A look at games that might pique your interest
Welcome back to another fun filled week of college football! This post is too late for the Thursday games (work gets in the way sometimes), but you didn’t miss anything with those, so I’m going to give myself a pass this week.
Friday really just has one game that you’re going to want to pay attention to, which is Syracuse’s trip to Vegas to take on UNLV. Barry Odom had a pretty forgettable four year run atop the Missouri program prior to Eli Drinkwitz taking over, but he’s done an incredible job with the UNLV program in his two years there. A program that won just 11 games total over the four years prior to Odom’s arrival have gone 13-5 under him thus far. Incredible stuff. It’s going to be a test for the Orange to see how well they really stack up.
All Wolfpack eyes will be on the game in Raleigh with Wake on Saturday afternoon, but also keep an eye on that Missouri at Texas A&M game. That should be a pretty good battle, as will be SMU at Louisville. Both the Mustangs and Cardinals are 1-0 in conference, so this game has big implications on the race to the conference championship game.
Boston College and Virginia are also each 1-0, so the winner there is also putting themselves in good shape, but let’s be real… neither of those teams is going to have the lasting power to make the championship game.
Pitt has looked stronger than expected in a bounce back year, and they’ll head to Chapel Hill to start their conference slate, and hopefully will boot UNC to 0-2 in ACC play in the process.
Ohio State should beat the pants off Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have a legit defense as they always do, plus they add a not-terrible offense this year since going away from nepotism. It wouldn’t shock me to see them pull the upset.
Auburn-Georgia sounds better than it will be. I expect the Dawgs to run away with that one.
Instead, in that midday slate you should watch Rutgers-Nebraska. I know that sounds like a dumb statement, but both teams are exceeding expectations and it’s more likely to be an entertaining game.
I think we’re all App fans this weekend. Our friends up in the mountains could use a victory after all they’ve been through lately. I’ll be pulling for them, and you should, too.
The primetime slot is a little underwhelming since FSU decided to be terrible this year. Clemson’s going to do unspeakable things in Tallahassee. The big game in the evening slot is Michigan-Washington, which… geez… that just sounds boring. Last year that was an amazing game, but it’s a dramatic change for both programs in just a year’s time.
Miami at Cal late night has my full attention. The Hurricanes struggled last week at home against VT (they should have lost) and Cal has been way better than anyone outside that program thought they’d be. Not only is this a cross-country trip for Miami, but it’s their first game outside of the state of Florida this year. That’s going to be a factor.
Go Pack!
Rankings for SP+ Ratings (here’s the SP+ ranking for all college football teams) and Sagarin Ratings listed, respectively, ahead of each team’s name.
Thursday
75/74 Texas State @ 92/109 Troy – 7:00pm – ESPNU
100/104 Sam Houston @ 174/152 UTEP – 9:00pm – CBSSN
Friday
122/108 Jacksonville State @ 197/188 Kennesaw State – 7:00pm – CBSSN
88/80 Houston @ 32/35 TCU – 7:30pm – ESPN
74/70 Michigan State @ 8/7 Oregon – 9:00pm – FOX
49/63 Syracuse @ 54/29 UNLV – 9:00pm – FS1
Saturday
80/93 Wake Forest @ 61/67 NC State – 12:00pm – CW
9/19 Missouri @ 19/21 Texas A&M – 12:00pm – ABC
26/24 SMU @ 14/17 Louisville – 12:00pm – ESPN
55/62 Boston College @ 65/68 Virginia – 12:00pm – ACC Network
31/46 Pittsburgh @ 41/65 North Carolina – 12:00pm – ESPN2
68/77 Navy @ 126/118 Air Force – 12:00pm – CBS
17/18 Iowa @ 1/4 Ohio State – 3:30pm – CBS
20/36 Auburn @ 7/3 Georgia – 3:30pm – ABC
4/6 Ole Miss @ 27/28 South Carolina – 3:30pm – ESPN
43/37 Virginia Tech @ 86/83 Stanford – 3:30pm – ACC Network
97/90 Appalachian State @ 99/95 Marshall – 3:30pm – ESPN+
44/45 Rutgers @ 28/30 Nebraska – 4:00pm – FS1
58/42 West Virginia @ 39/25 Oklahoma State – 4:00pm – ESPN2
13/14 Clemson @ 48/52 Florida State – 7:00pm – ESPN
5/5 Tennessee @ 34/41 Arkansas – 7:30pm – ABC
15/22 Michigan @ 23/40 Washington – 7:30pm – NBC
22/12 USC @ 47/54 Minnesota – 7:30pm – Big Ten Network
56/47 Baylor @ 21/16 Iowa State – 7:30pm – FOX
38/34 UCF @ 30/39 Florida – 7:45pm – SEC Network
36/66 Duke @ 52/58 Georgia Tec – 8:00pm – ACC Network
45/50 Kansas @ 67/59 Arizona State – 8:00pm – ESPN2
102/111 Hawaii @ 110/115 San Diego State – 8:00pm – CBSSN
11/10 Miami @ 40/51 California – 10:30pm – ESPN
59/38 Texas Tech @ 35/33 Arizona – 11:00pm – FOX