College Football Picks: Expert Predictions for Every Game in Week 1
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.) | |||
Washington vs. Auburn (Atlanta, Ga.) | |||
LSU vs. Miami (Arlington, Texas Monday) | |||
Virginia Tech at Florida State (Monday) |