College Football Picks: Expert Predictions for Every Game in Week Zero

The 2025 college football season begins on Saturday, Aug. 23 with five games on tap, and Athlon Sports is back with predictions and picks for every contest.

The first weekend of the ’25 season starts in Ireland with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic with a Big 12 rivalry showdown between Iowa State and Kansas State. Both teams enter ’25 with expectations of contending for the Big 12 title and a spot in the College Football Playoff. In addition to the rivalry and battle between top-25 teams, this matchup also features two of the Big 12’s top quarterbacks in Kansas State’s Avery Johnson and Iowa State’s Rocco Becht. The last three meetings between the Wildcats and Cyclones were decided by one score and another close matchup is likely on tap for Week Zero.

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The Dan Mullen era begins at UNLV with a meeting against Idaho State on Saturday afternoon. The Rebels are a heavy favorite in Week Zero, but there’s intrigue for this game, as UNLV looks to sort out an ongoing quarterback battle between Anthony Colandrea and Alex Orji in live action.

Three games are slated for the night window, including Kansas hosting Fresno State and Western Kentucky and Sam Houston meeting for a key Week Zero Conference USA showdown. Hawaii is eager to score a win over a power conference team in a crucial year for coach Timmy Chang, as Stanford travels to Honolulu to close out the Week 0 games for ’25.

College Football Picks: Expert Predictions for Every Game in Week Zero

Steven Lassan, Thomas Neumann and Kyle Wood pick every game of the college football season on athlonsports.com. Here are their predictions for Saturday, Aug. 23:

Related: Predicting the Final Records for All 136 College Football Teams for 2025

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.