B/R's 2026 College Football Winners and Losers from Week 0

From sea to shining sea, plus a trip across the pond, the 2026 college football season finally kicked off Saturday with an eight-game schedule.

In the opening game of the FBS campaign—a showdown set in Dublin, Ireland—Bill Belichick and North Carolina started with an overseas victory. The Tar Heels knocked off TCU 15-10.

Saturday's slate also included 14th-ranked USC rolling past San Jose State, and Virginia smoked NC State for a valuable ACC victory. Also of note, Week 0 marked the FBS debuts of North Dakota State and Sacramento State.

We have winners. We have losers.

And, most importantly, we have college football again.

Winner: UNC and Belichick

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I will be the first person to raise my hand and say I did not believe—and do not believe—that Bill Belichick is going to work at North Carolina.

But, hey, a win is a win, baby.

Thanks to a 12-10 advantage at the break, UNC led a power-conference opponent at halftime for the first time in Belichick's tenure. The second half brought little scoring, but the Tar Heels left Dublin with a 15-10 victory.

This result does not substantially alter expectations for North Carolina, which had a very limited offense. Don't expect 322 yards to win many games.

For one afternoon, though, UNC had enough. And that didn't happen often in 2025.

Loser: TCU's Modest Hype

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If you want the glass-half-full outlook, it wasn't a conference game. TCU's upside as a Big 12 threat, technically speaking, remains intact.

Nevertheless, losing to North Carolina is not exactly the most reassuring thing in the world. TCU's offense mustered just 281 yards and committed two late turnovers on downs in the red zone during this frustrating loss.

TCU suddenly has more to prove.

On the bright side, the Horned Frogs are entering an idle weekend before hosting Grambling and Arkansas State. They have a window to address the early offensive issues prior to the beginning of Big 12 action. The season is not lost.

Still, that is absolutely not the opener that TCU believed would happen.

Winner: USC's Opener

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Jayden Maiava

As expected, USC cruised to its Week 0 victory.

Jayden Maiava competed 25-of-29 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, and the Trojans racked up 505 yards in a 42-26 triumph over San Jose State. It was exactly what USC faithful anticipated in this matchup.

Truly, the margin would've been larger were it not for SJSU's two garbage-time scores. USC held a 31-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Winning this contest in that fashion is not a surprise. But as USC eyes a first-ever College Football Playoff trip, a comfortable win against an overmatched opponent is the proper way to kick off the season.

Winner: Virginia's ACC Win

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Virginia left zero doubt.

After a breakout 11-win campaign in 2025, the Cavaliers opened the season with a favorable outlook. But with an opening game against North Carolina State, that optimism would be tested immediately.

And Virginia, despite the stakes, left no doubt in a 34-8 rout.

Beau Pribula put together an encouraging debut following his transfer from Missouri, throwing for 155 yards and running for 110 with two scores. The defense straight-up dominated the ACC contest and limited NC State to 168 yards, too.

Miami, SMU, Louisville and Clemson are among the prime ACC contenders this season, but UVA is capable of making another run. Saturday just reinforced that ceiling.

Winner: North Dakota State's Debut

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Considering what North Dakota State has accomplished in the FCS lately, no bit of immediate success should be surprising. The program won 10 national championship in the last 16 seasons.

Regardless, this was a tremendously dominant win.

Jacksonville State traveled to the Fargodome and found itself in a terribly unwelcoming environment. NDSU boatraced the visitors 33-7 with 373 offensive yards to a meager 170 for Jax State.

As alluded to several times, it's essential to remember this is Week 0. Any number of grand proclamations have gone horribly wrong in recent years.

But there's no question we should be taking NDSU very seriously.