{"id":49617,"date":"2023-08-24T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=49617"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:20:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:20:44","slug":"three-sec-predictions-and-week-0-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/08\/24\/three-sec-predictions-and-week-0-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Three SEC Predictions and Week 0 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Week 0 kicks off this weekend with seven games. Last Word on College Football has everything you need to prepare for the action. We\u2019ll highlight the biggest conference stories each week and preview the weekend’s top matchups. We’ve already compared and contrasted the SEC’s non-conference schedules, from\u00a0<\/span>Georiga’s sweet cupcakes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>Florida’s splitting headache<\/span><\/a>. This week, Vanderbilt is the lone SEC representative playing in Week 0. Before we get to all the excitement in Nashville (and an update on stadium construction), here are the Week 0 Schedule and three SEC predictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Week 0 Schedule<\/span><\/h2>\n

Starting next week, we will have the schedule for your favorite SEC teams. All times are E.S.T., and the lines are at the time of publication.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/b><\/td>\nTime\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nTelevision\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nMatchup<\/b><\/td>\nLine<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n2:30 p.m.<\/span><\/td>\nNBC<\/span><\/td>\nNavy vs. Notre Dame\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nND -20.5<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n5:30 p.m.<\/span><\/td>\nCBSSN<\/span><\/td>\nUTEM vs. Jacksonville State<\/span><\/td>\nEVEN<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n7:00 p.m. <\/span><\/td>\nESPN<\/span><\/td>\nUMass vs. New Mexico State<\/span><\/td>\nNMSU -6.5<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n7:00 p.m.<\/span><\/td>\nFS1<\/span><\/td>\nOhio vs. San Diego State\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nSDSU -2.5\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/b><\/td>\n7:30 p.m. <\/b><\/td>\nSECN\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nHawai\u2019i vs. Vanderbilt<\/b><\/td>\nVandy -17.5<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n8:00 p.m.<\/span><\/td>\nPac12<\/span><\/td>\nSan Jose State vs. USC\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nUS -31<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8\/26<\/span><\/td>\n9:00 p.m.<\/span><\/td>\nCSBSN\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nFlU vs. Louisiana Tech\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nLT -11<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Week 0 Preview: Vanderbilt vs. Hawaii<\/h3>\n

Nashville is the place for Saturday night football in the SEC to kick off the 2023 college football season. Dores’ Nation is excited to see what Clark Lea<\/strong> and his staff have in store for year two. Vanderbilt finished 5-7 in Lea’s first year, highlighted by conference wins against Kentucky and Florida. Offensively, Vanderbilt will need to replace leading rusher Re’Mahn Davis<\/a>. AJ Swann<\/a> will begin his second season as the starter for Vanderbilt. The sophomore took over for Mike Wright<\/a> last season and threw for more than 1200 yards and 10 touchdowns. Vanderbilt looks to improve defensively on the conference’s worst pass defense. The return of Miles Capers<\/a> from a season-ending knee injury in fall camp should help.<\/p>\n

Last season, the ‘Dores got off to a hot start with a 63-10 victory. With Hawai’i still, deep in a rebuild, Lea and the ‘Dores should be able to get off on the right foot in 2023.\u00a0Now about that stadium issue. FirstBank Stadium is undergoing significant upgrades that will reduce Vanderbilt’s capacity to 28,500. While it is great for the university for the improvements to occur,\u00a0 there is no reason why the team shouldn’t be playing at nearby Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. In a conference where it just means more, that’s precisely what we should expect from the Vanderbilt administration.<\/p>\n

\n

Vanderbilt has a home football game in 11 days.<\/p>\n

This was yesterday. pic.twitter.com\/87ds8khTDX<\/a><\/p>\n

— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) August 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n