The Week 0 matchup that no one’s talking about

“Week 0” is only days away, and while there may not be a lot to take away from its games at face value, there is one that stands out as a must-watch.

We’ve all seen the social media hype surrounding college football’s grand return, and while it’s certainly able to get you excited for the season as a whole, some might find it difficult to bounce off the walls over the opening games in particular.

This is simply due to the fact that all of said games include at least one “little guy” program. For reference, four of Week 0’s seven matchups are without Power 5 influence, with the biggest pairing to match that description being Ohio at San Diego State—not bad, but certainly not great.

The last three include Notre Dame (who’s being included in the Power 5 category for obvious reasons), Vanderbilt and USC. But don’t get your hopes up just yet, as despite being better-looking on a showtime listing than most of those in the Group of 5, their presences are going to be diluted by the whoopings they’re bound to unleash on their lackluster opponents.

The Fighting Irish face Navy (though giving ND trouble in 2022, the Midshipmen are coming off a 4-8 run and are losing to the Irish 79-13-1 all-time), the Commodores host Hawaii (last year’s battles saw them beat the Rainbow Warriors 63-10) and the Trojans host San Jose State (7-5 MWC team visiting an 11-3 Pac-12 team with a Heisman-winning QB). I’m a sucker for upsets, but I can’t confidently say that we’ll witness one from a lineup like that.

So, with the more-relevant matchups likely failing to give us anything we wouldn’t expect, let’s instead take a look at the remaining games for what could actually be a competitive back and forth. The four clashes in question are UTEP at Jacksonville State, UMass at New Mexico State, the aforementioned Ohio at San Diego State, and FIU at Louisiana Tech.

Many would likely get hung up on Ohio-SDSU, and I could see why. Both the Bobcats and Aztecs have been amongst the most consistent GO5 names over the last 15 years, with the former coming off of a 10-win season and the latter holding an active streak of 13 non-losing seasons.

But while all that makes it sound like it should be a good show (something the -2.5 point spread in SDSU’s favor also implies), would prevailing mean particularly much to either team? Not really, no. Sure, both sides want to win, but the outcome likely wouldn’t mean more to them than the outcome of any other game, nor would it directly impact their conferences/their places in them.

However, one of those other matchups checks both of those boxes, along with beating out Ohio-SDSU for the tightest spread of the weekend at the same time. Which one, you may ask? UTEP at Jacksonville State.

What makes UTEP-JSU the best that Week 0 has to offer?

This game is a curveball for sure, as it would not be remotely intriguing any year other than this one. Back in August of 2022, UTEP and Jacksonville State not only belonged to different conferences, but also different levels of Division I; the Miners played in Conference USA of the FBS while the Gamecocks played in the ASUN of the FCS. Yet since July 1, the two programs have officially been league foes.

With their battle against the Miners being their season opener, the Gamecocks will be getting their first-ever glimpse of life at the FBS level.

Now, are there better teams than UTEP in Conference USA? Absolutely. Is this the first time JSU has ever faced an FBS-level opponent? Of course not. But nonetheless, the meeting serves as the start of a new chapter in the school’s athletic history and, as a result, winning it would mean exponentially more than most other 2023 victories on their own.

With that, we have both the conference ties and the noteworthy importance of winning accounted for, so what about the spread? Just how good of a game does the expected point differential predict? Well, to answer that question, we’d first have to acknowledge the fact that there is no differential.

You read that right: While every other Week 0 game has a point spread ranging anywhere from three points to 31, UTEP-JSU’s is listed as even at the time of this article being written (the early morning of Wednesday, Aug. 23).

This, to me, is fair, as despite the Gamecocks being the ones to move up in competition, most of the circumstances surrounding the matchup go their way. Said circumstances most notably include the parties’ 2022 performances (UTEP went 5-7, Jacksonville State went 9-2) and, as previously established, home-field advantage.

It’s not a big game—in fact, once the season is all said and done, hardly anyone will remember it—but especially on a slate as limited as that of Week 0, “impactful,” “meaningful” and “competitive” are enough adjectives to deem this game worthy of a watch.