Betting for college football Week 0: Predictions, picks, odds

The highlights for Week 0 include a game across the Atlantic in Dublin, North Dakota State’s first game as a FBS member and what some are calling a “College Football Playoff eliminator” between Memphis and UNLV, two teams that have a path to being the Group of Six CFP representative.

The lines for these games and all of the Week 1 matchups have been up for a long time, but bettors will really start to dig in now. So while this is an “Opening Line Report,” these aren’t really openers. Just what the lines are “opening” at on game week, so to speak, for a few of the more interesting matchups.

North Carolina vs. TCU (-7½, 47½)

Saturday, 9 a.m.

The 2026 college football season begins in Dublin, Ireland, as TCU is over a touchdown favorite against North Carolina. We haven’t seen a ton of movement in this line to this point, but what we have seen has been heavy on the Horned Frogs. UNC recently announced that multitime transfer Billy Edwards Jr. would be the starting QB and, while the line had already moved from 6½ to 7½, I don’t think that bit of breaking news got anybody excited about taking the underdog. Even without third all-time leading passer Josh Hoover, TCU is and should continue to be the preferred side.

San Jose State at USC (-38½, 59½)

Saturday, 12 p.m.

The biggest favorite on the board is USC, as the Trojans and returning QB Jayden Maiava take on newcomer Luke Weaver and the Spartans. With Walker Eget now at Duke, the Hawaii transfer gets the first crack at running this San Jose State offense, but it certainly looks like a tall task given the line in this matchup. Like a lot of the favorites for Saturday, this line was pushed up over the course of the summer and we haven’t seen a whole lot of interest in taking the dog as of yet, but that could happen as the week goes along. Personally, I’m not sure that it will, given that USC scored 132 points in its first two games last season against Missouri State and Georgia Southern.

Jacksonville State at North Dakota State (-7, 46½)

Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

The first FBS game at the Fargodome is a hot ticket, as this is the most expensive game of the weekend on the secondary market. Jacksonville State made the move to FBS in 2023, and it has been a very solid program since joining Conference USA. North Dakota State is part of the Mountain West. The Bison are a perplexing team for bettors and oddsmakers, given that they’ve been a FCS powerhouse with quarterbacks drafted by NFL teams and the perception of the program has almost always been high. However, this is a step up going to FBS and even taking on Jacksonville State, as indicated by the fact that we have some 6½s out there with a line that opened -10 or close to it at most sportsbooks.

Hawaii at Stanford (-5½, 49½)

Saturday, 4 p.m.

No road teams are favored this week in college football, but it is a little surprising to see Stanford favored in a game with how the program has performed in recent seasons. The Cardinal were only favored once last season (San Jose State) and failed to cover 3½ in a 30-29 win. They were favored once in 2024 and it was against FCS Cal Poly. They were favored once in 2023 and lost to FCS Sacramento State. As the days have passed, Stanford has actually grown a bit as a favorite, even touching -6 at some places when news was filtering out that Hawaii’s star WR Pofele Ashlock got hurt in practice. Of all the underdogs on the Week 0 slate, Hawaii strikes me as the one most likely to get public support to shrink the number.

Memphis at UNLV (-5½, 57½)

Saturday, 7 p.m.

What an outstanding Week 0 game this is. Memphis has a new head coach in Charles Huff and he has a cache of NIL weaponry thanks to Memphis-based FedEx, but it might take some time for him to get settled in. Dan Mullen is back for Year 2 for UNLV, but QB Anthony Colandrea is not.

We’ll likely see reps for both former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold and Michigan transfer Alex Orji as Mullen tries to figure out which guy is the better bet at the start of the season. Even with that uncertainty, UNLV is and has been comfortably favored over the summer and spent a lot of time a -6 before the line settled back to 5½.