Saturday, August 25th
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| Duquesne at UMass | 4:30 pm | ELVN / NESN+ |
| #6 Jacksonville State vs. #14 North Carolina A&T | 6:00 pm | ESPN |
| Prairie View at Rice | 6:00 pm | $espn+ Video |
| Hawaii at Colorado State | 6:30 pm | CBSSN |
| Wyoming at New Mexico State | 9:00 pm | ESPN2 |
Four Group of 5 programs and two FBS Independents kick off the 2018 College Football season on Saturday, including the MWC opener between Hawaii (3-9, 1-7 MWC West in '17) and Colorado State (7-6, 5-3 MWC Mountain in '17) from Fort Collins, CO.
Power 5 programs will be eyeing several of these openers, since UMASS (4-8 in '17) is Boston College's season home opener on 9/1. Boston College (7-6 in '17) is coming off a 27-20 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl to the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-5). Other Power 5 programs with an eye on Week 0:
- Washington State (9-4) will be Wyoming (8-5), who host the Cougars on 9/1 in Laramie
- Minnesota (5-7) will be eyeing New Mexico State (7-6), since the Golden Gophers will host the Aggies on Thursday night in TCF Bank Stadium for the season opener
- Colorado (5-7) will be eyeing Colorado State, as they kickoff the state rivalry game in Denver
This first Saturday in College Football has become popular for a Top 25 FCS showdown, as #6 Jacksonville State (10-3 in '17) and #14 North Carolina A&T (12-0 in '17) kickoff the season.
Looking at the Mountain West Conference heading into 2018. Stassen Composite has the West and Mountain divisions trending as follows:
- West Division break down for 2018
- San Diego State
- Fresno State - the defending champs in the West, after Aztecs took 2015 and 2016 division!
- UNLV
- Nevada
- Hawaii
- San Jose State
- Mountain Division break down for 2018
- Boise State - the defending champions are projected #21 by Stassen in the Top 25!
- Wyoming
- Utah State
- Colorado State
- Air Force
- New Mexico
