A look at games that might pique your interest
Hey, now. Hang tough, State fans. It’s been a rough year, but… well, I can’t promise things will get better, but I can promise that there is still more football. So let’s make the most of it, because while you may not miss this NC State season when it’s gone, you will miss college football in general, so let’s enjoy what we have left of it.
Yeah, there were games Tuesday and Wednesday, but Tuesday featured three games without a single team with a winning record and Wednesday’s marquee game (Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston) ended up being a little underwhelming.
Thursday only has two games, but one of those is an ACC affair with Boston College heading to Virginia Tech. Both squads are at 1-1 in conference play, so the winner is still alive in the conference championship (and thus College Football Playoff) race while the loser will have their backs firmly against the wall. Of course, neither team is really a contender, but kudos to Bill O’Brien for his first-year turnaround of BC.
Friday also features an ACC game with Florida State heading to Duke. The over/under for the game is 42.5, which feels low for me. I’m sure Steven will cover that more in his latest updates from the dungeon of degenerates.
Also Friday is Oregon at Purdue (if Oregon trips on themselves with this one, we should all point and laugh) as well as Oklahoma State at BYU. Somehow the fightin’ Mormons are undefeated and looking like they have a decent shot of finishing the regular season in that manner. There’s not a currently ranked team remaining on their schedule, including the disappointing Pokes.
Saturday kicks off with a big ACC game as Miami faces Louisville. The Canes are coming off a bye week but struggled in each of their last two games before the break, while Louisville desperately needs a win to stay alive in the ACC race. Also at noon in ACC play, an overachieving Virginia heads to Clemson for a reality check.
The Nebraska-Indiana game features a pair of teams with a combined 11-1 record… and it’s not the Hoosiers with the loss. Big Ten football is weird, y’all.
Arizona State at Cincinnati is essentially a Big XII championship elimination game, but neither team are real contenders in that conference. Then again, who really is, so maybe a 2-loss team could definitely make that title game… heck, maybe even a 3-loss team.
NC State kicks off in the mid-day time slot, although that will be essentially a noon kick on the west coast. Cal has been exceptionally good this year, even if the record doesn’t indicate as much, while the Pack have a pair of close fumbled-away losses on the year. The Bears have the better defense so it makes sense their the favorites. If the Pack can pull the road upset, it would be a nice boost heading into a bye week.
There aren’t a lot of games in that mid-day slot, but there are some good ones. The top one is Alabama-Tennessee. Just a few weeks ago this was looking like an SEC championship preview, but since then Bama has fallen to Vanderbilt and Tennessee has dropped a game at Arkansas. Nico Iamaleava has really struggled in SEC play thus far, so my money is on the Tide, even if they’ve struggled in their last 2.5 games.
The other two marquee games in the middle of Saturday include Georgia Tech hosting Notre Dame and Michigan heading to Illinois. GT has been surprisingly tough but does have a pair of losses on the year. The Fighting Irish have been great since getting topped early in the year at home by Northern Illinois. Michigan is somehow still ranked despite looking mostly like garbage (for a defending national champion, that is), while Illinois looks like they could beat anyone and lose to anyone. I’ll take the Illini in this one.
Moving to the primetime games, the big one of the day is Georgia-Texas. This game would be at an entirely different level if Georgia hadn’t squandered that epic comeback against Alabama, but this is still a huge game. Texas has been downright amazing and has probably the best QB depth in the country. Georgia is, well, Georgia. That team is so dang talented. Both teams look like CFP participants regardless of the outcome of this one.
Don’t sleep on that LSU-Arkansas game for some entertainment value either.
The nightcap will be TCU-Utah. The Utes would likely still be in the Big XII race if they hadn’t stuck with a clearly injured Cam Rising last week, but they’re still a solid team with a fantastic defense. TCU is… uhh… prone to entertaining games…?? Who cares, it’s late night football. Just enjoy.
Go Wolfpack, out west style (no mayo)!
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
126/125 Georgia State @ 94/86 Marshall – 7:00pm – ESPN2
49/66 Boston College @ 36/38 Virginia Tech – 7:30pm – ESPN
Friday
64/60 Florida State @ 35/69 Duke – 7:00pm – ESPN2
7/4 Oregon @ 86/100 Purdue – 8:00pm – FOX
55/40 Oklahoma State @ 29/18 BYU – 10:15pm – ESPN
93/84 Fresno State @ 112/101 Nevada – 10:30pm – CBSSN
Saturday
8/12 Miami @ 20/22 Louisville – 12:00pm – ABC
61/65 Virginia @ 11/13 Clemson – 12:00pm – ACC Network
22/28 Nebraska @ 15/25 Indiana – 12:00pm – FOX
24/47 Auburn @ 13/24 Missouri – 12:00pm – FOX
81/93 Wake Forest @ 78/89 UConn – 12:00pm – CBSSN
46/43 Arizona State @ 44/41 Cincinnati – 12:00pm – ESPN+
65/81 Louisiana @ 88/95 Coastal Carolina – 12:00pm – ESPNU
34/29 South Carolina @ 26/20 Oklahoma – 12:45pm – SEC Network
63/82 NC State @ 42/45 California – 3:30pm – ACC Network
3/5 Alabama @ 9/8 Tennessee – 3:30pm – ABC
10/6 Notre Dame @ 38/50 Georgia Tech – 3:30pm – ESPN
21/26 Michigan @ 47/52 Illinois – 3:30pm – CBS
12/11 LSU @ 30/31 Arkansas – 7:00pm – ESPN
5/3 Georgia @ 1/1 Texas – 7:30pm – ABC
16/15 Kansas State @ 43/35 West Virginia – 7:30pm – FOX
84/83 North Texas @ 68/51 Memphis – 7:30pm – ESPNU
17/17 SMU @ 90/99 Stanford – 8:00pm – ACC Network
66/42 UNLV @ 69/70 Oregon State – 10:00pm – CW
37/58 TCU @ 33/27 Utah – 10:30pm – ESPN