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Brant's bold predictions for Week 1 of the 2026 college football season, including picks for Baylor, Oklahoma State, LSU, SMU, Boston College, Cincinnati.
College football is back. Last weekend’s Week 0 was just a little taste of what we are about to endure this upcoming weekend. The action starts on Thursday and will continue all the way through Monday.
While we are lacking big-time matchups this season in Week 1, there are still a number of intriguing games throughout the slate. College football diehards will be glued to the TV all weekend long.
Let’s kick this season off with some bold predictions for the weekend’s slate.
Baylor Takes Down Auburn in Atlanta
This game wasn’t much of a contest last year, as Auburn ran all over Baylor’s defense and controlled the game en route to a victory. Jackson Arnold ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, only needing to attempt 17 passes in the 38-24 win.
Both of these teams look completely different than they did a season ago. Auburn has an entirely new staff, and hardly any holdovers on the roster from the 2025 team. As for Baylor, Dave Aranda knows he’s firmly on the hot seat. Veteran quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who threw for 419 yards and three touchdowns in this game last season, has been replaced by SEC burnout DJ Lagway.
NEW: Auburn is preparing for the best version of DJ Lagway. The Baylor QB is healthy and confident, and Alex Golesh says that version of Lagway could present a major challenge for the Tigers.
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— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) September 1, 2026
Alex Golesh is a great coach, and he’s brought over a good chunk of last season’s USF roster with him. Byrum Brown, one of the nation’s best dual-threats at the G6 level for the past few seasons, will be under center.
My concern here is that Auburn just does not have as much SEC-level talent as they typically do this season. DJ Lagway, meanwhile, is reportedly feeling rejuvenated in Baylor’s Air Raid offense. He’s seen his fair share of SEC defenses over the past two seasons and has shown flashes that once made people believe he could be a future top NFL Draft selection.
If Lagway has truly put it all together with a change of scenery, this Week 1 matchup could be an awakening across college football. While I love the Golesh hire, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Baylor wins this game on Saturday.
Boston College Gets Road Upset Over Cincinnati
While they started the 2025 season strong, Cincinnati lost their last five games. They weren’t particularly competitive, either. Now with Brendan Sorsby out and Georgia Southern transfer JC French IV in, Scott Satterfield has his hands full.
As for Boston College, Bill O’Brien is a much more proven coach. While last season’s 2-10 record was ugly, O’Brien has made some changes this offseason and the Eagles should be more competitive. That change starts at quarterback, with Saginaw Valley State transfer Mason McKenzie set to draw his first FBS start.
McKenzie is a dual-threat who has impressed this offseason enough to earn the starting role.
While the casual college football fan won’t have eyes on this game, it is one of the few power conference matchups. With the Bearcats’ program seemingly crashing and burning and O’Brien’s coaching experience, I like Boston College to get the job done in Cincinnati on Saturday.
Oklahoma State Scores Most Points in Week 1
There will be a lot of points on the board from some of the nation’s top teams on Saturday. With teams like Ohio State (Ball State), Texas (Texas State), and Indiana (North Texas) playing inferior competition, it is likely that they’ll want to let loose and put some numbers up after an offseason of waiting around for the season to begin.
An under-the-radar team that I like to lead the nation in scoring after Week 1? Eric Morris’ Oklahoma State Cowboys. The last two seasons at Oklahoma State have been disastrous, as the Cowboys went 4-20 and were largely unwatchable on both sides of the ball.
With Mike Gundy out and Eric Morris in, it’s a new era in Stillwater. Morris’ 2025 North Texas team led the nation in scoring with 45.1 points per game, and a whole lot of key players from that team followed Morris over to Oklahoma State. He also recently was in the news for a story involving an armadillo. Fun fact!
#OkState coach Eric Morris says he is often up late at night thinking about his football team.
Then he heard the armadillo that’s been pestering his backyard.
Final result: Morris 1, armadillo 0. 😂 pic.twitter.com/ECSdYWVRRu
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) August 18, 2026
The Pokes open the season on the road against Tulsa, a familiar foe from the American conference. North Texas did not meet Tulsa a season ago, but the Golden Hurricanes finished at 4-8 (1-7 in conference play).
Drew Mestemaker, Caleb Hawkins, and company are going to be eager to display their talents in front of a new fanbase, and Morris has not been known to hold back. I like Oklahoma State to lead the nation in scoring in Week 1, avenging last season’s loss to Tulsa.
LSU Routs Clemson
The marquee matchup of Week 1 is Tigers on Tigers as Clemson heads to Baton Rouge for the inaugural game of the Lane Kiffin era. LSU is currently favored by 10.5 points against the visiting Tigers, but I think this one could get ugly quickly.
Dabo Swinney with a not-so-subtle message ahead of Clemson’s Week 1 matchup vs. LSU 👀 pic.twitter.com/xZJFUPp4m8
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2026
Clemson has not been the same since the transfer portal era, and Dabo Swinney has not made any changes that indicate they’ll be any better than last season’s 7-6 team. Christopher Vizzina is expected to make his second career start under center after losing 35-24 to SMU at home last year.
Meanwhile, it’s looking more and more like LSU is going to have former NFL players suiting up on Saturday night. There have been ongoing efforts to uphold tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris’ eligibility after they signed with NFL teams this offseason, but it is looking more and more like Kiffin will have his two former stars suited up.
In addition to the late addition of two key players from Ole Miss’ run last year, Kiffin has star power on both sides of the ball, starting with quarterback Sam Leavitt. The Arizona State transfer will simply have to be a game manager in this stacked offense.
There is a much wider talent gap in this game than the spread indicates, and mixing that with the fact that it’s the opening game of a new era under the lights, this has all the makings of a statement win.
SMU Blows Out Florida State
If you didn’t get around to watching Florida State in Week 0 - spoiler alert - it was not pretty. While the Seminoles did manage to beat New Mexico State 34-17, they were only up by seven points deep into the third quarter in a game they were favored to win by over 30 points.
Mike Norvell’s program has been rapidly falling since the 2023 season, sitting at a 7-17 record over the last two years. Quarterback Ashton Daniels has proven that he can’t play at this level, yet was brought in as the starter.
Meanwhile, Rhett Lashlee has SMU on a completely different trajectory. Since joining the ACC in 2024, the Mustangs have a 20-7 record and even qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2024. Veteran quarterback Kevin Jennings is back, and this team should take advantage of continuity early in the season.
While they are on the road on Monday night, the Mustangs’ experienced and well-coached team should easily be able to overcome the environment. While it can be one of college football’s best environments, Florida State fans are very down on the state of their program right now. A blowout loss is not only going to happen in Tallahassee on Monday, but could even send Norvell packing.
