What is the story about?
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ASSICOOOOOOOOOOO Shift
- Iowa-Iowa State: beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
- Baylor-SMU: It’s not against their main religious rivals in the DFW, but this is a big get right game for Baylor following their loss to Auburn, nearing “gotta have it” territory. Inversely, this could be a huge pelt on the wall for a SMU program that is not satisfied with how much they’ve improved their station in life by sneaking into the ACC.
- Illinois-Duke: Did you know that the Illini are ranked #11? And it’s kind of hard to argue against it at this moment in time? Coupled that with the fact that Duke looked INCREDIBLY suspect against Elon, even with Darien Mensah, and this game starts to look mighty interesting.
- Virginia-NC State: Speaking of under the radar teams, the Cavaliers took Coastal Carolina out behind the woodshed last week and were not merciful about it. Chandler Morris didn’t light the box score on fire with only 264 passing yards, but the potential is there and more notably, the Hoos ran for 177 on the ground with five players recording five or more rushes, spreading the ball around. NC State, on their other hand, had their hands more than full with ECU. I would say that we could see these two programs trade places in the ACC, but this is notably not a league game.
Uncivil War Shift
- Missouri-Kansas: This is the first time the two bitter rivals are meeting since 2011, and should be commended because unlike their previous meetings, the game will be held on a campus in CoMo. I don’t have much in the way of game analysis, but it should be an electric atmosphere and what makes college football so great.
- Fresno State-Oregon State: SP+ is calling this one a toss-up, and that should be good enough for me, even if both teams are not tracking to be high quality.
- Ole Miss-Kentucky: This one should be an easy romp for the Rebels, but something about this feels like it could be trouble for the Rebels, it certainly was last season in Oxford.
- Oklahoma State-Oregon: The Ducks should roll, but I’m content with either a decent helmet game or Dan Lanning airing Mike Gundy’s ass out. It’s a win-win.
Norman Night Shift
- Louisiana Tech-LSU: Geaux 1-0.
- Michigan-Oklahoma: It’s a helmet game on network TV at night. What more do you need?
- Boston College-Michigan State: You could certainly do worse for an undercard than this game, which is projected to be a toss-up.
- Vanderbilt-Virginia Tech: Last year we got our first glimpse of what Vandy would become when they “upset” the Hokies in overtime at home. Now it’s the return leg of the trip and the Hokies are only favored essentially by the home field advantage that Lane Stadium at night grants them. A loss would spell a disastrous 0-2 start for Brent Pry, who it feels is already starting to feel like another directionless VT coach that have come post-Beamer.
Robert Kekaula Memorial Shift
- San Diego State-Washington State: Wazzu was able to fend off the upset bid from neighbors Idaho last week, now the pressure ramps up as their welcome the Aztecs to the Palouse.
- Stanford-BYU: It’s football, even if it’s Stanford football.
- Sam Houston State-Hawaii: ALOHA FRIENDS (this game, like all non-main TV Hawaii games, will be available on the Mountain West app, for free)
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