All those top-10 matchups last week left college football fans wanting more.
They'll have to wait. It could be three weeks until there's another one. That's not to say there aren't compelling matchups in Week 2.
No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma is the only AP Top 25 matchup. They haven't met since the Orange Bowl following the 1975 season, when OU won its second straight Associated Press national championship under third-year coach Barry Switzer. Now these storied programs are trying to regain their
footing as teams that are annually in the mix for titles.
Oklahoma State's visit to No. 6 Oregon had some spice added this week with Ducks coach Dan Lanning answering Mike Gundy's comment about putting his $7 million roster against a $40 million roster by saying, “We spend to win.”
South Florida will go to No. 13 Florida looking to build on its convincing win over Group of Five standard bearer Boise State.
Iowa at No. 16 Iowa State has Hawkeyes fans tied up in knots. They've been waiting since January for South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski to bring life to the offense and, after his outing against FCS team Albany, they're still waiting. The Cyclones haven't beaten Iowa in Ames since 2011.
No. 15 Michigan (1-0) at No. 18 Oklahoma (1-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
These are two of just six programs that have won at least 950 games. Michigan has won three national championships, Oklahoma has won seven.
But this Big Ten-SEC matchup is about the present, and both teams are similarly positioned. The Wolverines, outside of beating Ohio State and Alabama at the end of season, underperformed with a lethargic offense in Sherrone Moore's first year. Oklahoma beat Alabama, too, but otherwise had a rough entry into the SEC with its second losing record in three years.
Both think they have the quarterbacks — wunderkind Bryce Underwood at Michigan and veteran John Mateer at OU — to lead revivals.
LaNorris Sellers' performance in a win over Virginia Tech combined with the Week 1 struggles of Texas' Arch Manning and Clemson's Cade Klublic has turned the South Carolina quarterback into a serious candidate.
Sellers went into the Virginia Tech game as the fifth choice of the wagering public at 18-to-1, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and now sits second at 7-to-1. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is the frontrunner at 13-to-2.
For the play-making Sellers, the question is whether he can be kept upright and healthy. He was sacked 33 times in 12 games last year and four more times in the opener.
35 — Total points separating Iowa and Iowa State over their last seven meetings in the CyHawk game. Four of the games were decided by three points or less.
50 — Texas Tech has scored at least 50 points in each of QB Behren Morton’s last three starts.
404 — Nebraska's ongoing NCAA-record sellout streak, including Saturday's game against Akron.
1948 — Only other season when Virginia and North Carolina State have met in a game that doesn't count in the ACC standings. They’ll begin a home-and-home nonconference series in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday. The teams have been conference mates since 1953 but don't play every year because of ACC expansion two decades ago.
2008 — Last season that No. 21 Alabama, which hosts Louisiana-Monroe, went into a game outside the top 20.
Kansas (2-0) at Missouri (1-0), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
The Border Showdown once was among the most hotly contested rivalries back when the teams played in the Missouri Valley and Big Six, Seven, Eight and 12. Mizzou holds a 56-55-9 edge since the first meeting in 1891. The teams played 93 straight seasons until the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012.
The Jalon Daniels-led Jayhawks have outscored Fresno State and Wagner 66-14 and are averaging 507 yards per game. Penn State transfer Beau Pribula debuted for the Tigers last week and threw for touchdowns and ran for two others in a 61-6 win over Central Arkansas.
To pick Alabama's Kalen DeBoer as this week's coach on the hot seat would be low-hanging fruit. His $70 million buyout should buy him time.
Time could be running out, though, on Virginia Tech fourth-year coach Brent Pry. He's 16-22 after a 24-11 loss to a nationally ranked South Carolina at a neutral site. Another opportunity against an SEC team comes Saturday against Vanderbilt. The teams appear evenly matched, and a loss in one of the nation's most raucous home environments would not sit well. Pry would be due $6.2 million if he's fired at the end of the year.
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