Week 1 of the 2025 college football season kicks off today, with several top 10 teams in action in games with potential playoff implications. Here are the most important games on the schedule we’ll be watching on Saturday, and you should, too.
With the heavy emphasis the College Football Playoff selection committee places on playing a quality schedule, Power Four teams are angling to play marquee games early in the season against non-conference opponents.
And today is one such day.
This weekend finds no less than three different games across the country in which teams that debuted in the top 10 of the preseason AP football rankings face off on the same field, and two of those are slated for Saturday.
Sure, the selectors aren’t setting anything in marble in late August, but all three of those matchups could have a direct influence on what they think later on this year.
The first game brings us a rematch of a College Football Playoff semifinal, and the second a head-to-head clash between favorites in two of the power conferences.
All times Eastern
Texas at Ohio State
Why watch? The top-ranked and third-ranked teams in one of college football’s most historic venues in a rematch of last year’s semifinal game and a potential future playoff matchup in the months to come.
For the first time ever, Texas is the No. 1 team in a preseason college football poll, as remarkable as that may seem.
Its previous preseason high was in 2005, when the burnt orange debuted at No. 2, and it was that year a legendary quarterback also made a historic start at Ohio State.
Twenty years ago, it was Vince Young who won a close game in the Horseshoe, and now it’ll be Arch Manning that steps into the limelight against the reigning national champs.
Everything that Manning does will be put under a microscope, all the more so as he lines up against an Ohio State pass defense that should be among the nation’s best again this year.
Elsewhere on the field for the Buckeyes? That’s a good question, considering the enormous turnover this coaching staff and roster endured this offseason.
Both coordinators, so critical to OSU’s title run, are gone, as is their quarterback, both thousand-yard rushers, some key blockers, and some elite edge rushers.
But the cupboard isn’t bare, as Jeremiah Smith returns as college football’s top wide receiver, as is Caleb Downs, the safety phenom who might be the best player in the country at any position.
When to watch: 12 p.m. on Fox
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Alabama at Florida State
Why watch? Two college football blue bloods, one of whom is still hoping to see Nick Saban’s replacement prove he belongs there, while another looks to rebound from a two-win season and show it even belongs on the same field.
Kalen DeBoer won nine games in his debut season as Alabama’s head coach, a total that most other college football programs would give anything for.
But Alabama isn’t like most other programs, and this fanbase demands perfection, at the very least double-digit wins and qualification in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Now, the Tide will have to mount a postseason run without having Jalen Milroe on the field. The dual-threat, playmaking quarterback added an important dimension to this offense and his absence will force a rethink on how this team moves the ball.
In his place steps Ty Simpson, a former five-star recruit in his own right, and he’ll have the benefit of playing behind one of college football’s better offensive lines and throwing to a wide receiver corps that looks like one of the best in the country.
On the other side is a Florida State team that just two years ago was the undefeated champion of the ACC, but last season devolved into a 2-10 disaster that cast some very critical eyes very suddenly on Mike Norvell’s tenure as head coach.
In the wake of that result, the Seminoles got active in the transfer portal, and the results are intriguing: Thomas Castellanos, an athletic quarterback whose mobility could be a problem for defenses, and wide receivers like Squirrel White and Duce Robinson.
Alabama will be without the now-injured Jam Miller in the backfield, and that lack of a proven rushing threat could keep this game closer than many have anticipated.
This season opener presents something of a need for both teams: for Alabama and Kalen DeBoer to prove they can still dominate in non-conference games of this caliber; and for Florida State, to show last year’s collapse was the exception and not the rule.
When to watch: 3:30 p.m. on ABC
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LSU at Clemson
Why watch? To see if Clemson really is back as it goes against a legitimate SEC contender in a primetime non-conference slate, and to watch two of college football’s best quarterbacks on the same field.
Last season, Clemson ended its four-year absence from the College Football Playoff by winning the ACC Championship, and although its postseason run didn’t last long, ending in the first round at Texas, it has the firepower to make a return in 2025.
Key to that production will be Cade Klubnik, the star quarterback who engineered some personal-best numbers a year ago and scored 43 all-purpose touchdowns.
Now, he returns behind one of college football’s most experienced offensive lines and is throwing to an elite group of wide receivers who can take this team places.
LSU’s offense is no slouch, either. Garrett Nussmeier piloted the nation’s seventh-ranked passing attack last season, compiling more than 4,000 yards passing, and he has the equipment to replicate that production again this year.
The wide receivers are there, and Harold Perkins returns to man the middle of this defense after missing much of last fall with an injury.
Brian Kelly is yet to win a season opener at LSU, and after winning nine games a year ago following two straight 10-win outings, the pressure is on to assure the fanbase that he isn’t slipping and can finally get this team to the playoff.
Winning games like this is critical in that endeavor, while the heat is on Dabo Swinney to show he can still hack it against the best of the SEC, something he’s struggled to do as of late, including getting outscored 44 to 6 in two recent Week 1 losses to Georgia.
When to watch: 7:30 p.m. on ABC
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Utah at UCLA
Why watch? To see what Nico Iamaleava can do with an underperforming offense and if the Utes can get back to playing dominant football again.
What will Utah be in a given season? It could go under .500 or it could make a run at the conference title, and this year feels closer to the latter.
Kyle Whittingham upgraded the offense by bringing on a unique pairing in offensive coordinator Jason Beck and quarterback Devon Dampier, both of whom did good things at New Mexico last season.
Pair them with what should be another physical Utah defense, and this could be a sleeper in that figures to be a very competitive Big 12 title picture.
Iamaleava surprised everyone by defecting from Tennessee this spring when he was poised to take a larger role in the offense, landing at UCLA for the 2025 season.
He has the skill set to dramatically improve UCLA’s vertical offense, but it’s still a major question as to what remains around him to help out.
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