The first full slate of college football games for the 2026-27 season begins Thursday kicking off five consecutive days of action. TeamFB7 makes our picks for who could end up being involved in an early-season stunner.
After a long, torturous offseason and the annual tease that is Week 0, we’re finally approaching what I would go as far as saying is one of the single greatest days on the annual American sports calendar.
Week 1 of the college football season may not be the most action-packed in terms of marquee matchups, but the sheer anticipation brought on by months of having gone without it is a feeling that can’t be beat.
While there may not be too many “Game of the Year” candidates on the slate this Saturday, there are a handful of favored teams that have every right to be a bit nervous heading into their season-opening tilts. Things could always get weird like they did in 2007, when then-FCS Appalachian State defeated No. 5 Michigan at the Big House to open what was one of the strangest seasons in the sport’s history.
Speaking of FCS, the low-major Division I football schools kicked off their season last weekend. We’ll see if what we saw in some of those games is any indication of what we could see at the FBS level in Week 1. After a 2025 season that didn’t see a single Division II school earn a win over an FCS opponent, three Division II schools knocked off FCS opponents to open the 2026 season.
And after the perennial laughing stock Indiana Hoosiers ran the table to win the FBS title last year, can you really count out any potential outcome in this sport anymore?
College Football Upsets To Watch For In Week 1
Anyway, with opening week on the horizon, here are five potential college football upsets to keep an eye on this weekend.
Colorado over Georgia Tech (-6.5)
It’s been a turbulent stretch for Coach Prime in Boulder, but he has the chance to open this season on the right note against Georgia Tech. Football aside, it’s tough betting against Deion Sanders in Atlanta in any capacity, but the football reasons are pretty convincing too. Julian Lewis is a national breakout candidate at quarterback under new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who coined and popularized the revolutionary Go-Go offense. Haynes King won’t be walking through that door for Georgia Tech, and I’m nowhere near sold on Alberto Mendoza despite his Heisman genes.
Coach Prime with a MESSAGE to the players before GAME DAY…⬇️
Colorado vs Georgia Tech… pic.twitter.com/faur26LDMC
— Life and Football (@LifeandBall) September 2, 2026
Clemson over LSU (-10)
There’s a lot of hype in Baton Rouge entering Lane Kiffin’s maiden voyage with the Bayou Bengals, and Clemson is still a much tougher opening week opponent than both the media and the sportsbooks are giving it credit for. Dabo Swinney’s roster may not be as extravagant as Kiffin’s, but he knows how to get his team ready for big games. You also never know exactly how much the circus around Kiffin is going to affect his LSU team, especially considering the bombshell Vanity Fair article that dropped on his head on Wednesday morning.
South Dakota State over Northwestern (-13.5)
Anytime South Dakota State crosses over and takes on a lower-tier Power 4 opponent, the upset alert is going off. The Jackrabbits won back-to-back FCS National Championship games in 2022 and 2023 and have won two games against FBS opponents in program history, knocking off Kansas in 2015 and Colorado State in 2021. After seeing how convincing their former rival North Dakota State looked in its debut as an FBS program last weekend, the Jackrabbits are almost certainly looking to make a similar statement on Saturday and prove they too are worthy of moving up.
People tell me I’m “not a real college football fan.”
What’s about to happen to FCS football is exactly why I care. NDSU is moving up and could make the CFP in year 1. South Dakota State went into Colorado State in 2021 and embarrassed them 42–23.
What happens when SDSU,… https://t.co/oDjlX0J8QU pic.twitter.com/0MyjTQDBjl
— The cfb lliason (@realfbllliason) August 16, 2026
Idaho State over Utah State (-13.5)
I’ll admit this one is a real shot in the dark, but I watched Jordan Cooke and a decent amount of these same Idaho State Tigers walk into Allegiant Stadium to take on UNLV last season and nearly saw them pull off the program’s greatest win. In a 38-31 loss against a team that played for the Mountain West title, Cooke completed 30-of-50 passes for 380 yards. Utah State may be in the Pac 12 now, but the Aggies aren’t better than UNLV was last season and it seems like Idaho State has improved after beating VMI 38-10 last weekend to open its season. Like I said, this is a real shot in the dark, but it’s a shot I don’t necessarily hate.
Central Michigan over New Mexico (-10)
After UNLV’s likely season-defining loss to Memphis in Week 0, it’s hard to think of a situation that would be more chaotic and nightmarish for the conference than a loss for New Mexico against MAC foe Central Michigan on Saturday. What’s college football without chaos? The fact that New Mexico is a week removed from losing star quarterback Jack Layne for the season is a serious mountain to overcome, and Central Michigan is historically one of the most consistent G6 programs year in, year out. This one could spell trouble for Jason Eck and New Mexico if they don’t come out and make a statement with their ground game early.
