College football is back Saturday with Week 0, a short opening slate that gives us a week's head start before the full schedule arrives Labor Day weekend.
This week I'm breaking it all down with a season preview including the contenders and the storylines worth following all fall. I'll also break down Saturday's opener in Dublin, where Bill Belichick's second season at North Carolina begins under a cloud of offseason turmoil.
Elsewhere, tennis' final major begins in New York and golf crowns its FedEx Cup champion in Atlanta.
Sport | Team/Event | Day/Time (ET) | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
🏈 College Football | North Carolina vs. TCU | Saturday, 12:00 PM | ESPN |
⛳ GOLF | Tour Championship | Today-Sun (Full Schedule) | Golf Channel/CBS |
🎾 Tennis | US Open, First Round | Sunday (Full Schedule) | ESPN |
THE 2026 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
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Ohio State opens as the preseason No. 1 for the first time since 2015, but five different teams received first-place votes in the AP poll, meaning even the voters can't agree on who's actually the best team in the country. Here are the contenders worth knowing before the season starts.
The contenders:
Ohio State (No. 1): The offense is loaded. Julian Sayin was one of the most accurate passers in the country last season and returns alongside Jeremiah Smith, who leads the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns over the past two years. The concern is defense and schedule, where they lost stars Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese, and Sonny Styles to the draft. They also have one of the hardest schedules in the country where five of their nine conference games come against ranked teams, including a September trip to Texas.
Oregon (No. 2): Dante Moore returns as an early Heisman favorite after a season where the Ducks' only losses came to the eventual national champion, Indiana. Coach Dan Lanning's challenge is finally getting over the hump. Oregon keeps making deep playoff runs and keeps falling short. The talent is there. The question is whether this is the year they finish the job.
Georgia (No. 3): QB Gunner Stockton is back for his second season as the starter, and Kirby Smart's teams are always tough and resilient. The question mark is the passing game, specifically whether the receiver room can hold up against elite defenses they’ll face in the SEC.
Notre Dame (No. 4): CJ Carr comes into this season as one of the best quarterbacks in the country, but the Irish lost two top running backs and missed the playoff last season. The calling card is a defense returning most of its starters, and the schedule sets up favorably for a revenge tour.
Texas (No. 5): Likely Arch Manning's final season in Austin. He came in with enormous expectations last year, struggled early, and finished strong. Texas added weapons around him this offseason. If it clicks, this is a team that can make a title run.
Indiana (No. 6): The defending champs went 16-0 and won the program's first national title, then lost their QB who was the No 1. pick in this year’s draft and much of that offense. Curt Cignetti reloaded through the portal with TCU transfer Josh Hoover, who's arguably more physically talented than Mendoza was. The coaching staff is intact, and Cignetti has earned the benefit of the doubt. Expect this team to make a deep playoff run once again.
The Team to Watch: LSU (No. 11): The most polarizing team in the country, built on the No. 1 transfer portal class. Lane Kiffin arrives after a controversial exit from Ole Miss, leaving a playoff team before the playoff. Nobody knows what this team is yet, which is exactly what makes them worth watching.
UNC VS TCU | SATURDAY 12:00 PM, ESPN
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The stakes: College football's opener is in Dublin, and it's a rematch of the game that spoiled Bill Belichick's college debut. TCU beat North Carolina 48-14 in Chapel Hill last season on the way to a 4-8 campaign for the Tar Heels. Year 2 was supposed to be the reset. Instead, the program has been destabilized again: general manager Michael Lombardi was placed on leave over an HR complaint, and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill's son, began an indefinite medical leave earlier this month and did not travel to Ireland with the team.
The pressure is on Belichick. So far his tenure has generated more headlines about dysfunction than wins. Year 2 needs to look different quickly, and there's nowhere to hide in a Week 0 game opening the season. He can't afford a repeat of last year's 48-14 opener.
What to watch for: Jaden Craig, TCU's new quarterback. The Horned Frogs lost Josh Hoover to Indiana and replaced him with Craig, a Harvard transfer who lit up the FCS and brings real mobility with 11 rushing touchdowns over the past three seasons. If UNC can't pressure him, TCU's playmakers will make this look like last year all over again.
Skin in the Game: Back North Carolina +9.5. TCU has plenty of turnover of their own, most notably at quarterback, where Jaden Craig arrives from Harvard to make his first career start outside the Ivy League. That's a real adjustment, and Week 0 openers are rarely clean for anyone. The Horned Frogs have also dealt with their own off-field turmoil this offseason too.
The under has also been taking money all week, and in an expected low-scoring game where points come at a premium, that's the kind of spot where a double-digit number is tough to cover. Remember this is for fun, not your rent money.
KEEP ON YOUR RADAR
QUICK HITS
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US Open | First Round Begins Sunday (ESPN): Tennis' final major begins in Flushing Meadows. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew with a knee injury, leaving defending champion Carlos Alcaraz as the favorite, though he's been out since April with a wrist injury and hasn't played many competitive matches since.
Alexander Zverev, this year's French Open champion, moved into second in the betting odds given his recent form. And Novak Djokovic is still chasing a record 25th Grand Slam at 39.
On the women's side, Aryna Sabalenka is going for her third straight U.S. Open, something no woman has done since Serena Williams. Coco Gauff is the one to watch as a previous US Open champion and coming off winning the Cincinnati Open after beating Jessica Pegula in straight sets.
Tour Championship | Today–Sun (Golf Channel/CBS): Golf's season ends at East Lake with a 30 player field and $10 million to the winner. The format changed last year and it matters: it used to give the season's points leader a head start, sometimes as much as 10 shots. That's gone. Now all 30 players start even, and the lowest four-round score wins both the tournament and the FedEx Cup.
Scottie Scheffler enters as the points leader for the fifth straight year, but that advantage is gone the moment play starts. Wyndham Clark arrives in top form off his BMW Championship win, and Tommy Fleetwood is trying to do something no one ever has, defend a FedEx Cup.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Must-watch:
North Carolina vs. TCU (Sat 12:00 PM, ESPN) — College football's back.
US Open (Sun, ESPN) — The last major of the tennis season begins.
Worth tuning in:
Tour Championship (Today–Sun, Golf Channel/CBS) — 30 players, and a FedEx Cup title.
— Zach Blumenstein
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