With spring practice coming to a close and college football’s transfer portal window reopening for its 10-day April extravaganza, one can almost feel the start of the 2025 season. Staying in that same mindset, why not shift gears and tackle some Week 1 predictions?
Quality matchups load the early parts of the schedule with several non-conference showdowns during opening weekend guaranteed to spike the College Football Playoff conversation. Playoff seeding changes could happen, but no further expansion — at the earliest — until next season. The highest-rated conference champions get the top four seeds and first-round byes while others are seeded by the selection committee.
Takeaways from Week 1 often determine a team’s initial worth within the national rankings and can sometimes provide a quick glimpse into a season on the brink of disaster — see Florida State last season — if immediate improvements fail to surface.
RELATED: Games that will define college football’s 2025 season
Here are the most interesting games and corresponding picks as the hunger for kickoff intensifies…
