Auburn vs Baylor Week One: Three Shockers You Must Watch

Cancel your plans for the next twenty Saturdays. College football is back. The appetizer was served over the weekend with Week Zero action. Now the real games begin through Labor Day. High-profile matchups fill the schedule for Week One, and upsets will happen. Shockers are inevitable in this sport. Appalachian State beat The Big House nineteen years ago to prove it. Here are three teams favored to win that you should watch closely.

Auburn Tigers sit at minus 7.5 points against Baylor Bears. I believe Coach Alex Golesh will succeed on The Plains, yet this game feels dangerous. Auburn is mixing in new players and a brand new coaching staff. The neutral site in Atlanta adds extra uncertainty to the matchup. Baylor was not world-class last season. Quarterback DJ Lagway struggled at Florida in 2025. He faced many injuries last year while playing under Billy Napier. I expect him to perform better now as a junior signal caller. Auburn won easily before, but with different players and coaches that result matters little. I do not bet on Baylor winning outright, yet an upset is possible. Golesh might feel first-game jitters against this crowd.

UNLV Rebels are favored by 3 points over Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Seven days ago I would have picked UNLV without hesitation. Seeing Week Zero performance changes my mind now. The Rebels lost to Memphis in their home opener. Their defense struggled to stop that offense and the fog might linger. Hawaii gained confidence from their loss to Stanford. They were underdogs but led midway through the fourth quarter. The game is played in Honolulu. Travel across the Pacific plus an opening loss creates trouble for UNLV. If this happens, the Rebels drop to zero wins and two losses. Uncomfortable questions will rise about head coach Dan Mullen's future in Vegas. No amount of Elvis impersonators can save him from that reality.

The LSU Tigers face a tough opponent in the upcoming match, carrying a -10 point spread against them. This college football clash has several layers that demand attention, so please bear with me as I break it down.

When these squads met last season in South Carolina, observers treated the game like a preview for the College Football Playoff. Both LSU and Clemson entered the year ranked inside the top ten. The outcome was harsh though. Each team finished with just seven wins that season, and head coach Brian Kelly was fired from his job at LSU.

Now, the Bayou Bengals operate under Lane Kiffin on the sidelines while managing a roster worth $40 million. Yet Baton Rouge has faced distractions lately. The most prominent issue involves the coaching staff getting caught in controversy surrounding NFL players returning to college programs. This situation could easily turn what should be an easy victory into a grueling battle for both coaches and athletes. Do not assume Clemson cannot win based on their own strengths alone.

The gap in talent between the two sides is not as massive as some claim. Clemson brings serious firepower at wide receiver and along its front seven defense. I am concerned about how starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina will handle the noise inside Death Valley. This marks only his second career start. Still, he possesses the necessary skill profile and has a stable of receivers capable of getting the job done.

LSU cannot afford to treat this game lightly, even as they are double-digit favorites. No one should be surprised if Clemson enters Tiger Stadium and plants their flag there.