College football Week 0 overreactions: Virginia can win the ACC, plus 3 more
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Week 0 is in the books, and college football is about to be in full swing. This past weekend, we saw eight games at the FBS level, and some things went the way I thought they would, while others didn’t — like TCU laying a major egg against North Carolina.
Following the Week 0 slate, here are four overreactions from the past weekend.
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Virginia is the biggest challenger to Miami
The biggest winner of Week 0 was the Virginia Cavaliers. Entering the game, Virginia was down several players, and NC State has had the Cavs’ number, winning the last four games. But that wasn’t going to happen on Saturday.
Virginia went old-school and ran the ball up and down the Wolfpack. After a 34-8 win, the Cavaliers looked like a real threat in the ACC once again. Although it was Miami that went to the College Football Playoff last season, it was Virginia that won the ACC’s regular season in 2025.
You have to watch out for SMU, Louisville, and Clemson to some degree, but after Week 0, Virginia looked the part and could contend with the Canes this season.
USC’s defense will put it out of CFP contention
It’s a new year, but the USC defense screams issues. Lincoln Riley has yet to get the Trojans into the College Football Playoff, and could face some heat if he doesn’t in 2026, but USC’s defense is going to need to improve.
Playing against San Jose State, the Trojans gave up 336 yards and 26 points. Granted, the Spartans did score 23 in the fourth quarter when USC had some of its backups in — which is what makes this an overreaction.
Riley went out and hired former TCU coach Gary Patterson and he should have the Trojans’ defense playing at a high level as the season goes on. One other thing: USC’s offense should be good once again. Jayden Maiava has a new-look WR corps, but freshman Trent Mosley shined in Week 0.
North Carolina is headed to a bowl game
I certainly didn’t think Week 0 was going to look that way for either North Carolina or TCU. The Tar Heels’ offense was just ok, but North Carolina’s defense had QB Jaden Craig under duress for most of the game.
Craig had little answers for North Carolina, and that was without having defensive coordinator Steve Belichick. But Bill Belichick had his team ready to play, and QB Billy Edwards Jr. did a good job of managing the game and limiting mistakes.
The Tar Heels need to get to six wins in order to make a bowl game, and North Carolina will need to turn a few potential losses into wins in order to get there, but the team looked much improved from a season ago.
Winner of Memphis, Boise State in Week 3 will head to the CFP
It might’ve been Week 0, but the Memphis and UNLV game had CFP implications on the line. Remember, the highest-rated Group of Six team will make the playoff this season and both of those teams believed they had a chance.
The Rebels were in control, but Memphis came out on fire in the second half and outscored UNLV 20-7 in the final 30 minutes. QB Marcus Stokes played well, throwing for 223 yards and two scores in his debut for the Tigers as their starting signal caller.
Boise State is another team that many analysts see getting into the CFP, and a Week 3 meeting between the Tigers and Broncos will have a ton of implications on the line.
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