Week 1 sorted almost nobody. 23 of the AP Top 25 won their openers. Week 2 is where that stops.
Voting is open on all of them. Twenty points each, free to play, every vote counting toward your school’s leaderboard.
1. No. 1 Ohio State at No. 4 Texas
Saturday, 7:30 PM ET · ABC · DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium
The cheapest seat in Austin is $464, three times anything else on the board. Julian Sayin threw for 320 and three scores in the opener, 151 of them to Jeremiah Smith; Texas answered with a 59 to 7 rout of Texas State, three touchdowns from Arch Manning and two rushing scores from Raleek Brown. Both quarterbacks have a full season of starting behind them now, which is what was missing when these two met to open last year.
Ohio State leads the title board with 22 percent of votes, Texas has 6, and dark horse has 33.
2. No. 11 Oklahoma at Michigan
Saturday, 12:00 PM ET · FOX · Michigan Stadium
Michigan won and fell out of the Top 25 anyway, the biggest drop after a victory since at least 2008. The 13 to 12 escape from Western Michigan needed a second put back on the clock and the MAC has appealed.
Oklahoma arrives off 51 to 0. John Mateer threw for 225 and three scores on seventeen attempts, Lloyd Avant carried fifteen times for 79. Michigan’s answer is Troy Bowles, already a top fifty tackler.
3. No. 23 Missouri at Kansas
Friday, 8:00 PM ET · FOX · David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium
The Border War in prime time on a Friday. The cheapest seat in Lawrence is $163, which for a nonconference game tells you what it means. Austin Simmons threw four touchdowns, two to Donovan Olugbode. Kansas answered with Yasin Willis scoring twice and 130 yards from Nik McMillan.
Vote: Kansas vs. Missouri → · Compare
4. Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa (Cy-Hawk)
Saturday, 7:30 PM ET · NBC/Peacock · Kinnick Stadium
The most reliably ugly rivalry in the Midwest, and that is a compliment. Kamari Moulton went for 183 on eleven carries. Watch the kicking: Caden Buhr is two of three with a long of 45, and this series hands the result to whoever attempts one late.
Vote: Iowa vs. Iowa State → · Compare
5. No. 12 Alabama at Kentucky
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET · ABC · Kroger Field
SEC opener for both, and Kentucky has the better quarterback story: Kenny Minchey threw for 301 and four touchdowns. Keelon Russell did his damage on the ground. Several quarterbacks here appear in our 2026 SEC QB NIL Index, and a signature September win moves those numbers faster than anything else.
6. Arizona State at No. 10 Texas A&M
Saturday, 12:00 PM ET · ABC · Kyle Field
Cutter Boley threw six touchdown passes in Arizona State’s opener. Six, on 387 yards. Arizona State is still unranked, and that gap between the tape and the voters is why this game is here. Kyle Field at noon is the counterargument.
Vote: Texas A&M vs. Arizona State →
7. No. 18 Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Saturday, 7:00 PM ET · ESPN · Bobby Dodd Stadium
Nobody on the Georgia Tech offense scored in the Week 1 loss to Colorado. Alberto Mendoza threw for 237 with no touchdowns, Justice Haynes needed nineteen carries for 64 yards, Jordan Allen caught eight for 113 without reaching the end zone, and kicker Aidan Birr is two of four.
Mendoza is the strangest NIL profile on the board. Composite 40.8, with Visibility 90 and Social Power 79 against Performance 16 and Fan Demand 5. There is a reason: he is the brother of Fernando Mendoza, last season’s Heisman winner. That accounts for the visibility. It makes the Fan Demand of 5 the strange number, because almost nobody is backing the Mendoza actually playing Saturday night.
The danger is elsewhere. Rahkeem Smith took a kickoff back 100 yards and averages 65 a return, third nationally, and Savion Riley and Kyle Efford are both top fifty tacklers. That is the upset shape: a close game and one play the offense never touches.
Tennessee’s Mike Matthews put up 132 and two scores on four catches. His Fan Demand also reads 0.
Vote: Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee →
8. Arizona at No. 15 BYU
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET · FOX · LaVell Edwards Stadium
Big 12 opener, both unbeaten, the closest thing to an even matchup outside Austin. Noah Fifita went for 279 and two scores; Legend Glasker scored three times for BYU. The Cougars also have the hidden yardage in Cannon DeVries, who took his only kickoff back 100 yards. In a game this even, field position decides it and nobody talks about it afterward.
9. UC Davis at No. 17 SMU
Saturday, 4:00 PM ET · ACCNX · Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Read the visiting numbers twice. Cleeland threw for 581 yards and seven touchdowns. Samuel Gbatu, Jr. caught seventeen passes for 236 and three scores. UC Davis walks into Dallas with the most productive offense on this week’s slate in any division.
Gbatu is the mirror image of Mendoza: 47 for Performance against 26 for Visibility. The player who did the most is the one fewest people are looking at. Cheapest ticket is $13. This is the upset watch of Week 2.
10. Arkansas at No. 20 Utah
Saturday, 10:15 PM ET · ESPN · Rice-Eccles Stadium
The nightcap. Jackson threw for 267 and three scores for Arkansas; Utah answered with LaMarcus Bell at 12.4 a carry and Wayshawn Parker scoring three times. Altitude, a 10:15 kick, most of the country asleep. Fill it out before bed. This one sits on the Week 3 board.
The rest of the board
Fourteen more ranked teams in tune up spots, all worth 20 points each:
| Game | When | Watch for |
| Florida A&M at No. 7 Miami | Thu 8:00, ACCN | Malachi Toney tops the receiving board, 234 and three |
| Villanova at No. 24 Louisville | Fri 7:00, ACCN | Ragland ran for 136 and two |
| Norfolk State at No. 25 Virginia | Fri 7:00, ACCNX | Daniels went for 188 |
| Howard at No. 5 Indiana | Sat 12:00, BTN | Scroggins threw for 424 |
| No. 6 Oregon at Oklahoma State | Sat 12:00, ESPN | Dante Moore, 378 and three |
| No. 16 Penn State at Temple | Sat 12:00, ESPN2 | Played at Lincoln Financial Field |
| No. 2 Georgia vs. Western Kentucky | Sat 12:45, SECN | Georgia at 6% on the title board |
| Rice at No. 3 Notre Dame | Sat 3:30, NBC | Notre Dame second at 11% |
| Utah State at No. 19 Washington | Sat 3:30, BTN | Mountain West schedule |
| Southern at No. 22 Houston | Sat 7:00, ESPN+ | Holly carried it 36 times |
| Louisiana Tech at No. 8 LSU | Sat 7:30, SECN+ | Sam Leavitt ran for 113 and two |
| No. 13 Texas Tech at Oregon State | Sat 7:30, CBS | Pac-12 schedule |
| Charlotte at No. 9 Ole Miss | Sat 7:45, ESPN2 | Trinidad Chambliss threw for 336 |
| Louisiana at No. 14 USC | Sat 11:00, BTN | Maiava leads the country. Week 3 board |
Also on the slate: UConn at Maryland, a good excuse to revisit the strangest rivalry in college football. Or browse every school by conference to find your own.
About Indiana
The Hoosiers are defending champions, ranked fifth, and 3 percent of the room has voted for them to repeat. Our Football NIL Index had them first in the preseason while the voters had them sixth.
They are doing it without the reigning Heisman winner. Fernando Mendoza still tops the Heisman NIL Power Rankings, but the offense now belongs to Josh Hoover, the TCU transfer who threw for 231 and four scores in his debut. Mendoza’s brother Alberto starts for Georgia Tech, game seven above.
Where the fan board stands
The fan leaderboard runs 2,874 deep and the top is not close: an Oklahoma fan leads with 104,000 points, a Wake Forest fan is second at 44,140.
Points are not bought. The leader has put $100 behind athletes; second place has put in $825 and trails by 60,000. Voting is not the only way to earn, and most of this week’s games have no comments at all, which makes the Rally Pit the cheapest climb before Saturday.
Cast your votes
Every game above is live on the Football Predictions board. Twenty points per vote, free to play, closing at kickoff.
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