It's finally here, after almost eight months of waiting around, the Week 0 college football schedule kicks things off on Saturday with a potential playoff contender in action to start, as USC welcomes San Jose State to the L.A. Coliseum.
Caleb Williams returns to lead the Trojans' lethal offense, with the reigning Heisman quarterback in position to make history as just the second player to win two of college football's highest personal honors, but the fate of this USC team will depend on how well its defense has improved from last season to this.
What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
USC vs. San Jose State picks, predictions
USC's chance of victory: Don't sweat this one out, Trojan fans. USC has the convincing 96.4 percent chance to win the game, according to the computer and its 20,000 simulations of how it will play out.
San Jose State's chance of victory: That leaves the visiting Spartans with a slim 3.6 percent shot to pull off the upset, per the computers.
Point spread: USC comes into the game as overwhelming 30.5 point favorites over San Jose State, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.
Total: 64.5 points
Moneyline: USC -10000 | SJSU +1100
USC predictions: The Trojans come in at No. 7 on the power index 133 football rankings, projected to be 19.9 points better than an average opponent, to win 10.0 games on the season, and have a 22.2 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff.
San Jose State predictions: The Spartans check in at No. 100 on the power index poll, expected to be 7.9 points worse than an average opponent and projected to win 5.9 games this season.
How to watch, stream: The game is set for Sat., Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. Pacific time on the Pac-12 Network and streams live on fuboTV (Try for free).
College Football Power Index
Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
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College football rankings
According to AP top 25 poll
- Georgia (60)
- Michigan (2)
- Ohio State (1)
- Alabama
- LSU
- USC
- Penn State
- Florida State
- Clemson
- Washington
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Utah
- Oregon
- Kansas State
- TCU
- Oregon State
- Wisconsin
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- Iowa
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams
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