The 2025 college football season begins on Saturday with an intriguing slate of Week 0 games. Among them is a matchup between Stanford in Hawaii, which will be the final game of the weekend before the page turns to Week 1 next week. This will mark the fifth all-time matchup between Stanford and Hawaii and the first since the Cardinal opened the 2023 campaign with a 37-24 win over the Rainbow Warriors.
This past offseason for Stanford was a rollercoaster. The program fired coach Troy Taylor in March after a university investigation. That decision was announced by Stanford general manager Andrew Luck, who is in a new role with the school he called home during the early 2010s.
Taylor will be replaced this season by one of Luck’s former coaches with the Indianapolis Colts, Frank Reich, who is serving as Stanford’s interim coach for the 2025 campaign.
Stanford hasn’t won more than four games since the 2018 campaign, which includes four consecutive 3-9 seasons. As for Hawaii, the program hasn’t exceeded the six-win mark since coach Timmy Chang was hired in 2022. The Rainbow Warriors finished 5-7 during the 2024 season.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the Week 0 matchup between Hawaii and Stanford.
Andrew Luck back at Stanford as GM: Ex-Colts star aiming to return Cardinal football to relevance in new era
Cody Nagel
Where to watch Stanford vs. Hawaii live
Date: Saturday, Aug. 23 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: T.C. Ching Athletics Complex — Honolulu, Hawaii
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free)
Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime (Try It Free)
Click here for LIVE UPDATES from the Stanford-Hawaii clash.
Stanford vs. Hawaii: Need to know
Stanford entering a new era: The 2025 season will look very different for Stanford. The program welcomes a new (interim) coach in Reich, who most recently served as the coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2023. Reich has extensive experience as an assistant and position coach in the NFL, but he has never coached at the college level. Luck was also hired as the program’s general manager last fall, and he will look to lead the charge in resurrecting a once-proud program.
Chang seeking his first win vs. Power Four team at Hawaii: Since Chang took over his alma mater in 2022, Hawaii has an 0-6 record against Power Four programs. Hawaii last beat a Power Four team in 2019 when the program opened the season with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Oregon State, who at the time were both members of the Pac-12. Chang has a 13-25 career record heading into his fourth season. Starting the season off with a win over Stanford would be a great momentum builder for the 2025 season.
Keep an eye on Stanford QB Ben Gulbranson: After Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson received the bulk of the reps at quarterback last season, Stanford will have a new signal caller in 2025. Insert Gulbranson, who transferred in this offseason after spending the previous four years at Oregon State. He threw for 943 yards and four touchdowns in his four appearances. Gulbranson notably beat out former highly touted recruit Elijah Brown for the starting job.
Stanford vs. Hawaii prediction, pick
Both programs enter this game and season in desperate search of some positive momentum. Stanford’s bowl game drought is approaching seven years, while Hawaii is looking to take the next step under Chang to become bowl eligible for the first time in his coaching tenure at his alma mater. Stanford is 4-0 all-time against Hawaii. Stanford covers and wins outright in Reich’s first game. With a tough game on the road against BYU looming next month, this is a game Stanford has to win to take the next step.
SportsLine’s proven computer model is calling for a pair of outright upsets in Week 0 of college football. Visit SportsLine now to see all the picks from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times.
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