College Football Picks: Expert Predictions for Every Game in Week 1

Author:
Steven Lassan
Publish date:
Aug 29, 2018

College football’s Week 1 slate for the 2018 season features several must-see matchups, and Athlon Sports is ready with complete predictions, preview and picks for the first weekend of action. The action starts on Thursday night with a handful of matchups, including Northwestern at Purdue and Wake Forest at Tulane. Additionally, Texas A&M opens its season and the debut of coach Jimbo Fisher with a matchup against Northwestern State. On Friday, Army at Duke, San Diego State at Stanford and Colorado vs. Colorado State headline an interesting slate of games. The first full weekend of the 2018 season features a couple of marquee showdowns, including Washington-Auburn in Atlanta, Ga. and Michigan traveling to Notre Dame. FAU at Oklahoma, Tennessee-West Virginia and Louisville-Alabama are just a few of the other must-see games on Saturday. Miami and LSU meet in Arlington, Texas on Sunday night, while the Week 1 slate is capped by an ACC showdown between Virginia Tech and Florida State on Monday night.

Each week, Athlon Sports’ editors will pick every game in the FBS ranks. Follow us on Twitter: (@AthlonSports)

College Football Week 1 Predictions


	Steven Lassan	Mitch Light	Braden Gall
UCF at UConn (Thursday)
Central Connecticut at Ball State (Thursday)
Kennesaw State at Georgia State (Thursday)
NMSU at Minnesota (Thursday)
Northwestern at Purdue (Thursday)
Wake Forest at Tulane (Thursday)
Savannah State at UAB (Thursday)
Missouri State at Oklahoma State (Thursday)
Weber State at Utah (Thursday)
SE Louisiana at ULM (Thursday)
Northwestern State at Texas A&M (Thursday)
UC Davis at San Jose State (Thursday)
Monmouth at Eastern Michigan (Friday)
Syracuse at Western Michigan (Friday)
Army at Duke (Friday)
Utah State at Michigan State (Friday)
Portland State at Nevada (Friday)
San Diego State at Stanford (Friday)
WKU at Wisconsin (Friday)
Colorado at Colorado State (Denver, Colo. Friday)
Coastal Carolina at South Carolina
Houston at Rice
James Madison at NC State
Kent State at Illinois
Villanova at Temple
Oregon State at Ohio State
Southern at TCU
Texas vs. Maryland (Landover, Md.)
Texas State at Rutgers
Furman at Clemson
Alcorn State at Georgia Tech
UMass at Boston College
Howard at Ohio
Stony Brook at Air Force
Albany at Pitt
Austin Peay at Georgia
Appalachian State at Penn State
Central Michigan at Kentucky
Marshall at Miami (Ohio)
Northern Illinois at Iowa
Washington State at Wyoming
Eastern Illinois at Arkansas
Tennessee-Martin at Missouri
North Carolina at California
UNLV at USC
Boise State at Troy
Delaware State at Buffalo
Elon at USF
Fordham at Charlotte
North Carolina A&T at East Carolina
Old Dominion at Liberty
Richmond at Virginia
South Carolina State at Georgia Southern
Central Arkansas at Tulsa
Cincinnati at UCLA
Grambling at Louisiana
Indiana at FIU
Jackson State at Southern Miss
Louisiana Tech at South Alabama
Mercer at Memphis
Nicholls at Kansas
SE Missouri State at Arkansas State
VMI at Toledo
South Dakota at Fresno State
Charleston Southern at Florida
MTSU at Vanderbilt
Northern Arizona at UTEP
Stephen F. Austin at Mississippi State
SMU at North Texas
Abilene Christian at Baylor
Akron at Nebraska
Bowling Green at Oregon
South Dakota State at Iowa State
Incarnate Word at New Mexico
Idaho at Fresno State
UTSA at Arizona State
BYU at Arizona
Navy at Hawaii
Louisville vs. Alabama (Orlando, Fla.)
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech (Houston, Texas)
FAU at Oklahoma
Tennessee vs. West Virginia (Charlotte, N.C.)
Michigan at Notre Dame
Washington vs. Auburn (Atlanta, Ga.)
LSU vs. Miami (Arlington, Texas Monday)
Virginia Tech at Florida State (Monday)