I went through and deleted the fluff and kept the most interesting matchups for this weekend.
Friday Evening
Louisville at UCF
Saturday Early
Alabama at Texas
Missouri at Kansas State
Saturday Afternoon
Iowa State at Iowa
Houston at Texas Tech
Saturday Evening
Kansas at West Virginia
Kentucky at Florida
Arizona State at Oklahoma State
Saturday Late Night
Baylor at BYU
Those are definitely the headliners, but I really like some of those other ones too.
South Carolina at Arkansas- Hogs are coming off a big win and think they can be a factor in the SEC West. South Carolina has Spencer Rattler at QB, who in spite of some struggles last year still entered the year as the overwhelming Heisman favorite, so we know he’s talented.
Wake Forest at Vandy- Wake gets their QB back after all and might be a factor in the ACC Atlantic. Vandy is 2-0 and if they sneak a home upset, they have a decent shot at making a bowl.
Duke at Northwestern- One of the more overlooked results from Week 1 was Duke destroying Temple. Thought that would be a lot closer. The Blue Devils go to Kansas in a couple weeks. This is the first time we’ve seen Northwestern since the Week 0 game against the Nubs.
UTSA at Army- UTSA is coming off a 12-2 season and just lost a thriller against a ranked Houston team. Army won 9 games last year. UTSA plays at Texas next week in what will be a game with underrated upset potential.
App State at Texas A&M- Can App State bounce back and at least have a good showing after the heartbreaking loss to UNC? How good really is Texas A&M?
Tennessee at Pittsburgh- Unranked Tennessee is favored by a touchdown on the road against ranked defending ACC champion Pitt. This game might help us gauge West Virginia a bit.
Washington State at Wisconsin- I think WSU is a little bit better than they showed against Idaho in Week 1. I’m curious if Wisconsin is really as good as their ranking or if they’re just getting credit for
probably being the best team in the Big Ten West.
Virginia at Illinois- This game was a blowout last year at Virginia. I’m really interested to get a better gauge on Bielema’s progress at Illinois. Virginia started 6-2 last year and then lost four straight to end the year. Probably a key game for both teams’ bowl chances.
Old Dominion at East Carolina- ODU is coming off a big in-state win over VA Tech. ECU lost a heartbreaker to NC State due to kicking woes. Does ODU keep it going or does ECU get back on track?
UAB at Liberty- UAB is the other major contender in CUSA besides UTSA. Liberty has been pretty successful the last couple years as an independent. Liberty will be joining CUSA next year while UAB is headed to the AAC. This might be one of the better matchups between G5 schools this year if you’re into that sort of thing.
USC at Stanford- Some media types are hyping USC a bit as a potential playoff team. Stanford is probably a middling team but it’ll be interesting to see if the Trojans look like a playoff team or if they struggle a bit on the road. The line is only USC -9.
Boston College at Virginia Tech- This is kind of an uh-oh game. The loser is almost a lock to have a losing season.
Oregon State at Fresno State- Oregon State got back to a bowl last year and had a couple nice wins. They seem to be heading in the right direction and got a big win over Boise State in Week 1. Fresno State was the preseason MWC favorite. An OSU win might mean they’re a dark horse contender in the Pac-12 North. A Fresno State win might mean they’re a dark horse NY6 contender.
Mississippi State at Arizona- Josh Pate says MSU is way underrated. Arizona got a surprisingly easy upset win in Week 1 over a San Diego State team that’s supposed to contend for the conference title in the Mountain West. Being a late night game in Tucson, I see a potential upset.
