had a rough outing against Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl. RB Dylan Riley also returns after rushing for over 1,100 yards, but any chance Boise has of upsetting the Ducks will come down to a defense that has seven new starters and had just 27 sacks all season last year.

Oregon, meanwhile, is our pick to win the national championship in January and boasts a Heisman favorite in QB Dante Moore after he eschewed the 2026 NFL Draft. Moore is working with new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer after Will Stein left to be Kentucky’s head coach and was turnover-prone at times in 2025. Even without Stein calling plays, look for Moore, Dylan Raiola and any other Oregon QB who sees time during a game this season to collectively complete over 70% of their throws for the fifth straight season.

Clemson at No. 11 LSU

During Wednesday’s SEC teleconference, LSU coach Lane Kiffin said that Saturday night’s marquee matchup had received the most credential requests of any LSU regular-season game and pointed out that both teams were 7-6 in 2025.

Given all that’s surrounded LSU and Kiffin since the Tigers moved to hire him at the end of the 2025 regular season, you can understand why. The coach has become the most polarizing figure in college football given the way he left Ole Miss with the Rebels in the College Football Playoff and how he’s tried to rebuild LSU’s roster. As of Thursday morning, LSU is still waiting to see if it can roster former Ole Miss TE Dae’Quan Wright and ex-Rebels DT Zxavian Harris after the two were cut by NFL teams this summer. Both players were plaintiffs in a Louisiana lawsuit that granted class of 2022 players a fifth year of eligibility after the NCAA didn’t extend its new five in five policy to players who were fourth-year seniors in 2025.

LSU added former Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt in the transfer portal and this is his biggest game since the Sun Devils lost to Texas in the College Football Playoff at the end of the 2024 season. Leavitt was limited to just seven games with a foot injury in 2025. His blind side will be protected by former Colorado tackle Jordan Seaton after his transfer to LSU, and the Tigers have former Ole Miss edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen on the defensive line and ex-Boise State safety Ty Benefield in the secondary.

As LSU hit the transfer portal hard, Clemson and coach Dabo Swinney dipped their toes into the portal waters this offseason. But this is still a Clemson roster that’s still largely made up of homegrown players. Christopher Vizzina succeeds Cade Klubnik at quarterback and wide receivers T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco are both back after averaging over 16 yards a catch in 2025.

Chad Morris is back, too. After leading Clemson’s offense from 2011-14, Morris returns to be the team’s offensive coordinator again after it averaged fewer than four yards a carry. We’ll have a great idea of where this Clemson team stands after the first five weeks of the season. The Tigers host No. 7 Miami on Oct. 3.

Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Notre Dame (Green Bay)

When this game was scheduled years ago, it looked like a much bigger game than it actually is. Such is the state of the Wisconsin football program at the moment.

The Badgers are fresh off back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since Barry Alvarez was getting his footing in the early 1990s. Coach Luke Fickell was retained for the 2026 season with an increased commitment to rebuild the roster. Another losing season will likely lead to a coaching search.

Former Old Dominion QB Colton Joseph transferred in to bring some stability to the quarterback position. Wisconsin averaged 136 yards passing per game last season as Week 1 starter Billy Edwards appeared in just two games because of a knee injury. Joseph threw for over 2,600 yards and rushed for over 1,000 last season for ODU.

Fickell said Monday that Wisconsin won’t go into the game avoiding Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore’s side of the field. That could be a bold strategy. Moore enters the season as one of the best corners in the country and a favorite to be the first defensive player taken in the 2027 NFL Draft. The Notre Dame defense could be the best unit in the country this season with eight other starters back. The Irish return their top six tacklers and the entire secondary.

Offensively, Notre Dame’s biggest question is at running back, where Aneyas Williams steps into a starting role following the departures of first-round running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Williams averaged over nine yards a carry in limited playing time in 2025. Will the lack of Love and Price mean more pass attempts for QB CJ Carr? He’s the preseason Heisman favorite after a breakout redshirt freshman season in 2025.

No. 24 Louisville vs. No. 9 Ole Miss (Nashville)

The Cardinals enter the season with College Football Playoff hopes. And those hopes will become very real with a win over the Rebels.

Louisville avoids Miami and Clemson in ACC play and has SMU, Pitt and Florida State at home. It’s a very manageable schedule for an offense that returns RB Isaac Brown after he averaged 8.8 yards a carry on 101 attempts. Louisville also added former Vanderbilt WR Tre Richardson in the transfer portal after he had 806 receiving yards.

QB Lincoln Kienholz transferred in from Ohio State, and his success will hold the key to Louisville’s season. Kienholz appeared in 10 games over two seasons with the Buckeyes and has just 36 career passes.

Ole Miss has QB Trinidad Chambliss and RB Kewan Lacy back from the team that made it to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff after Kiffin’s departure. Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman voting and his star only got bigger in the postseason after his performance against Georgia. Lacy led college football with 306 carries and 24 rushing touchdowns in 2025. Can Michigan State transfer Makhi Frazier be a reliable backup and take some of the load off Lacy’s shoulders in 2026?

The defense returns Suntarine Perkins, Will Scholes and Kam Franklin and is also boosted by transfers like linebacker Luke Ferrelli — himself a subplot to the LSU-Clemson game — and defensive backs Joenel Aguero and Sharif Denson.

No. 19 SMU at Florida State

The Seminoles didn’t exactly set the world on fire in their Week 0 win over New Mexico State. FSU won 34-17 as a four-touchdown favorite, though it rushed for 217 yards on 39 carries thanks to Ousmane Kromah’s 115 yards on just 14 carries. Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels threw an interception, but he also passed for a TD and ran for another.

A win over SMU will ease a lot of the fan base’s concerns after the relatively sluggish start to the season. A loss? Well, the unease with Mike Norvell as he enters his seventh season will only continue to fester. Florida State found some ridiculous ways to lose games in 2025, and there’s not much margin for error in 2026 with a schedule that also contains Alabama, Louisville, Miami, Clemson and Florida.

The Mustangs are one of the favorites in the ACC and are capable of getting back to the playoff for the second time in three seasons with a healthy Kevin Jennings. The third-year starter was bothered by a foot injury for much of 2025 but still threw for over 3,600 yards. After RB TJ Harden’s departure, RB Kendrick Raphael transferred in following a 900-yard season at Cal. The defense will have a lot of new starters but many familiar faces stepping into bigger roles. SMU’s opponents have rushed for fewer than 3.4 yards a game in each of the last three seasons.

Others to watch

Colorado at Georgia Tech (-6.5), 8 p.m. ET Thursday (ESPN): Deion Sanders enters a pivotal fourth season with the Buffaloes. Julian Lewis is the team’s undisputed starter at QB after he redshirted to end the 2025 season and he has a new offensive coordinator in former Sacramento State coach Brennan Marion. The defense has basically been completely turned over in the transfer portal after allowing over 30 points per game in 2025. Former Indiana QB Alberto Mendoza, the brother of 2025 Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, makes his first start for the Yellow Jackets and is joined in the backfield by Michigan transfer Justice Haynes.

Liberty at James Madison (-6), Noon ET Saturday (ESPNU): Yes, this game could have serious playoff implications. If either team wants to challenge for the Group of Six spot in the 12-team field, a win is imperative. Jamey Chadwell’s Liberty team looks to be the class of Conference USA even after a massively disappointing 4-8 season in 2025. Former Florida coach Billy Napier is back in the Sun Belt after the Dukes made the playoff in 2025. But JMU’s roster features very few of the players who played key roles a season ago.

Baylor vs. Auburn (-7.5), 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC): The Tigers’ home game was moved to Atlanta after the two teams met in Waco a season ago. Former USF coach Alex Golesh is now in charge at Auburn as QB Byrum Brown followed him to the Plains. Brown was one of the most productive QBs in college football in 2025. Baylor has former Florida QB DJ Lagway in an incredibly pivotal season for coach Dave Aranda.

Tulane at Duke (-7.5), 3:30 p.m. ET (ACCN): The ACC champions begin their title defense against the defending American Conference champ that got into the playoff ahead of the Blue Devils in 2025. San Jose State transfer Walker Eget has been named Duke’s starting QB after Darian Mensah’s transfer to Miami. Former Houston QB Zeon Chriss-Gremillion will start for Tulane in Will Hall’s first game in charge of the Green Wave.

UCLA (-1.5) at Cal, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN): Is this point spread the Bob Chesney bump? The former JMU coach is now in Los Angeles and his team is a road favorite after a 3-9 campaign in 2025. RB Wayne Knight followed Chesney to UCLA and will serve as the Bruins’ primary rusher in 2026 after QB Nico Iamaleava had to do everything for the offense in 2025. Cal has a new coach in Tosh Lupoi, and he convinced QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to stay in Berkeley for his sophomore season after the Bears went 7-6 in 2025.

Washington State at No. 17 Washington (-23.5), 4 p.m. ET Sunday (NBC): The Apple Cup is not what it once was when both teams were in the Pac-12 and playing each other to end the season. But at least the rivalry is still going, and hopefully it continues for years to come. Kirby Moore is Washington State’s third coach in three seasons after Jimmy Rogers’ departure to Iowa State. Maybe Moore and the rebuilt Pac-12 can provide the Cougars some stability.

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