This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. 

College football is officially back, and you can signup for the DraftKings promo to get in on the Week 0 action with a chance to score $200 in bonuses when you bet $5, win or lose. 

From a matchup in Ireland to potential early-season upsets, there’s no shortage of ways to get your college football bets started.

North Carolina vs. TCU gets things rolling, while Memphis vs. UNLV and No. 14 USC vs. San Jose State add even more excitement to the slate. Keep an eye on USC quarterback Jayden Maiava as the Trojans look to make an early statement in their push toward the College Football Playoff.

Ready to kick off the season with a bet? Sign up with DraftKings, bet $5 and $200 in bonus bets — win or lose.

DraftKings

Claim the New User Offer No Promo Code Needed

1. Sign up for a new DraftKings Sportsbook account.
2. Deposit funds (minimum $5).
3. Select the New Customer Token.
4. Place a $5+ cash bet (-500 odds or longer).
5. You will receive $200 in bonus bets instantly, regardless of the outcome of your qualifying wager.
6. Works the same on desktop & mobile.

Today’s Week 0 Matchups

• North Carolina vs. TCU — 12 p.m. ET
• San Jose State at No. 14 USC — 3 p.m. ET
• NC State at Virginia — 3:30 p.m. ET
• Jacksonville State at North Dakota State — 5:30 p.m. ET
• Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan — 6:30 p.m. ET
• Hawai’i at Stanford — 7 p.m. ET
• New Mexico State at Florida State — 7 p.m. ET
• Memphis at UNLV — 10 p.m. ET

Things To Know in Week 0

Memphis @ UNLV (10 p.m., FOX)

Spread: UNLV -4.5
Moneyline: UNLV -184, Memphis +152 
O/U: 56.5 

What To Know: Week 0 ends with a nightcap on FOX featuring Memphis and UNLV facing off in Nevada. The UNLV Rebels come into this contest off a 10-2 regular-season record. Memphis went 8-4 in 2025, including a six-game winning streak to open up the season.

North Carolina vs. TCU (noon, ESPN)

Spread: TCU -8.5 
Moneyline: TCU -360, UNC +290
O/U: 46.5

What To Know: The very first game of Saturday’s Week 0 slate is a showdown between the Tar Heels and the Horned Frogs all the way at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. TCU is the heavy favorite. But all eyes will be on Bill Belichick as he tries to lead UNC to a bounce-back season after going 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the conference in 2025. FOX Sports betting analyst Will Hill also explains that bettors might want to keep their eyes on the quarterback play, since both squads are trotting out new starters at the position.

San Jose State @ No. 14 USC (3 p.m., NBC)

Spread: USC -38.5
Moneyline: TBD
O/U: 61.5

What To Know: Can the No. 14 Trojans open up their year with an emphatic win? Based on the odds, USC should easily roll over San Jose State. In fact, Will Hill believes the Men of Troy will “score seven or more touchdowns” as they host the Spartans. Back in 2023, SC put up 56 points on SJSU when the two squads faced off.

NC State @ Virginia (3:30 p.m., ESPN)

Spread: Virginia -4.5
Moneyline: Virginia -182, NC State +150
O/U: 51.5

What To Know: Virginia didn’t earn a preseason ranking in the AP or Coaches Poll, but the Cavaliers did get some votes in both and could be on the verge of breaking through. UVA, however, will give it a go with a new starting QB since last year’s starter signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Buccaneers.

Source

Ryan Preece put a new twist on win-and-in for the NASCAR postseason.

Preece took the lead on the final lap and snatched the victory in the regular-season finale when the caution came out at Daytona International Speedway. 

The win launched him to 16th in the standings and gave him the final spot in NASCAR’s revamped Chase, which no longer has automatic bids to a driver who wins a race.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Preece told USA Sports during the telecast. 

Here are my takeaways:

1. Big Win For Preece

Ryan Preece’s big win puts him in The Chase.

–>

Preece was concerned he would run out of fuel as several laps ticked off on a late caution when Carson Hocevar wrecked and collected Erik Jones.

Running second entering overtime, Preece was able to battle to get to the lead.

The RFK Racing driver was penalized 25 points earlier this year for intentionally wrecking Ty Gibbs (Preece doesn’t believe they had contact). He probably feels vindicated now that he’s made The Chase — especially after it looked like that penalty would keep him out of the postseason. Instead, the 20-point bonus for the win allowed him to go from 31 points behind Shane van Gisbergen entering the race to 17 points ahead of him for the final playoff spot.

Preece’s Daytona history has not been kind. He has had two massive flips there in recent years, including one that left him with bloodshot eyes for more than a week.

The 35-year-old Preece earned his first Cup points race win in his 249th career start. His story is certainly one of perseverance.

“We’re fighters,” Preece said. “When you put our back against the wall, we swing hard. … Last year there were a lot of keyboard warriors saying I was nothing. Well, we just kicked their butts tonight.”

2. Cindric Gets In

Austin Cindric was on the postseason bubble but survived with a sixth-place finish in the regular-season finale.

–>

Austin Cindric was on the bubble as well, entering the race just 13 points ahead of van Gisbergen and 44 points ahead of Preece. The Team Penske driver finished sixth to keep the playoff spot.

“The guys did a great job of giving me information all night, whether it was points or fuel and how to adapt,” Cindric said in a Ford news release. “That’s what it takes to be a contender at a minimum, but definitely look for a strong 10 weeks from us.”

Bubba Wallace, who entered the race needing just two points to clinch a spot, earned those points in the opening stage.

3. SVG Disappointed

SVG’s postseason hopes were dashed at Daytona.

–>

Shane van Gisbergen, who has two wins this year on road courses, pitted prior to overtime, as he was in danger of running out of gas.

He got caught up in the final wreck and ended up 28th.

“Congrats to the 60 [of Preece],” van Gisbergen told USA Sports. “But one night doesn’t sum up our year. I guess we haven’t been good enough.

“It’s been cool to be close. Shame we’re not in it.”

Trackhouse Racing was shut out of The Chase.

4. New Aero Rules Promising

Brad Keselowski said that handling did not feel different with the new aero package.

–>

The new aero package with a shorter spoiler and less horsepower appeared to improve the racing. It was designed to make the cars less likely to be able to run tight in the pack and therefore encourage drivers to make a move without worrying they would automatically get hung out to dry.

While fuel saving still came into play, drivers appeared to have a better ability to improve their position. Of course, the moves were often made near the end of the stages and late in the race as they usually were.

Drivers had mixed reactions:

“We weren’t all on top of each other, so I felt like in a lot of ways it was somewhat more simplified of how the race was going to play out after I was able to watch and observe,” Cindric said. 

“I thought our car was good enough to charge back through when needed.”

While Cindric could tell a difference, Brad Keselowski said in a post-race news conference that handling didn’t come into play.

“I could not tell a difference,” Keselowski said. “I couldn’t tell they changed the rules at all. My car drove almost identical to what it did. I was really shocked by that. I thought it would drive poorly, particularly here in the summer.”

4 ½. Chase Opener At Darlington

The Southern 500 opens The Chase next Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. Chase Briscoe has won the last two Southern 500s on the 1.36-mile egg-shaped oval.

Denny Hamlin enters The Chase as the leader, with a 25-point edge on Ryan Blaney after the reset.

Following Blaney are Tyler Reddick (-35), Ty Gibbs (-40), Briscoe (-45), Christopher Bell (-50), Kyle Larson (-55), Chase Elliott (-60), Joey Logano (-65), Chris Buescher (-70), Daniel Suárez (-75), Hocevar (-80), William Byron (-85), Wallace (-90), Cindric (-95) and Preece (-100).

The Chase will run like a mini 10-race season. There won’t be any more eliminations nor will there be the one-race championship event that NASCAR has used to determine its champion in recent years.

Source

The Miami Dolphins continue to add from the Green Bay Packers. 

Quarterback Kyle McCord has been traded by the Packers to the Dolphins for a 2028 sixth-round pick, NFL Network reported Sunday. With the trade, McCord is now in line to back up Malik Willis for the start of the 2026 season. 

McCord, 23, hasn’t played an official snap in an NFL game yet. However, the second-year quarterback has impressed in the preseason. He completed 22 of 35 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns in the Packers’ preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday. But with veteran Tyrod Taylor already backing up Jordan Love, McCord would’ve only been the third-string quarterback for Green Bay this season.

As for the Dolphins, they got rid of their three backup quarterbacks behind Willis over the weekend. They traded Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday before releasing Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski. 

While McCord joins Willis in making the recent move from Green Bay to Miami, they actually didn’t spend time together with the Packers. The Packers signed McCord to a futures contract following their playoff loss to the Chicago Bears in January. 

That deal came after former Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan was hired to become the Dolphins’ general manager and former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was hired to be their next head coach. 

McCord began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He spent the entirety of the 2025 season on Philadelphia’s practice squad.

Source

National Football League

Updated Aug. 30, 2026 6:53 p.m. ET

–>

recommended

[–>Arrow pointing to the leftArrow pointing to the right

Item 1 of 3

Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more [–>

Source

Dillon Gabriel’s stellar performance in the Cleveland Browns’ preseason finale was enough to earn him a spot on their 53-man roster.

The Browns will be keeping the second-year quarterback entering the regular season, ESPN reported Sunday. 

However, ESPN also reported that the Browns have placed Gabriel on injured reserve, designated for return, due to a back injury. Gabriel reportedly suffered a back injury during the preseason finale and underwent an MRI. The injury was notable enough to land him on injured reserve.

Gabriel joins Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders as the other quarterbacks on Cleveland’s roster. 

Watson has already been named Cleveland’s starting quarterback, and Sanders is expected to be the primary backup after competing with the veteran for the starting job. However, Gabriel could have a chance at starting at some point this season if the Browns’ quarterback woes continue. Cleveland started three quarterbacks last season and has had seven different starting quarterbacks since the start of the 2024 campaign.

Gabriel was one of the three quarterbacks who started a game for the Browns in 2025. The 2025 third-round pick went 1-5 as a starter, though, as he largely struggled. He completed 59.5% of his passes for 937 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions to go with an 80.8 passer rating over the 10 games he appeared in.

Gabriel’s final start came in Week 11, when he suffered a concussion against the Baltimore Ravens. While the injury wasn’t season-ending, Sanders started the final seven games for the Browns, going 3-4. 

With Sanders performing relatively well and Watson returning from an Achilles injury, it was believed that Gabriel was fighting for a roster spot during training camp and the preseason. He got the start in the Browns’ preseason finale against the New England Patriots on Thursday, completing 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. 

Source

With Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs facing potential league discipline, the team is adding depth to its backfield. 

The Packers are acquiring running back Kaleb Johnson in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to The Ringer.

Selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Johnson struggled to find a consistent role in the Steelers’ offense. With Jaylen Warren and recently signed Rico Dowdle established ahead of him on the depth chart, Johnson became the odd man out in the Steelers’ backfield.

The former Iowa Hawkeye has seen very little opportunity since entering the league. Appearing in 10 games with the Steelers, Johnson logged 28 carries for 69 yards with an abysmal 2.5 yards per carry that stood as a polar opposite to his production with the Hawkeyes.

With Jacobs’ status early in the season unclear, Johnson provides some much-needed depth for the Packers at running back. Without his starter, head coach Matt LaFleur will rely on former third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks and now Johnson to handle the load.

While his NFL career is off to a slow start, Johnson’s bell-cow production at Iowa was what made him a top running back prospect in the 2025 draft. He rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns with 6.4 yards per carry, and if he can find that same groove, the Packers might have found another big addition to the room. Jacobs might not be on the field to start the year, but Lloyd and Johnson could form quite the young duo.

Source

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Keenan Allen was arrested Sunday on drunken driving charges.

Allen, 34, was being held at the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center. The misdemeanor charges listed on the jail records were operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated — endangering a person.

The Colts announced on Aug. 19 that they had agreed to a one-year contract with Allen, a six-time Pro Bowl selection. He had one catch for 24 yards during Saturday night’s 25-16 preseason loss to Detroit.

“We are aware of the incident involving Keenan Allen last night,” the Colts said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering more information and have no further comment at this time.”

A message was left seeking comment from Allen’s agent.

Allen had 81 receptions for 777 yards and four touchdowns in 17 games with the Los Angeles Chargers last season. He ranks 13th in NFL history in receptions (1,055), 33rd in yards (12,051) and 52nd in TD catches (70).

Reporting by the Associated Press.

Source

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs will open the 2026 NFL regular season on the commissioner’s exempt list, the league announced Sunday. Jacobs will not be allowed to practice or play while he’s on the commissioner’s exempt list. 

The league’s decision stems from Jacobs being arrested and later released from a Wisconsin jail in May after five criminal charges were brought against him: strangulation and suffocation, battery-domestic abuse, criminal damage to property-domestic abuse, disorderly conduct-domestic abuse and intimidation of a victim.

At the time of his release in May, Jacobs’ lawyers said he denied any wrongdoing regarding the reported domestic abuse. The initial charges were later reduced to two misdemeanors by the Brown County District Attorney on Thursday afternoon: misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property.

While Jacobs won’t be able to participate in team activities or play in any games while he’s on the commissioner’s exempt list, he could still face a suspension down the line. Players are typically placed on the exempt list in instances when the league is still reviewing a matter to determine further discipline. 

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst expressed on Wednesday afternoon that the team was “preparing” for Jacobs to be suspended, according to The Athletic.

Jacobs, 28, is in the third season of a four-year, $48 million deal with the Packers. Last season, the three-time Pro Bowler rushed for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns on 4.0 yards per carry; Jacobs also tallied 282 receiving yards.

Jacobs spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Las Vegas Raiders (2019-23), with whom he led the NFL with 1,653 rushing yards and was an All-Pro in 2022.

The Packers made a trade prior to the news surrounding Jacobs on Sunday. They acquired running back Kaleb Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Source

Will Levis’ time in Nashville is over.

The fourth-year quarterback has been cut by the Tennessee Titans as they trim their roster down to 53 players, The Ringer reported Sunday. With the move, Mitchell Trubisky has fully cemented himself as the Titans’ primary backup behind Cam Ward.

Levis was selected by the Titans with the first pick of the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft and showed some promise early on. He threw for 1,808 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions to go with a rushing score in nine appearances that season. 

That allowed Levis to open the 2024 season as the Titans’ starting quarterback, but he largely struggled. He went 2-10 in 12 starts that year, throwing for 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also had a league-leading six fumbles and missed multiple games that season due to a shoulder injury before he was benched. 

With the Titans struggling in 2024, they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft and selected Ward. Levis’ 2025 season ended before he could compete with Ward for the starting job, though, after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery that July.

As for this preseason, Levis completed 53.8% of his passes for 200 yards over three games.  

Source

Following its move against Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, the NFL has also placed Denver Broncos edge rusher Jonathon Cooper on the commissioner’s exempt list, according to ESPN. Cooper will not be able to practice or play in any games while he’s on the list. 

Cooper’s placement on the list follows two summer arrests stemming from domestic violence incidents involving his girlfriend. He faces five total charges, including second-degree felony assault and violation of a protection order. Cooper is scheduled to be in court on Monday.

Cooper cannot return to the field until NFL commissioner Roger Goodell officially reinstates him, but he could still be suspended as the league continues its investigation. 

With Cooper now sidelined and the Broncos’ season opener on the horizon, Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman are next in line to fill the void on defense. 

Cooper has been an important piece to the Broncos’ defense over the last few seasons. A 2021 seventh-round pick out of Ohio State, Cooper has logged 180 tackles, 27 sacks and two forced fumbles over the last three years. 

The Broncos will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1.

Source