Welcome back, college football fans, to episode 675, aka the kickoff of the 2026-27 season! It’s been nearly 7 months since we had a college football game putting in a state of withdrawal. Good news: the wait is over. Bad news: we guess because all of the games tonight are FCS games, not a single one is on regular TV (although if you have ESPN+ you can watch any of them). We are a bit disappointed in the various networks who could have had a coup. Other than the FCS championship game, games today should have had the best FCS ratings. It’s the first day! We understand major league baseball, little league baseball, the WNBA, and various other college sports are being played today, but this is Day One.
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Either way, we have 22 games today beginning at 6:00 (all times Eastern) tonight. While 9 of those games feature non-Division I (non-D1) opponents, meaning Division II, Division III, or NAIA, 13 games are “real” games. Obviously, all games are real and non-D1 teams do upset FCS teams each year, there are rules. Each FCS can play one non-D1 team which will count towards playoff consideration. If a team plays more than one, that second game does not “help” them with the committee. Similarly, FBS teams can play one FCS team which counts towards the six wins required for bowl eligibility (assuming a win). If they play a second, they must win seven total to earn a bowl, assuming they beat both FCS teams. Many teams play these “cupcake” games as their openers because there is no practice that is equal to actual game minutes. But there are 4 conference games tonight as well.
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In the table below, the Time column assumes p.m. unless otherwise stated and is always in Eastern Time (for simplicity). The next column shows the matchups. The parenthetical data is current record/current GCR rank. Because no games have been played yet, everyone is tied for first. The Conference column is in the same order as the previous column (visiting team first). If there is just one conference listed, the game is a conference matchup. If NA is listed, the corresponding team (almost always the visiting team) is non-D1. The Vegas column lists the oddsmakers’ favorite and the spread. For example, SB -5.0 means that Vegas thinks Stony Brook will win by 5 points. In that column, NL means there is no line (usually that means one opponent is non-D1). The GCR column shows which team our algorithm calculates to win. NPre means we have no prediction. If either team has not yet played a game (or if there is a non-D1 opponent), we don’t have enough data to predict. The Cover column shows which team the GCR thinks will cover the Vegas line. For example, if we calculate that Stony Brook should win by 6 points, we would show SB in that column, but if we thought Delaware St would win or lose by less than 5 points, we would show DEST there. If either team has not yet played a game (or if there is a non-D1 opponent), we don’t have enough data to predict and would show NL. Lastly, we want to make it easy to watch the games, so we include television coverage.
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Here are the 22 games for today:
| Time (ET) | Aug 27 | Conference | Vegas | GCR | Cover | TV |
| 6:00 | Stony Brook (0-0/1) at Delaware St (0-0/1) | CAA/MEAC | SB -5.0 | NPre | NL | MEAC Network |
| 6:00 | Maine (0-0/1) at Towson (0-0/1) | CAA | TOW -3.0 | NPre | NL | FloFootball |
| 6:00 | Mercyhurst (0-0/1) at Youngstown St (0-0/1) | NEC/MFC | YST -28.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 6:00 | Ohio Dominican (N/A) at Morehead St (0-0/1) | NA/PFL | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Houston Chr (0-0/1) at SELA (0-0/1) | SLAN | SELA -25.0 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | NW Iowa (N/A) at W Illinois (0-0/1) | NA/BSOV | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | VA Wise (N/A) at Presbyterian (0-0/1) | NA/PFL | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | E Illinois (0-0/1) at Murray St (0-0/1) | BSOV/MFC | MURR -2.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Winona St (N/A) at St Thomas (0-0/1) | NA/PFL | NL | NPre | NL | Midco Sports + |
| 7:00 | MS Valley (0-0/1) at Nicholls (0-0/1) | SWAC/SLAN | NICH -30.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Gardner Webb (0-0/1) at Austin Peay (0-0/1) | BSOV/UAC | AP -14.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Concord Mtn (N/A) at Davidson (0-0/1) | NA/PFL | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Glenville St (N/A) at Elon (0-0/1) | NA/CAA | NL | NPre | NL | FloFootball |
| 7:00 | S Illinois (0-0/1) at West Florida (0-0/1) | MFC/UAC | SILL -21.0 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Chrls So (0-0/1) at Lindenwood (0-0/1) | BSOV | LIN -10.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Chattanooga (0-0/1) at West Georgia (0-0/1) | SoCon/UAC | CHAT -2.0 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Anderson (N/A) at Furman (0-0/1) | NA/SoCon | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:00 | Lafayette (0-0/1) at Georgetown (0-0/1) | PAT | LAF -9.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:30 | SD Mines (N/A) at Drake (0-0/1) | NA/PFL | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 7:30 | C Arkansas (0-0/1) at UT Martin (0-0/1) | UAC/BSOV | UTM -2.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 8:00 | Long Island (0-0/1) at North Dakota (0-0/1) | NEC/MFC | NDAK -27.5 | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
| 8:00 | LA Chr (N/A) at Nwestern St (0-0/1) | NA/SLAN | NL | NPre | NL | ESPN+ |
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As the season progresses, we will publish our accuracy rate in both straight up (simply picking the winner) and against the spread (factoring in the Vegas line). As a caution, we do not gamble on sports and do not encourage others to do so. If you choose to, please use only legitimate outlets and never bet more than you can lose.
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That’s it for today. Tune in tomorrow for the games of August 28. Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing with others. Until tomorrow, JoJo and G.
