Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State
It seems only fitting that we get to honor America with Conference USA action on the first Wednesday with games for the 2026 college football season. As it turns out, this conference is one of the few with a truthful name, as we can see with New Mexico State vs. Florida International and, to a lesser degree, Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State. This conference definitely spans the USA and doesn’t lie, like the Big Ten with way more than 10 teams or the Big 12 that does not have 12 teams or the Atlantic Coast Conference that includes Stanford and Cal.
So, props to C-USA for that and props to the conference for setting up these weeknight games to get the member schools some TV money and a little bit more exposure. New Mexico State vs. FIU draws ESPN2 and Jacksonville State vs. Kennesaw State can be seen on CBS Sports Network. Let’s talk about both games, beginning with the earlier one.
Odds from Circa Sports as of October 5, 7:30 p.m. PT; check out our Circa Betting Splits and DraftKings Betting Splits. See all of our Week 5 College Football Picks and Predictions.
Jacksonville State (-3, 51) vs. Kennesaw State Prediction
7 p.m. ET (CBSSN)
Pick: Jacksonville State -3
The Gamecocks are already off to a 1-0 start in conference play, as they knocked off Middle Tennessee back on September 26. The Owls are playing their first conference game of the season and enter this game at 1-3, with the only win coming against FCS West Georgia. There are 138 FBS teams and Jeff Sagarin, who ranks the schedules for all FBS and FCS teams, has Jacksonville State’s schedule ranked 138th, as they enter with a 3-2 mark.
Kennesaw State’s SOS is propped up heavily by the lopsided loss to Tennessee, as their other two games have been Georgia State and Arkansas State. I’m definitely not reading much into the game against the Vols, but 31 combined points against the Panthers and Red Wolves strikes me as a major area of concern.
Kennesaw State basically made a trade with Syracuse over the offseason, as the Orange got Amari Odom, who was the starter and leading passer for the Owls last season. In exchange, Kennesaw State got Rickie Collins, who is currently the team’s leading rusher, but he’s only thrown two touchdown passes thus far with three rushing scores. Collins, a one-time LSU recruit, had three of his five total touchdowns in that win over West Georgia.
On the other side, Jacksonville State brought back Caden Creel at QB and he seems to be settling back in after some growing pains with a lot of new faces earlier in the season. The Gamecocks lost star RB Cam Cook and have yet to really find the right guy to replace him. That has left Creel to fend for himself, as he has 76 of the team’s 172 carries. He’s completed 69% of his passes and rushed for three touchdowns, so he’s definitely a more dynamic dual-threat guy than Collins.
Jacksonville State has played four FBS opponents and allowed just a hair over five yards per play. Even if we take out the Tennessee game for the Owls, they’ve still allowed 6.4 YPP to Georgia State and Arkansas State. I don’t think they have an answer defensively for Creel and I don’t think Collins is the answer to go score for score with Creel. My line on the game is Jacksonville State -4.5, so some power ratings value, but also just a clear matchup advantage.
Pick: Jacksonville State -3
New Mexico State vs. FIU (-6.5, 47)
7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
We have seen this line move pretty sharply in FIU’s direction, a move that I agree with based on my power ratings. We haven’t really seen the Panthers in a while, as they beat Long Island prior to the bye that they had this past weekend. When they did play a real opponent last, it was a disappointing 16-10 loss to Florida Atlantic, a game in which the Panthers comfortably outgained the Owls, but had three interceptions and two additional turnovers on downs.
I do think that they win this game and I give them a better shot to cover than New Mexico State, but the line seems pretty fair here. The Aggies picked up their first FBS win last time out over Western Kentucky, who was thought to be one of the top teams in this conference, but has been a dumpster fire for all intents and purposes thus far.
With transfer QB Trey Hedden done for the year, Adam Damante has gotten his shot for NMSU. He was 16-of-19 in relief in the blowout loss to rival New Mexico, but just 15-of-26 in the win over the Hilltoppers with a tuddy and a pick. I do lean towards FIU here, but the stronger play in the two Wednesday games for me is the Jacksonville State one.
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