College football is back, and Week 1 wastes no time giving fans a little bit of everything. The schedule stretches from Thursday through Monday night, with a mix of marquee matchups, oddball pairings and late-night games that should keep the sport buzzing all weekend.
The only Top 25 showdown lands Sunday in Nashville, where No. 24 Louisville takes on No.
9 Ole Miss. It’s the kind of early test both teams can use to build a playoff case, and it comes with plenty to like on offense.
Beyond that, the slate includes a Pac-12 After Dark-style trip to Berkeley, a battle in Death Valley, a Big 12-SEC clash in Atlanta and a Labor Day ACC game in Tallahassee.
The transfer portal and NIL have turned every offseason into a kind of controlled chaos, and Week 1 is where that unpredictability shows up fastest. New faces are everywhere, old faces are in new places, and plenty of teams are still trying to figure out what they really are.
Boise State at No. 2 Oregon on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Paramount+ is a good place to start.
Oregon is a huge favorite, but it can’t afford to treat Boise State like a tune-up. The Broncos are expected to contend for the new Pac-12 and have every reason to keep this one tight while chasing a College Football Playoff resume boost.
At the same time, Baylor vs. Auburn in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. on ABC has upset potential written all over it, even if neither side looks like a world-beater on paper.
The quarterback angle gives it juice, and the matchup also brings a rematch of last season when Auburn transfer QB Byrum Brown helped USF stun Baylor transfer QB DJ Lagway and Florida in The Swamp. Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins adds another reason to watch; he’s one of the best at his position in the country.
Saturday night delivers Clemson at No. 11 LSU at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, and that one feels like a proving ground for both programs.
Clemson is still searching for the kind of edge that put it back on top, and Dabo Swinney has a chance to show there’s more there than questions. LSU has the more talented roster, but it hasn’t had the smoothest fall camp, with distractions that included the SEC suing Lane Kiffin.
If the late window is more your speed, UCLA at California on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN should scratch the itch. The matchup keeps the old Pac-12 After Dark vibe alive, with Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava both worth staying up for. Tosh Lupoi is set for his Cal debut, and Bob Chesney will coach his first game for UCLA.
Then comes the week’s headliner in Nashville on Sunday night. No.
24 Louisville and No. 9 Ole Miss both bring real playoff paths into the matchup, and the running game should be front and center.
Kewan Lacy and Isaac Brown are two of the best backs in the country, while quarterbacks Trinidad Chambliss and Lincoln Kienholz also have the kind of mobility that can tilt a game.
The weekend wraps Monday night with No. 19 SMU at Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN in Tallahassee.
Florida State opened with a sloppy Week 0 win over New Mexico State, yet the Seminoles are still only slight underdogs. That says plenty about the talent at the top of the depth chart, but if the pass rush doesn’t get better quickly, Kevin Jennings could spend the night picking them apart.
And if that happens, the pressure on Mike Norvell will only grow.
In Other News...
Cal-UCLA Suddenly Means More To Bears Fans Than Just Week 1
Cals season-opening meeting with UCLA already had plenty of intrigue from a football standpoint, with a new-look Bruins team, coaching changes on both sides and a matchup that should say a lot about where each program stands early. The game also comes with the usual Bay Area backdrop at Memorial Stadium, where the Bears are trying to sort out how their offense and defense fit together against a familiar Pac-12 foe and one of the conferences most recognizable brands.
For Cal fans, though, this one has taken on a different edge. Beyond the Xs and Os, the matchup has become tied up in a broader frustration that has hung over the program and its supporters since realignment reshaped the conference landscape, giving a first-week game a little more bite than it would normally have. Even before kickoff, it feels like the kind of Saturday that carries extra weight in Berkeley. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Softball Faces Disturbing Questions About Its Former Coach
Cal softball is dealing with a difficult and deeply serious off-field story surrounding former coach Chelsea Spencer, whose resignation in June 2025 had already raised questions within the program. Spencer stepped away citing mental health and family priorities, but a lawsuit filed by a former player has now brought far more troubling allegations into view, naming Spencer, the UC Board of Regents and other officials as defendants.
The complaint says the interactions at issue began in 2023 and include sexual contact, along with team and administrative fallout that followed. For Cal, the case is about more than a coaching change, because it puts the program's handling of the situation under scrutiny and leaves major questions hanging over what happened inside the team before Spencer's exit. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Opens A New Era With Plenty To Prove Right Away
A new chapter begins Saturday at Memorial Stadium, where Cal will open the Tosh Lupoi era against UCLA in a setting that already feels bigger than a normal early-season game. The Bears have spent the offseason reworking the program from the ground up, adding 32 transfers and changing coordinators as they try to reset the roster and the culture at the same time.
The backdrop only adds to the weight of the moment, with the game also serving as the Joe Roth Memorial Game in honor of the former Cal quarterback. Between the opponent, the atmosphere and the amount of turnover around the program, this is less about easing into a new season than it is about finding out quickly how ready the Bears are for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]