College football returned to the TV schedule last weekend, but it was just a small taste of what's to come.

With Week 1 kicking off around the country, basically every FBS program will be in action. This is the time for unexpected upsets in the sport.

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It's possible that we've already seen one of the surprises of the 2026 season, as UMass took down Rutgers on Thursday night. The Minutemen dominated the game, winning 37-21 despite being nearly a 30-point underdog. The Scarlet Knights paid $1.5 million for a home loss.

That's not a great look for Greg Schiano, with murmurs picking up around New Jersey.

Who are five other programs that are on upset alert throughout Labor Day weekend?

Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss dealt with plenty of chaos during arguably its best season in program history, advancing to the College Football Playoff and coming up one game short of competing for a title. Pete Golding is now the Rebels' full-time head coach, plus star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and standout running back Kewan Lacy are back in Oxford.

Louisville has an explosive backfield of its own with the combination of Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown. However, the Cardinals are replacing multiple starters up front and relying on Ohio State quarterback transfer Lincoln Kienholz to run the offense.

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Head coach Jeff Brohm normally has his team ready to go in big games. Louisville has defeated four ranked opponents during his tenure, upsetting Miami 24-21 on the road last season.

With this game being in Nashville, Ole Miss won't have a true home-field advantage. The Rebels are still nearly a touchdown favorite.

LSU Tigers

Speaking of drama, it feels like that's just about all LSU has dealt with since splurging to bring Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge. The Tigers were already an NFL factory, but some of those players from the professional level might be eligible to play most of the 2026 college football season.

Though the program isn't officially adding them to the roster for the game against Clemson, it still creates an unprecedented situation on the field and in the locker room. There's no doubt that the Tigers are loaded, but how will this team come together with all of the noise around them? Is Sam Leavitt truly healthy and ready to bounce back?

A proud program going through transition will have to answer those questions quickly when Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers come to town. Yes, Clemson fell short of expectations in 2025 and has multiple new starters. However, you can never count out Swinney.

The Tigers lost this rematch by a field goal in 2025. Clemson is looking to make a statement on Saturday night. LSU is roughly a 10-point favorite.

SMU Mustangs

Florida State was one of the few teams in action during Week 0. Though the Seminoles didn't impress in a 34-17 victory against New Mexico State, they've played a true game and have had a little extra time to work through the issues before hosting SMU.

This will be college football's standalone game on Labor Day, meaning plenty of fans will be tuning in on Monday night. It goes without saying that SMU has been much more stable than Florida State over the last two years. Regardless, the Mustangs are only favored by a field goal.

SMU is opening the season on the road in a hostile environment. The program has actually never traveled to Tallahassee or played in Doak Campbell Stadium before. Plus, the Seminoles are about a year removed from upsetting Alabama, only to disappoint for the rest of the year.

Could a similar result be on the way? Ashton Daniels will need to be a lot better, along with Florida State's defense. SMU's offensive attack, spearheaded by star quarterback Kevin Jennings, is projected to be among the upper echelon nationally.

Bowling Green Falcons

An upset doesn't have to be limited to top-25 teams, and the first couple of weeks are the only real opportunities for FBS-FCS upsets, which are becoming increasingly rare in the NIL era. In fact, there were only four occurrences last season, and the FCS (0-10) is still looking for its first victim in 2026.

Just last season, Tarleton State took down Army in overtime, 30-27. The Texans could defeat an FBS program for the second consecutive season, as Bowling Green is coming off a 4-8 campaign. An offseason quarterback battle ended with former D2 signal-caller Jay Kastantin beating Oregon transfer Austin Novosad for the starting job, which was somewhat unexpected.

Tarleton State is breaking in some new players, but head coach Todd Whitten is preparing for his 17th season. The Falcons are a slim home favorite and might make SportsCenter for the wrong reasons.

Northwestern Wildcats

FCS teams normally don't stand a chance against P4 programs in this era of the sport. The little guy has increasingly less to work with, as revenue sharing and the transfer portal are leading to the decimation of rosters.

The last FCS program to defeat a P4 program was Sacramento State over Stanford in 2023, and now the Hornets are one of the newest members of the FBS. Northwestern is looking to prevent a similar result in David Braun's fourth season.

The Wildcats made some moves this offseason, hiring Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator and landing former Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles in the transfer portal. The defense could be a strength with a mix of returning talent and newcomers.

South Dakota State's last win over an FBS opponent was against Colorado State in 2021. The Jackrabbits defeated Stetson 70-7 to open their season, rushing for 393 yards and 7 scores on the ground.

Northwestern better be ready to go against the No. 3 team in the FCS.

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