LSU has an early kick for the next two weeks, so be ready to deal with that. Y’all know how this works, so let’s jump right in.
Thursday
There are three games that’ll be on at roughly the same time. They aren’t interesting to talk about since the teams aren’t doing much this year.
6:30 p.m. on ESPN: ECU at UAB
6:30 p.m. on ESPN2: Georgia Southern at Old Dominion
7:00 p.m. on CBSSN: Colorado State at Texas State
Friday
Friday also has a tripleheader, but each game has some level of intrigue.
6:30 p.m. on ESPN: Memphis
at Tulane
All signs point to the Will Hall hire being a disaster. Tulane had a last-second loss at Army last week, but this team has fallen far from where they were the past several years. Now they have to face a far better Memphis squad with aspirations of a conference championship.
7:00 p.m. on ESPN2: Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina
Speaking of teams that have fallen off, the Mountaineers are bad. They’ve gone from Sun Belt champs to Sun Belt chumps within this decade. Coastal fell off, too, but their rise was much quicker than App State’s.
7:00 p.m. on Fox: Washington at Purdue
West Coast Purdue meets actual Purdue in a clash in West Lafayette. Purdue looks so much better this year than in their last two years as it seems Barry Odom’s gotten his system in place. Washington is chaotic in a bad way.
Saturday morning
LSU is in this time slot, but there are several other games worth checking out at 11:00 a.m. as well when they’re in a break.
Fox: #4 Ohio State at #5 Indiana
Sadly, LSU is playing at the same time as the biggest game of the day once again. I have a bad feeling Ohio State will Jeremiah Smith the Hoosiers to death, but nothing’s certain.
ABC: Florida at #7 Texas
I don’t think Florida’s good, but I also don’t think Texas is too good to overlook them. I must say that watching Florida fall flat on their faces after a cathartic win over Ole Miss has been fun viewing.
Peacock/NBCSN: #25 Northwestern at Michigan State
The Pat Fitzgerald Bowl has arrived. Michigan State looks like one of Fitzgerald’s old Northwestern teams (derogatory) and Northwestern is doing football crimes on offense (complimentary). Chip Kelly, Northwestern’s OC for those who forgot, is out here running plays that look straight out of the CFL.
Saturday afternoon
With LSU finished up, it’s time to start relaxing with a decent 2:30 slate.
ABC: #6 Alabama at #14 Tennessee
Alabama is coming off a tough loss to Georgia while Tennessee is coming off a tough win over Arkansas. The Third Saturday in October should be good once again.
SECN: #13 Missouri at #9 Ole Miss
This is unexpected to say the least. This is the first top-15 football matchup ever broadcast on the SEC Network, and it makes sense when considering the Missouri part of it. Mizzou being in the top 15 feels weird when they haven’t beaten anyone good, but that win over then-#8 Florida helps. Ole Miss still has Trinidad Chambliss, but the biggest concern for them is their run defense. I’m stoked for this game, personally.
Fox: Arizona State at #10 Texas Tech
Last season, Arizona State shocked Texas Tech in Tempe. This is a chance for revenge.
ESPN2: UNC at Duke
This is a classic rivalry with extra intrigue. Duke is coming off their first loss of the season to Georgia Tech, while UNC is coming off a win at then-ranked Pitt. Bill Belichick’s squad is a rain-delay-aided choke away from being 4-1, and a win here would give him as many wins this year as he had in year one.
Saturday evening
The 6:30 slate is loaded with great football.
ABC: #2 Notre Dame at #8 BYU
It’s Catholics vs Mormons, communion wine vs dirty soda, Rome vs Salt Lake City, Midwest vs Far West, plains vs mountains, etc. This game is Notre Dame’s first test of the season. BYU is a very physical team that will fight anyone. Their QB is named Bear! Notre Dame shows what they’re really about in this clash.
Fox: #18 Oklahoma State at #20 Houston
The reports of Oklahoma State’s death after Week 1 were slightly exaggerated. It turns out Drew Mestemaker is a really good QB after all. Houston is no slouch either, and they provide a good physicality that’s fun to watch.
NBC: Wisconsin at #12 UCLA
UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of the season. That’s really unfortunate because he was perfect for their current system. Wisconsin might be in the perfect position to pull an upset.
SECN: #15 Kentucky at Oklahoma
Will Stein is him. Look at how bad Oregon’s offense is this year and tell me he isn’t something special. That gets put to the test against the Brent Venables machine in Norman. Texas learned just how bad things can get when the machine gets going.
Robert Kekaula Memorial Shift
Here’s a shocking fact: Hawaii has a home game this weekend which kicks off before the latest game of the night.
9:15 p.m. on ESPN: #11 Utah at Colorado
Colorado is a dumpster fire right now. They now get to play Utah. Deion is going to lose his mind.
9:30 p.m. on ESPN2: #21 Wake Forest at Cal
Cal pulled off a shocking win last week over Virginia Tech. Wake Forest is having a shocking season. It’s hard to go west and win, but Wake’s on fire.
9:30 p.m. on FS1: New Mexico at Hawaii
Mahalo America! New Mexico is one of the top teams in the Mountain West, and Hawaii isn’t. Nothing’s certain on the islands, though.
10:00 p.m. on Fox: Nebraska at Oregon
Oregon is a complete mess. Having a backup QB starting is not an excuse for the offensive ineptitude of the past couple weeks. Maybe Dylan Raiola can play at a higher level when facing his former team. Nebraska really needs this win, and I really mean that Matt Rhule needs this win.
Tuesday
6:00 p.m. on CBSSN: MTSU at FIU
6:00 p.m. on ESPNU: Missouri State at Delaware
6:30 p.m. on ESPN2: South Alabama at Marshall
Wednesday
6:00 p.m. on CBSSN: Liberty at Kennesaw State
7:00 p.m on ESPN2: New Mexico State at Sam Houston
