Drew's Desk: eight picks for Week 0
Drew is a college football contributor. These are his own picks, not the model's, and they are graded separately from Maiden's record.
You are reading Week 0, 2026. Drew’s latest column is Week 9, 2026.
8 picks. Our model agrees on 2 and takes the other side on 1. 5 picks are against the spread, which we show but do not grade.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, welcome to Drew's Desk. College football is back, which means for the next four months we are all going to spend our Saturdays yelling at 20-year-olds, questioning coaches who make millions of dollars, and convincing ourselves we definitely saw that upset coming. And now Maiden has made the questionable decision to give me a segment to make it worse. Every week I am giving you my picks. Some will make sense. Some will make absolutely no sense at all. When I am right, you will hear about it. When I am wrong, we move on as a society. Welcome to Week 0.
Drew’s Week 0, 2026 picks
North Carolina Tar Heels
TCU Horned Frogs, 79% to win
- San José State at USCAgainst the spread
USC Trojans against the spread
USC Trojans, 97% to win
- NC State at VirginiaWon ✓
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Cavaliers, 61% to win
- Jacksonville State at North Dakota StateAgainst the spread
North Dakota State Bison against the spread
North Dakota State Bison, 66% to win
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Eastern Michigan Eagles, 73% to win
- Hawai'i at StanfordAgainst the spread
Stanford Cardinal against the spread
Stanford Cardinal, 57% to win
- New Mexico State at Florida StateAgainst the spread
Florida State Seminoles against the spread
Florida State Seminoles, 94% to win
- Memphis at UNLVAgainst the spread
UNLV Rebels against the spread
No call
North Carolina Tar Heels vs TCU Horned Frogs
Drew’s pick: North Carolina Tar Heels
First game of the year and I have apparently decided to put the credibility of this entire segment in jeopardy. Everybody with common sense is taking TCU, and they have earned it: they beat Carolina 48-14 last year and UNC went four and eight. Not me. Billy Edwards Jr. gets the start at quarterback, it is year two for Bill Belichick, and this one is not in Chapel Hill and not in Fort Worth. They are in Dublin. I have a feeling UNC has the look of the Irish about them.
TCU Horned Frogs, 79% to win — the other side. Drew is going against our number here.
San José State Spartans at USC Trojans
Drew’s pick: USC Trojans against the spread
Really? USC. That is it. They say Lincoln Riley is on the hot seat. Not this game. USC runs wild here.
USC Trojans, 97% to win — our call is on the win, Drew’s is on the margin, so the two are not the same question.
NC State Wolfpack at Virginia Cavaliers
Drew’s pick: Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia is coming off a colossal season where they almost made the ACC championship game. Does that continue? Absolutely. Now, NC State has beaten Virginia four straight times, so I hear you. But Virginia is at home, they have experience, and Tony Elliott finally has the program moving. It is going to be close, it might come down to a field goal, but the Cavaliers have it.
Virginia Cavaliers, 61% to win — the same side Drew has.
Jacksonville State Gamecocks at North Dakota State Bison
Drew’s pick: North Dakota State Bison against the spread
North Dakota State will have no trouble dismantling Jacksonville State. Yes, it is a step up in class, but we are talking about a program with ten national championships at the FCS level. Let's go Bison.
North Dakota State Bison, 66% to win — our call is on the win, Drew’s is on the margin, so the two are not the same question.
Sacramento State Hornets at Eastern Michigan Eagles
Drew’s pick: Eastern Michigan Eagles
The slobber-knocker of the week. Sacramento State is moving up, but they are not going to withstand that Eastern Michigan offense at home.
Eastern Michigan Eagles, 73% to win — the same side Drew has.
Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors at Stanford Cardinal
Drew’s pick: Stanford Cardinal against the spread
Hawai'i pulled off a massive upset beating Stanford last year. Well, guess what. Stanford has a new head coach, and Stanford gets this one back.
Stanford Cardinal, 57% to win — our call is on the win, Drew’s is on the margin, so the two are not the same question.
New Mexico State Aggies at Florida State Seminoles
Drew’s pick: Florida State Seminoles against the spread
Florida State is a huge favourite here and it is deserved. This is not an ACC game and it is not the Alabama game coming up in a few weeks. This is New Mexico State. Mike Norvell knows what losing this one would mean for him, and he will not have to find out this week. Florida State wins, and wins big.
Florida State Seminoles, 94% to win — our call is on the win, Drew’s is on the margin, so the two are not the same question.
Memphis Tigers at UNLV Rebels
Drew’s pick: UNLV Rebels against the spread
UNLV seems to have a bit of a quarterback controversy on their hands. But Memphis has a quarterback question of their own, going with a transfer rather than the starter most people expected. UNLV showed what they can do in the Dan Mullen offence last year, and I think they keep it rolling while Memphis is still finding its feet. At Allegiant Stadium, give me the Rebels.
Our model published no call on this game: it did not clear the 55% confidence floor, so there is no Maiden number to compare. Drew’s pick still gets graded.
Eight games, eight picks. By Saturday night one of two things happens: either I am back next week talking an unreasonable amount of trash, or we are deleting the tape and Drew's Desk becomes a cooking segment. Good luck, everybody. College football is back.
Get Drew's picks by email
Every week of the season, Drew's card lands in your inbox before the games. Free, and you can stop it any time without touching anything else you get from us.
Every college football prediction our model published for Week 0, 2026 is on the Week 0, 2026 board.