College football season is finally here. Sure, Week 0 gives us just a taste before we kick off a full slate of games on Aug. 30, but a little football is better than no football.
Each Sunday during the season, I will preview some of the bigger college football games early in the week, give a play I like, and recommend whether to bet it early or wait for a better line. Just for clarification, I will always mention if I already officially bet the game personally or what number I plan on betting it so there is no confusion.
Here are my thoughts on the Week 0 matchups.
Iowa State Cyclones (+3) vs. Kansas State Wildcats
The biggest game in Week 0 is also the toughest one to call. A Big 12 matchup between Kansas State and Iowa State kicks off the college football season. I make the Wildcats -2.5 in this matchup, so the line is tight at -3.
We have seen some slight line movement with Kansas State going from -3.5 to -3. I have a lean to the Cyclones if it moves above three again. Iowa State returns 12 starters from last season’s 11-3 team, and I think the Cyclones are a little undervalued entering the season.
Last year, we had significant value on Georgia Tech vs. Florida State in the opener. I don’t feel as strongly with this matchup, but advise waiting to see if you can get Iowa State at +3.5 or better. If you like the other side, I would hit Kansas State at -3. If this number dips to 2.5, I expect it to be bet back up to -3 pretty quickly.
Wait: Iowa State +3.5 or better
UNLV Rebels (-25.5) vs. Idaho State Bengals
UNLV is starting over with new head coach Dan Mullen. The Rebels must replace 20 starters from last season’s 11-win team, so Mullen hit the transfer portal hard and brought in a bunch of Power 4 players to restock the roster.
Normally I wouldn’t recommend backing a team early in the season when it’s going through such a major roster overhaul with a new coach. However, UNLV drew a perfect opponent in Week 0 with Idaho State. The Bengals ranked 122 out of 129 FCS teams in scoring defense last season, allowing 37.8 points per game.
Mullen hasn’t announced if Michigan transfer Alex Orji or Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea will start at quarterback against Idaho State. Whoever is under center should have little trouble putting up points on the overmatched Idaho State defense. We could be looking at a 50 burger in Week 0 for the Rebels.
We saw this number open at 21.5 and the market immediately jumped on UNLV, betting it up to 27.5 before it settled at 25.5. I think it ends up getting back to the 27.5 range as we get closer to kickoff. If you like the Rebels, bet it now.
Bet: UNLV -25.5
Kansas Jayhawks (-12.5) vs. Fresno State Bulldogs
Kansas is a team I’m higher on than some entering the season. The Jayhawks are coming off a disappointing 5-7 season where they lost five games by six points or less. They do return senior quarterback Jalon Daniels, and Lance Leipold is still one of the Big 12’s top coaches.
The market has gone against the Jayhawks early in this matchup. Kansas opened -14 and it’s down to -12.5 at most books. Fresno State is a team I’m looking to fade early in the season. Former North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz was a great hire, but he is starting over with a brand-new roster. The Bulldogs must replace 70% of their offensive production and eight starters on defense from last season.
I try to predict where the smart money will land before I bet a game. I don’t think the market is high on Kansas, and we have already seen the line move a 1.5 points to Fresno State. While I don’t hate 12.5, I’m going to be greedy and wait for -12. I think the number gets there at some point this week. If it does, I will officially back the Jayhawks. Kansas is my strongest lean in Week 0.
Wait: Kansas -12 or better
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (-130) vs. Stanford Cardinal
The first college football bet I gave out for the 2025 season was Stanford Under 3.5 wins back in June. The program is in shambles right now after firing head coach Troy Taylor for off-the-field issues and naming Frank Reich as a short-term fix. The roster lacks talent, experience and depth. The entire thing feels like a disaster.
Hawaii is an interesting team this season in the Mountain West. Timmy Chang returns 14 starters, including quarterback Micah Alejado. Alejado closed last season by throwing for 469 yards and five touchdowns against New Mexico. He headlines the most talented roster Chang has had in his tenure on the island.
We have already seen a major shift in the line. Stanford opened as a slight favorite, but it has been bet to Hawaii -2.5. I still see value on the money line at -130. I graded this a “tossup game” when projecting Stanford’s win total, although I give the Rainbow Warriors the edge at home.
I doubt we see an influx of Stanford money coming in throughout the week, so I’m good with laying the -130 on the Hawaii money line. This game is Hawaii or pass for me with all the questions surrounding the Stanford program right now.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) warms up on the field before Big-12 Football action between the Utah Utes and the Kansas State Wildcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
I enjoy college football, but the College Football Playoff Selection Committee just killed my postseason viewing. I’ll only watch the Utah Utes in the Las Vegas Bowl, but I’m supporting Notre Dame’s bowl boycott after it was cheated out of a spot in the College Football Playoff. The University of Alabama was chosen instead, despite having poorer performance stats and losing big in its conference championship game. The University of Miami was also elevated above Notre Dame despite its less impressive stats — with the exception of having narrowly beaten The Fighting Irish in the season opener.
In recent years, the National Collegiate Athletics Association has made a mess of college football, but if the NCAA wants to redeem itself, it could:
1. Expand the playoff to 16 teams with no byes which would have eliminated this year’s fiasco.
2. Realign conferences to have no more than ten teams. The conference champion would be the team with the best record in nine conference games. No conference championship game needed.
3. Eliminate publishing CFP rankings before the end of the season. The committee embarrasses itself when it reorders those without cause.
4. Put income limits on Name Image Likeness as it grossly enriches some players. NIL has turned college football into the NFL Lite.
5. Fix the transfer portal. Allow players only one transfer and perhaps a second if a coach moves on.
6. Convince the Heisman Trophy Trust to award its statue at the end of the playoffs eliminating the embarrassment when an awardee fizzles in postseason play.
7. Consider eliminating conferences altogether. Create leagues of 60 or so teams in upper and lower divisions like European sports are structured with fluidity between the divisions based on teams’ previous year’s performance.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nick Saban knows his strengths with seven national championships as a college football coach. He also understands how to put coaches and athletes in the best position to succeed.
That’s what he hopes to bring to the NHL’s Nashville Predators after joining the franchise as a minority owner.
“I’m no expert in hockey, so don’t look at me like I’m going to make some huge impact coaching around here because that’s not going to happen,” Saban said Monday. “But I do have a pretty good idea of what it takes to have successful organizations.”
Saban made his first appearance Monday in his new role as a minority owner alongside Predators chairman Bill Haslam.
The Predators announced Saban’s purchase Dec. 16 through Dream Sports Ventures LLC, an entity controlled by Saban and business partner Joe Agresti. That business group features 10 car dealerships, including two in Nashville.
Haslam, a former Tennessee governor, was working on a possible WNBA expansion franchise when Saban told the Predators controlling owner that he also might be interested in hockey.
“I thought, ‘Well, that’s the greatest no brainer of all time,’” Haslam said. “You have somebody who understands building a championship culture, who understands, I think, better than almost anybody in sports the process that’s needed to get to where you can compete as a champion.”
Saban grew up in West Virginia with no hockey around. He became interested in hockey when coaching at Michigan State and became friends and shared ideas with that team’s coach. Saban called this an opportunity to be involved with a team for the first time since he announced his retirement Jan. 10, 2024.
So what will Saban bring to the NHL and the Predators in his newest role?
His experience building programs both in college football and six seasons in the NFL working for Bill Belichick in Cleveland and as head coach of Miami. A “transformational leader” as Saban put it. Once college football season ends, Saban said he will be involved as much as Haslam wants.
Saban already has spoken to coaches and some players during what he called a minicamp. Saban also has met a couple times with general manager Barry Trotz, saying his goal is to support Trotz and everyone else with the Predators.
Nashville won the Western Conference before losing the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 to Pittsburgh in six games. The Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy for the 2017-18 season but ranked 26th out of 32 NHL teams Monday five points back of the second wild-card spot in the West.
“To be a part of the hockey team here is something special, and we’d love to build it into a championship,” Saban said. “We’d love to partner with Mr. Haslam to do anything that we can do to help this organization be successful.”
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri pass rusher Damon Wilson II claims that the athletic department at Georgia is trying to illegally punish him for entering the transfer portal in a lawsuit filed by the linebacker in state court Tuesday in Boone County, Missouri.
Wilson transferred to the Tigers last January after signing a 14-month deal with Georgia’s booster collective to capitalize on his name, image and likeness. He received $30,000 in an initial payment on a $500,000 deal before entering the transfer portal.
Georgia filed a lawsuit last month claiming that Wilson owed its athletic department $390,000 in liquidated damages for leaving the team. Wilson’s countersuit claims that his former school is using such damages to “punish” him for his decision to leave.
Georgia spokesman Steve Drummond said the school had no comment because it involves pending litigation.
“When the University of Georgia Athletic Association enters binding agreements with student-athletes, we honor our commitments and expect student-athletes to do the same,” Drummond said upon the school’s initial lawsuit in early December.
Wilson had nine sacks and an interception this season for the Tigers. They will play Virginia in the Gator Bowl on Saturday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — One day after South Carolina received word that star quarterback LaNorris Sellers was staying in town, another star said he plans to return to the fold.
Dylan Stewart, the Gamecocks’ star edge rusher, announced he is returning for his true junior season in 2026, according to Pete Thamel, ESPN’s college football insider.
Stewart has 11 sacks in his two seasons at South Carolina and has forced 6 fumbles. Among ESPN’s draft projections, he appears to be a top prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft.
READ MORE | “South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers stays put, vows stronger return for 2026 season.”
The former five-star recruit and rising SEC pass rusher chose continuity over the transfer portal, agreeing to an NIL deal that places him among the highest compensated non-quarterbacks in college football, according to ESPN’s reporting.
South Carolina’s defense is back in reliable hands, as the Gamecocks ready themselves to bounceback from a 4-8 season.
After the pitiful finish, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer shook up his coaching staff.
South Carolina is also expected to hire Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes as the defensive end and outside linebacker coach.
He’s been Penn State’s defensive line coach the past three years and worked with the line there since 2020. He coached Abdul Carter, Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac.
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READ MORE | “South Carolina to kick off 2026 football season at home against Kent State.”
Until Michigan officially hires a head coach, the name Kalen DeBoer is going to be mentioned with the search. Even after DeBoer released statements saying he would stay with Alabama, rumors are out there. Folks in Ann Arbor might have been cheering for Oklahoma on Friday night to potentially speed up the process.
Instead, Alabama is heading to the Rose Bowl to face Indiana on Jan. 1. So, if DeBoer was going to be Michigan’s hire, the wait will continue. Which is exactly what ESPN’s Rece Davis believes the Wolverines should be doing in this situation.
“From Michigan’s standpoint, if that’s the guy you want, wait,” Davis said via the College GameDay Podcast. “If it takes waiting until they finish, if they were to upset Indiana, wait if that’s the guy you want. Why settle? One portal class, one recruiting class is not worth settling for a program like Michigan. Now, I understand the concept that there’s no guarantee you’re going to get him. I get that. But if you are convicted that this is your guy, wait it out. See what happens, push forward.”
If Alabama were to win in Pasadena, the next College Football Playoff date would be Jan. 8 or 9. A run to the national championship means DeBoer would not be done coaching the 2025 season until Jan. 19. But Davis mentions no singular NCAA transfer portal and/or recruiting class is as important as getting the right guy for Michigan.
When it comes down to it, Davis does not think DeBoer will leave Tuscaloosa this offseason. Those released statements were viewed as pretty telling in Davis’s eyes. And at the end of the day, DeBoer is still looking to prove to be the guy who can replace Nick Saban at Alabama.
“I do not think Kalen DeBoer will take the job,” Davis said. “Ultimately, because I don’t think he wants to be perceived as running from what he ran to. Michigan’s a great job. If he does, he does, and great for him if that’s what he decides. I don’t think he will end up doing that. Maybe he will.”
The latest update on where the Michigan coaching search came from On3’s Pete Nakos on Saturday. Nakos outlined who the top candidates are at the moment, mainly after Kenny Dillingham signed an extension to stay in Tempe with the Arizona State Sun Devils not too long ago.
Wilson’s lawsuit states that UGA’s attempt to collect the $390K lump sum was a ‘strong-arm tactic.’
Damon Wilson II played 417 defensive snaps for UGA during the 2024-25 season. He transferred to Missouri. (Jason Getz / AJC)
Damon Wilson ll, who transferred from Georgia to Missouri, is suing the University of Georgia Athletic Association and the Classic City Collective claiming the term sheet he signed to remain with the program is not a legally binding agreement.
The 42-page lawsuit, acquired by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after it was filed in the circuit court of Boone County, Mo. on Tuesday, seeks to grant Wilson relief from UGA seeking a $390,000 lump sum it claims Wilson owes by contract and hold defendants liable for “damages sufficient to compensate him for the financial and reputational harm” suffered.
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Mike is in his 10th season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 25 years of CFB experience. Mike is a Heisman Trophy voter and former Football Writers President who was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
Mike is in his 10th season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 25 years of CFB experience. Mike is a Heisman Trophy voter and former Football Writers President who was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
