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While the 2026 college football season got an appetizer with Week 0, the main course will be served with the Week 1 college football schedule. There are 90 games involving FBS teams on the slate, with several intriguing non-conference matchups. Lane Kiffin makes his LSU debut versus Clemson on Saturday, which has his Tigers 9.5-point favorites per the latest Week 1 college football odds. Then on Sunday, the only ranked contest of the weekend occurs with Kiffin's former squad in No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 24 Louisville (+6.5). Visit our DraftKings promo code review and get $200 in bonus bets as a new user after $5+ in wagers here:
Making Week 1 college football picks often means wagering on games with huge spreads. There is certainly a fair share of those including No. 1 Ohio State vs. Ball State (+50.5), No. 3 Georgia vs. Tennessee State (+47.5) and No. 20 Tennessee vs. Furman (+46.5).
Before making any college football picks for those games or others in Week 1, be sure to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.
The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times. It is on a 32-19 run on top-rated CFB money-line picks since the 2024 season, and it has been upgraded for the 2026 season to even better factor in the transfer portal!
Now, it has studied the latest college football odds (see the latest college football lines for each matchup this week on our college football odds page), simulated every single play for every Week 1 game, and the results are in.
One of the college picks the model is high on during Week 1: Auburn (-7.5, 58.5) covers against Baylor in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff well over 60% of the time. Another prediction: Cincinnati (-7.5, 51.5) covers at home versus Boston College at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Bearcats cover in almost 60% of simulations, and the Under hits nearly 80% of the time in an A-rated pick.
The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every FBS matchup, including a Big Ten squad suffering a shocking upset!
So which college football teams should you back in Week 1, and which underdog starts the season off with a shocking upset? ... Join SportsLine now to see who wins and covers every single game, all from the model that is on a 32-19 run on top-rated money line picks since 2024!
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Written by Ross Kelly
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