CFB Winning Edge Week 0 Game Predictions

After eight long months, college football season is finally here. Unfortunately, we won’t get a full slate of Saturday games, but Week 0 offers an appetizer of sorts with six FBS Group of Five opponents in action across four contests. Two showcase a pair of FBS squads hoping to get off on the right foot.

At CFB Winning Edge, we have prepared for the 2018 college football season by calculating a specific rating for every FBS player called VGR+, or Video Game Rating Plus, which accounts for a player’s talent, experience and production. We’ve also assigned each head coach an overall rating based on a variety of statistics (and like VGR+, coach ratings are not opinion based). 

We have built upon those ratings to create an analytical team strength rating, and an accompanying set of power rankings (using wVGR+, or weighted VGR+, which places a higher emphasis on starters), and then used those power rankings to develop game-by-game projections for all 130 teams, covering more than 1,500 matchups.

Those projections, which include a predicted point spread for every matchup, take a bird’s eye view of each contest. However, we also take a much closer look at select games, searching for a winning edge among the matchups, and make our picks against the Las Vegas point spreads in order to test our evaluation methods. 

Here, we show the preseason projection for every FBS vs. FBS game, and our final prediction for how each game will actually play out. Each listed matchup includes the preseason national ranking (No. 1-130), and the associated team strength rating (70-100).

For those looking for a more in-depth explanation of each pick, check here.

2018 Results

  • Straight Up: 0-0 (.000)
  • Against the Spread: 0-0 (.000)
  • Totals (Over/Under): 0-0 (.000)
  • Overall Record: 0-0 (.000)

WEEK 0 Predictions

No. 125 Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (73.43) at No. 87 Colorado State Rams (76.69)

  • Date: Saturday, August 25, 2018

  • Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern, 5:30 p.m. Local
  • Matchup: Mountain West Conference game
  • Location: Fort Collins, Colorado – Canvas Stadium (36,500)
  • Point Spread and Totals (Vegas Insider):
    • Opening Line: Colorado State -14 
    • Current Line: Colorado State -14
    • Opening Total: 57.5 
    • Current Total: 57
  • Homefield Advantage: Colorado State 3.75 (Phil Steele)
  • TV: CBS Sports Network
  • Weather: High 86, Low 58; Partly cloudy
  • Visitor Travel: 3,403 miles
  • Last Meeting: Colorado State 51, Hawai’i 21 (2017)

 

CFB WINNING EDGE PRESEASON PROJECTION

Colorado State by 16.9 points

 

PREDICTION

COLORADO STATE 42, HAWAI’I 20

(Colorado State -14; Over 57.5)

 

No. 76 Wyoming Cowboys (73.43) at No. 114 New Mexico State Aggies (76.69)

  • Date: Saturday, August 25, 2018
  • Time: 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Local
  • Matchup: Group of Five Non-Conference
  • Location: Las Cruces, NM – Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343)
  • Point Spread and Totals, According to Vegas Insider:
    • Opening Line: Wyoming -5.5 
    • Current Line: Wyoming -3.5 
    • Opening Total: 47 
    • Current Total: 46
  • Homefield Advantage: New Mexico State 2.75 (Phil Steele)
  • TV: ESPN2
  • Weather: High 95, Low 70; Partly cloudy
  • Visitor Travel: 744 miles

 

CFB WINNING EDGE PRESEASON PROJECTION

Wyoming by 9.68 points

 

PREDICTION

WYOMING 27, NEW MEXICO STATE 17

(Wyoming -3.5; Under 46)