Get ready for Week 1! 34 games to look out for as the season gets going — SkimNews
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- Ohio State, ranked No. 1, hosts Ball State on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on BTN, opening a schedule that will test the Buckeyes with three projected SP+ top-10 opponents after they faced zero such tests across 12 games last season
- Alabama hosts East Carolina at noon on ABC in the debut of redshirt freshman quarterback Keelon Russell, with the Crimson Tide's 2025 offense ranking 36th in SP+ — their worst mark since 2007
- No. 2 Oregon hosts Boise State on CBS at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a matchup the Broncos enter with a 3-1 all-time record against the Ducks after losing by just three points to a 12-0 Oregon team in 2024
- Baylor at Auburn (3:30 p.m., ABC) sets up a rematch of last season's USF-Florida stunner, with DJ Lagway now at Baylor facing Byrum Brown, the quarterback whose USF team upset Lagway's Gators 18-16 last year and who now runs Alex Golesh's new Auburn offense
- Clemson at LSU on Saturday night is the de facto Week 1 headliner, though writer Bill Connelly notes the matchup is dampened by Clemson's 2025 collapse; the only true ranked-versus-ranked battle is on Sunday night
- Michigan State hosts Toledo on FS1 at 8 p.m. Friday in Pat Fitzgerald's debut as Spartans coach, with both teams fielding nearly entirely new starting lineups against a Toledo roster built by new coach Mike Jacobs from FCS transfers
- Indiana, the reigning national champion, hosts North Texas at noon on Fox as 40.5-point favorites under Curt Cignetti, though the Hoosiers must replace plenty of starters after their title run
Why it matters: Week 1 offers the first meaningful data points on whether Ohio State's championship roster can handle a tougher schedule, whether Alabama's offense can be rescued by a redshirt freshman QB, and whether Indiana's Cignetti-fueled magic survives losing key pieces. The transfer-portal revenge subplot at Baylor-Auburn — where Lagway faces the QB whose team ended his Florida tenure — gives the slate one storyline with genuine emotional stakes despite the lack of marquee ranked matchups.
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