Welcome back, sports fans, to the GCRs 500th episode. First, thank you to JoJo not only for taking control of the GCR while I was on vacation earlier this summer, but also for the general interest and increased knowledge of college football as a whole. We are trying to figure out the logistics for a podcast based on the GCR with a working title of “Schooling Dad in Sports.” Second, today is my mother’s 90th birthday, so a collective “happy birthday” from the GCR family. Third, the news just keeps on coming.
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When Arkansas and South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992 (which was the beginning of the series of conference realignments), the conference moved from a seven to an eight-game conference schedule. Despite adding Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M, they have hung on to that mindset. The first to expand in the “modern” era, the first to add a championship, they were not the first to expand the conference slate. Both the Big Ten (first to do it to adjust to their own expansion) and the Big 12 (to make a round robin when they had ten teams) already have a 9-game conference schedule, but no formal rules on the other three (outside of no more than one FCS opponent). One reason the SEC has been reluctant to join them is that Florida (Florida St), Georgia (Georgia Tech), Kentucky (Louisville), and South Carolina (Clemson) already play a ninth Core 4 team on an annual basis. Starting in 2026, the SEC is moving to the longer conference schedule but will also have a rule that dictates scheduling at least one non-SEC Core 4 team for everyone (sorry, Missouri, you have to play a hard team). Most SEC teams will continue to play one FCS team which leaves just one “at-large” game that could be either an eleventh Core 4 or a Group of 5 opponent. I would venture a guess that the ACC (the only Core 4 conference left with just 8-games) will announce a new 9-game conference schedule in the coming weeks.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if the other conferences also follow suit on the “Core 4 rule” because the playoff committee announced (just before the SEC announcement, coincidentally) that Strength of Schedule (SOS) will be more important in the future after teams that were relatively unchallenged, but had more wins (10+) than extremely challenged SEC teams with 9 wins, were awarded playoff spots. I find it shocking they didn’t start with this approach for playoff selection, but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and call it improvement. It does appear that they will not reward getting easy wins against patsies to pad the W column.
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But this post is about this, the initial, weekend of the 2025-2026 college football season. With nine games on the docket, it’s just a tease to “opening” weekend next week, but, as a true fan, I’ll take it after the long drought since January. The first game is a Big 12 matchup in Dublin Ireland featuring Iowa St (0-0/1) and Kansas St (0-0/1). Last season this game saw Georgia Tech beat Florida St in what was deemed an upset (FSU was a preseason AP Top 10 team). GT ended up 7-6 while the Seminoles kept sliding to a 2-10 mark. Both teams this season are in that same preseason poll with KSST at 17 and IAST at 22. As a reminder, the GCR does not have a preseason ranking as all teams are zero wins, zero losses, and tied for first right now. Either of these teams could battle for the championship, or the Big 12 championship, or follow FSUs fate and lose ten games. The fact is, we just don’t know. Vegas has Kansas St winning -3.5, but that’s why we play the games. The GCR has No Prediction (NP) on any game this (or next) weekend. This one kicks off at noon (all times Eastern) on ESPN, number 1 of nearly 2000 games before our two champions (FBS and FCS) are crowned. It is also the only game between two Core 4 teams.
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Other matchups involving Core 4 teams are Fresno St at Kansas (6:30 on Fox), and Stanford at Hawaii (7:30 on CBS). Our only game between two Group of 5 teams is a Conference USA tryst when Sam Houston visits W Kentucky (7:00 on CBS Sports). UNLV hosts FCS Idaho St (4:00 on the Mountain West Network) in the only other game featuring an FBS team.
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There are four FCS/FCS game including a game with Incarnate Word at Nicholls (1:00 on ESPN2), a kickoff between Tarleton and host Portland St (4:30 on ESPN2), a neutral site game between UC Davis and Mercer, both playoff teams last season, in Montgomery, AL (7:00 on ESPN), and the MEAC/SWAC kickoff in Atlanta featuring NC Central and Southern (7:30 on ABC).
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All 18 teams are 0-0/1 and the GCR cannot offer any predictions. The table below is mostly blank due to the Week 0 tease, but is the same format used last season. As more games are played, the GCR will begin predicting winners followed quickly by comparison to the Vegas spread. The season is finally here!
| Time | Away Team (Record/GCR Rank) | Conf (Rec) | Home Team (Record/GCR Rank) | Conf (Rec) | Vegas | GCR Win | GCR Cover |
| ACC (17 teams) | Core 4 | ||||||
| 7:30 | Stanford (0-0/1) | ACC (0-0) | Hawaii (0-0/1) | MWC (0-0) | HAW-2.5 | NP | NP |
| Big 12 (16 teams) | Core 4 | ||||||
| 12:00 | Iowa St (0-0/1) | B12 (0-0) | Kansas St (0-0/1) | B12 (0-0) | KSST-3.5 | NP | NP |
| 6:30 | Fresno St (0-0/1) | MWC (0-0) | Kansas (0-0/1) | B12 (0-0) | KAN-13.5 | NP | NP |
| Big Ten (18 teams) | Core 4 | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| SEC (16 teams) | Core 4 | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| AAC (14 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| C-USA (12 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| 7:00 | Sam Houston (0-0/1) | USA (0-0) | W Kentucky (0-0/1) | USA (0-0) | WKY-9.5 | NP | NP |
| FBS Independents (2 teams) | G5 (ND-C4) | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| MAC (13 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Mountain West (12 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| 4:00 | Idaho St (0-0/1) | SKY (0-0) | UNLV (0-0/1) | MWC (0-0) | UNLV-26.5 | NP | NP |
| Pac-12 (2 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| OOC | Fresno St (@Kansas-B12), Hawaii (Stanford-ACC) | ||||||
| Sun Belt (14 teams) | G5 | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Big Sky (12 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| 4:30 | Tarleton (0-0/1) | UAC (0-0) | Portland St (0-0/1) | SKY (0-0) | NL | NP | NP |
| 7:00 | UC Davis (0-0/1) | SKY (0-0) | Mercer (0-0/1) | SoCon (0-0) | NL | NP | NP |
| OOC | Idaho St (@UNLV-MWC) | ||||||
| Big South/Ohio Valley (9 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Coastal (14 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| FCS Independents (2 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Ivy League (8 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| MEAC (6 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| 7:30 | NC Central (0-0/1) | MEAC (0-0) | Southern (0-0/1) | SWAC (0-0) | NL | NP | NP |
| Missouri Valley (10 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Northeast (9 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Patriot League (8 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| Pioneer League (11 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| Idle | ALL | ||||||
| SoCon (9 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| OOC | Mercer (@UC Davis-SKY) | ||||||
| Idle | none | ||||||
| Southland (10 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| 1:00 | Incarnate Word (0-0/1) | SLAN (0-0) | Nicholls (0-0/1) | SLAN (0-0) | NL | NP | NP |
| SWAC (12 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| OOC | Southern (NC Central-MEAC) | ||||||
| UAC (9 teams) | FCS | ||||||
| OOC | Tarleton (@Portland St-SKY) |
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That’s it for today. Have a great evening and a wonderful Saturday of 2025 college football! Thank you for reading and especially for sharing with others. JoJo and G
