Football is nearly here. The college football season kicks off with its soft-launch Week 0 on Saturday. Usually, Week 0 is for the true sickos of the sport who are eagerly awaiting the return of any competitive football, but this year, there’s a top-25 matchup headlining the small slate of games.
No. 17 Kansas State and No. 22 Iowa State meet in Dublin, Ireland, for a Big 12 game to open the season. Both are among the handful of legitimate contenders to win the ultra-balanced Big 12, and the Wildcats are only favored by three points, so it looks like a good game on paper. Ranked teams with College Football Playoff ambitions meeting in a game with a close spread, and it’s an old conference rivalry that has a fun name (Farmageddon) to boot? Yes, please.
The four other games involving FBS teams on Saturday all carry some level of intrigue, if you’re willing to get a little in the weeds. UNLV hosts Idaho State in an FBS vs. FCS game with a 27.5-point spread, but it’s Dan Mullen’s debut with the Rebels, and he has Michigan transfer Alex Orji in a quarterback battle with Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea.
Then, Kansas hosts Fresno State with the Jayhawks somehow still trotting out Jalon Daniels at quarterback. Plus, Western Kentucky, which made the Conference USA title game last season, takes on Sam Houston in a conference game.
Finally, Hawaii hosts Stanford in what could be a sneaky good closer for the night. The Rainbow Warriors, in the fourth year under Hawaii legend Timmy Chang, are favored against the ACC foe.
Members of The Athletic’s college football staff are picking those five games against the spread and will pick the biggest games every week. It’s Week 0, which means if you’re reading this, you’re probably a big college football fan, so let’s have fun with this one before the loaded Week 1 gets the season going with a bang.
No. 17 Kansas State vs. No. 22 Iowa State
Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland
Noon ET on ESPN
Farmageddon is not just one of the best rivalry names in the sport, but also looks like a good matchup with early-season stakes. The Cyclones made it to the Big 12 title game last season before getting thumped 45-19 by Arizona State. The Cyclones bring back junior quarterback Rocco Becht, who has 48 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions in two years as a starter. He is a big reason for optimism in Ames this season.
The Wildcats have a returning quarterback as well, but Avery Johnson’s resume is not as polished as Becht’s. Johnson teased impressive talent in sporadic appearances as a freshman two years ago, with 12 total touchdowns as mostly a backup (seven rushing, five passing), but his first year as a starter was rocky. He totaled an impressive 32 touchdowns (25 passing, seven rushing) and had over 600 rushing yards. However, he completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes, including a 12-for-28 showing against Iowa State last year.
Kansas State lost three of four games in November to fall from Big 12 contender to middle of the pack, including a 29-21 loss to the Cyclones in Iowa in the regular season finale. Iowa State has won five of seven in the series after Kansas State ripped off 10 straight wins from 2008-17.
Staff picks against the spread
Idaho State at UNLV
4 p.m. ET, streaming on Mountain West Network
At first glance, there isn’t much to see here. UNLV is facing an FCS opponent and is favored by more than three touchdowns. However, Mullen’s coaching debut adds some intrigue, as does the quarterback battle between Orji and Colandrea. Orji was a running threat at Michigan who struggled to produce, like nearly everyone else on the Michigan offense last year. The senior will have to show he can pass as well as run after defenses loaded up the box and dared him to pass it last year.
Barry Odom led the Rebels to a solid program resurgence in his brief but successful two-year tenure. UNLV won 20 games in two seasons and made the Mountain West title game both years. That came on the heels of nine straight losing seasons. With Odom now at Purdue, Mullen takes over. Mullen had a solid nine-year run at Mississippi State before a four-year stint at Florida that fizzled out in 2021. Will he keep the momentum going in Las Vegas?
Staff picks against the spread
Fresno State at Kansas
6:30 p.m. ET on FOX
Kansas is solidly favored, but this game could get interesting. Fresno State coach Matt Entz is debuting, a couple years removed from leading North Dakota State to two FCS national titles in five years. He spent last year on USC’s staff and returns to a head coaching role. Entz has senior quarterback E.J. Warner, who has three years of starting experience at Temple and Rice and is the son of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
Warner brings plenty of experience, but not as much as Kansas’ Jalon Daniels. Daniels enters his sixth season with the Jayhawks, with injuries limiting him earlier in his career. Kansas finished 2023 in the top 25 and entered 2024 with a preseason ranking, something that hadn’t happened since 2009. However, a 1-5 start that featured four one-score losses eroded any optimism around last season. The Jayhawks rallied for a 5-7 finish, losing to Baylor in the last week, preventing a bowl berth. During Kansas’ surge, the Jayhawks beat Iowa State, BYU and Colorado, which all shared Big 12-leading 7-2 conference records.
Prolific running back Devin Neal is now with the New Orleans Saints, but Daniels was still a big part of what went well for Kansas in the second half of last season. Kansas’ win total on BetMGM is listed at 6.5, which implies modest expectations, but Daniels is at least in the discussion for best quarterback in the league. In a Big 12 that figures to be deep and balanced, Kansas could be thinking big. Showing that upside starts with this test against Fresno State in the debut of Kansas’ renovated stadium.
Staff picks against the spread
Sam Houston State at Western Kentucky
7 p.m. ET on CBSSN
While Kansas State and Iowa State are playing a conference game in Week 0, they at least have the excuse of doing so on another continent. This is a random Week 0 Conference USA game. The Hilltoppers are the clear favorites after making the conference title game last season. WKU is second in BetMGM’s odds to win CUSA at +350, behind only Liberty (-115). Sam Houston State is firmly in the middle of the pack, tied for fifth in the odds in the 12-team league.
Staff picks against the spread
Stanford at Hawaii
7:30 p.m. ET on CBS
An ACC team is an underdog against a Mountain West team that hasn’t made a bowl game in four years? That’s what we’re looking at in Honolulu.
Chang is 13-25 in his three years in charge, which is probably revving up some pressure to deliver a bowl game this season. The Rainbow Warriors have some optimism in the form of redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado. In last year’s season finale, Alejado threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in a win against New Mexico. Those are numbers that may make some Hawaii fans think of Chang’s playing days.
Hawaii is essentially the original Week 0 team, having played an early-season opener every year since 2016 (not counting the pandemic 2020 season), often against a power conference opponent.
Meanwhile, Stanford is just looking to get something going after four straight 3-9 seasons. In the last two seasons, the Cardinal have suffered defeats to Sacramento State and San Jose State. Saying that, seeing Hawaii as a small favorite doesn’t sound so strange anymore.
Staff picks against the spread
Wildcard picks
Every week, our pickers will select another bet of their choosing that isn’t limited to the games listed above. Normally, this would leave tons of options, but it’s Week 0, so they had to get creative. Enjoy the weird picks below.
Matt Baker: Iowa State-Kansas State under 50.5
Mark Cooper: Iowa State-Kansas State under 50.5
Sam Khan Jr.: Western Kentucky QB Maverick McIvor over 288.5 passing yards
Austin Mock: Western Kentucky-Sam Houston State under 61.5
Dan Santaromita: Kansas-Fresno State over 49.5
Daniel Shirley: Mercer +5.5 against UC Davis
David Ubben: UNLV-Idaho State over 64
Chris Vannini: Kansas-Fresno State over 49.5
(Photo of Rocco Becht: Chris Gardner / Getty Images)
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