College Football Week 0 Preview: Top Things to Know Include Bill Belichick Heading to Ireland

Late August means one thing for sports fans: Football season is on the horizon.

The 2026 college football season will have its full opening week from Sept. 3 through Labor Day on Sept. 7, but there’s an appetizing slate of games before then.

Week 0 offers an eight-game slate on Aug. 29 that starts in Dublin, Ireland, and concludes in Las Vegas.

Here’s a look at each matchup.

North Carolina vs. TCU (Dublin, Ireland): Noon ET

• This is the fourth straight year the college football season will begin in Ireland in an event known as the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. This will be both programs’ first Ireland game but their fifth matchup overall, with UNC holding the 3-1 edge but TCU prevailing in Week 1 of last season.

• That 2025 defeat saw the Tar Heels fall 48-14, and the 48 points allowed are the most ever for a Bill Belichick-coached team, at either the college or pro levels. Belichick has also lost four straight season openers (2021-23 with New England Patriots, 2025 with UNC).

San Jose State at No. 14 USC: 3 p.m. ET

• USC is the only ranked team in action in Week 0, with its continuity being a big reason for that ranking. The Trojans return an FBS-high 15 starters from last year’s unit, which went 9-4, including 7-0 at home.

• If trends are any indication, this matchup should be chalk, considering both programs’ history with season openers. San Jose State has lost nine straight season openers on the road, while USC has won 17 straight season openers at home.

NC State at Virginia: 3:30 p.m. ET

• The only Power 4 matchup featuring conference opponents, this matchup was originally set to take place in Rio de Janeiro. However, operational factors led to it being relocated to UVA’s home stadium, which may actually play into NC State’s favor. The Wolfpack have won three straight road games versus Virginia and four straight meetings overall.

• The Cavaliers are coming off a school record of 11 wins and welcome Missouri transfer Beau Pribula as their new starting quarterback. He’s hoping his start in Charlottesville, Va., is better than his ending in Columbia, Mo. Pribula had a hot start last year but ended the year dislocating his ankle and throwing zero touchdowns, versus four interceptions, over his last four games.

Jacksonville State at North Dakota State: 5:30 p.m. ET

• After dominating the Missouri Valley Football Conference to the tune of 10 FCS championships, the Bison have made the jump up to the FBS level, where they’ll compete in the Mountain West Conference. They had won six straight games versus FBS opponents before dropping their last two. Their first FBS game will be against the program they defeated in the 2015 FCS Championship.

• Jax State is now in its fourth season in FBS, and it has won exactly nine games in each of the first three. The Gamecocks play conservatively on offense but are opportunistic on defense as they’re the only FBS program to rank in the top five of rushing yards per game each of the last three years, while their 17-game streak with a takeaway is the longest active in the sport.

Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan: 6:30 p.m. ET

• The Sac State Hornets are the other squad making their FBS debut in Week 0 as a football-only member of the Mid-America Conference. Their history versus FBS teams is far less glamorous than North Dakota State’s—Sac State has a 4-24 all-time record against FBS programs.

• EMU’s run defense could be the pathway for Sac State to notch its fifth win against an FBS squad as the Eagles were a sieve in defending the ground game a year ago. Their 232.1 rushing yards allowed per game were the most in college football, while the 5.5 yards per carry they allowed was third most.

Hawaii at Stanford: 7 p.m. ET

• What EMU was to run defense in 2025, Stanford was to passing defense. The Cardinal simply could not control the air game as their 288.9 passing yards allowed per game were the most in the nation, and just one school (Cincinnati, 2) had fewer picks than Stanford’s three interceptions.

• The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are coming off a 9-4 season, as they’ve improved their record every year since going 3-10 in 2022. That makes them one of just five FBS teams who can make that claim, and one of Hawaii’s nine wins last year came in the season opener over Stanford, 23-20.

New Mexico State at Florida State: 7 p.m. ET

• Both of these teams are ready to turn the page after disastrous endings to the 2025 college football season. Florida State went 2-7 over its last nine games, while New Mexico State went 1-6 over its final seven. However, that 1-6 record for NMSU is nothing compared to the 1-24 mark it has over its last 25 contests against Power Conference teams.

• FSU is projected to have seven new offensive starters, but one holdover is WR Duce Robinson. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound wide receiver was the No. 1 tight end prospect in his high school class before converting to wideout in college. He ranked second in the ACC in yards per catch (19.3) last year and third in the conference in receiving yards (1,081), as he was named to the 2026 preseason All-America second team.

Memphis at UNLV: 10 p.m. ET

• Former Marshall and Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff will make his Memphis coaching debut after Ryan Silverfield departed for Arkansas. Huff has a complete rebuilding effort on his hands as Memphis returns just one starter from last year’s team. Among the squad’s 53 incoming transfers is WR Alante Brown, a seventh-year senior who will turn 26 in December.

• As for UNLV, the area in which it was strong on offense in 2025 was also the area in which it struggled on defense. The Rebels ranked 10th in redzone scoring last season but were ninth-worst in the nation in redzone defense. Penalties, perhaps, played a role in UNLV’s issues in getting off the field when defending in the red zone a year ago, as Dan Mullen’s crew was among the bottom 12 teams (out of 136) in both penalties per game and penalty yardage per game.