CFB Week 0 Picks Saturday 8/29
CFB Week 0 Picks Saturday 8/29
The 2026 college football season is upon us, and while the season gets underway in earnest with a massive slate next week, there are still plenty of compelling Week 0 contests to ease us into the season. The action starts with a matchup between North Carolina and TCU from Dublin, Ireland, and concludes with Memphis vs. UNLV from Allegiant Stadium. With Saturday’s slate nearly upon us, let’s dive into our expert’s college football predictions and NCAAF best bets.
CFB Week 0 Saturday Predictions
Pick #1: North Carolina vs TCU Under 47.5 (-115)
Pick #2: NC State +4.5 over Virginia (-110)
Pick #3: Stanford -3.5 over Hawaii (-115)
PICK #1: North Carolina Tar Heels vs TCU Horned Frogs Under 47.5 (-115)
Both of these teams have a ton of moving parts heading into this game, and that makes it challenging to formulate a handicap on the side. However, our expert is more confident in banking on a lower-scoring affair in Dublin, which has been the trend in these season openers over the last few years.
The Horned Frogs offense should be humming by the time they reach Big 12 play, but they could experience some growing pains considering they have a new quarterback (Jaden Craig) and offensive coordinator, as well as a lack of returning production. On the other side, this is the first game for North Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards after transferring from Wisconsin, and it’s hard to see the veteran QB throwing the ball around the yard against an improved TCU defense. Furthermore, with plenty of rain and wind in the forecast on Saturday, we can expect to see both teams play things close to the vest and avoid making any costly mistakes in a game that could swing on one turnover.
PICK #2: NC State Wolfpack +4.5 over Virginia Cavaliers (-110)
This is a deceptively important game in the ACC race between a couple teams hoping to make it to Charlotte come the first week of December. There isn’t much that separates these teams on paper, and even after adjusting to give Virginia a true home-field advantage – this game was originally supposed to be in Brazil – our expert still can’t get there with the Cavaliers as a favorite of more than a field goal.
NC State profiles as a compelling underdog in this one because the Wolfpack have the better quarterback (CJ Bailey) and a defense that underwent a significant overhaul in the offseason after a terrible 2025 campaign. There is a lot of variance with the Wolfpack, but we can trust head coach Dave Doeren to turn in a solid showing as an underdog, and it’s hard to believe in a Virginia team that won five one-score games in 2025 and is replacing its sixth-year quarterback with a pretty unproven commodity in Beau Pribula. Let’s look for the road ‘dog to keep things close in this ACC clash.
PICK #3: Stanford Cardinal -3.5 over Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (-115)
These teams met in Week 0 to open the 2025 season and Stanford certainly felt like the better team in that game, despite losing on a walk-off field goal as time expired. One year later, our expert fully expects the Cardinal to exact a bit of revenge in this spot against a Hawaii team that lost a ton of production from last year's 8-4 squad.
Micah Alejado is back at quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors, but this team will need to break in multiple offensive lineman and running backs, and they are also expected to be without All-Conference wideout Pofele Ashlock in this game due to a knee injury. That’s not an encouraging sign against a Stanford defense that projects to be much improved. As for the Cardinal offense, Tavita Prichard’s group is the much more experienced unit, and they should hold an edge in the trenches against a Hawaii team that is replacing seven multi-year starters from last season’s defense. Look for the Cardinal to own the line of scrimmage en route to a victory at home.
