The 2026 college football season is finally here. Last season, we had Ohio State hosting Arch Manning and Texas in Week 1. This season, we have Stanford hosting Miami. Not quite the same. But it is football, and that is what we care about.
With games come bold predictions. So, without further ado, here are four bold predictions about what is going to happen in Week 1 of the season.
Bold predictions for college football in Week 1
Malachi Toney will score three touchdowns against Stanford
The home of Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey, Stanford has not been the same in recent seasons. While the coaching has fallen off and been unsteady, much of the turmoil has to do with the academic standards of the school and their unwillingness to bend those rules. Admirable, but not good for the football program.
This has left the Cardinal with a talent deficit, and Miami is the perfect team to exploit this gap in talent.
Malachi Toney, who reclassified to the 2025 class, came in with authority. He finished his freshman season with 109 receptions for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns per ESPN stats. Now, Toney not only has another good transfer quarterback throwing him the ball in Darian Mensah, he also has an additional advantage with wide receiver Cooper Barkate coming over from Duke with Mensah.
Barkate was the favorite target of Mensa in 2025, and their connection will force teams to play him in the same manner as Toney.
Especially against a team such as Stanford, Toney will be able to torch the secondary for long gains. With this ability and a special play or two, look for Toney to start off the 2026 season strong in Palo Alto.
LSU will beat Clemson by 21+ points
LSU made huge changes throughout the off season and even before.
In hiring Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss, the Tigers knew what they were getting. They were getting someone who has never met a spotlight he did not run towards, a quote machine who thrives on being talked about, and a coach with a reputation. But they also got a great coach and one who can dial up an offense better than anyone in the game today.
With this playbook, LSU looks to get the Kiffin era off to a strong start at home on Saturday.
In Clemson, we see totally different approaches. Dabo Swinney wants nothing to change ever. He does not want to take players from the transfer portal to bolster his roster, and he wants to present loyalty in the locker room over winning by means that he finds distasteful. While respectful, this is not what college football has become. His teams have suffered for his stubbornness. The talent gap this has left in this once elite matchup is significant. Bringing back a team from last year which Swinney himself said sucked is not a good starting point to get better in 2026. Not with nine of those players being drafted into the NFL.
Even though this betting line is hovering around -7 for LSU, look for the home team to win by three touchdowns or more.
Indiana will score 60 against North Texas and cover the -40.5 -spread
Curt Cignetti was asked by the Cover 3 Podcast which of his wins from 2025 was his most frustrating. His answer? Week 1 against Old Dominion. Indiana won 27-14.
Cignetti felt the team was sloppy and it did not represent what Indiana football is. This does not bode well for what the Hoosiers are going to do to North Texas on Saturday.
Although some of the names have changed on the Indiana roster, the most important name, Cignetti, is still there. He has never been a coach to let up, and he is all gas and no brake until the final whistle. With new stars like quarterback Josh Hoover and wide receiver Nick Marsh, he also wants to find out what they are made of before the meat of the schedule.
For North Texas, coach Eric Morris left to go to Oklahoma State. With him, he took quarterback Drew Mestemaker, the leading passer in the country in 2025. He also took running back Caleb Hawkins. Hawkins finished 2025 with 1,434 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. In the pass game, Hawkins had 32 receptions for 370 yards and 4 additional touchdowns.
This represents much of the offense from North Texas, who lost a total of 70 players off a roster that got the Mean Green to the Athletic Conference title game against Tulane.
Indiana is motivated and will play a team which was destroyed by attrition. Look for Indiana to name their score on Saturday. Which could be all the more painful for Ole Miss, who is on upset alert.
Notre Dame will win by 30+ points
Not only is Indiana motivated, but there is also another university in the same state who needs all the points they can get to avoid a repeat of 2025.
Notre Dame is strapped with a less than challenging schedule after USC backed out of the traditional rivalry game. Lincoln Riley wanted to make sure to save his job and playing San Jose State instead of Notre Dame was the solution.
This left the Irish in a bind, as now, their only games of note are against Miami and SMU from the ACC and this matchup against Wisconsin. A game that was much more attractive when originally scheduled for Lambeau Field.
Notre Dame and quarterback C.J. Carr will start the 2026 season in the same manner as the team finished the 2025 regular season — by winning all their games by 30 points.
Coach Luke Fickell has a chance to save his job in Wisconsin this season. He needs to get to eight wins and show that when properly supported, he is the coach the Badgers hired. This is not going to be a game to put on the highlight reel, though.
Notre Dame will use their superior athleticism and stifling defense to hold Wisconsin to 14 points or less. While the offense starts in an explosive manner.
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