Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – Part I (plus a blurb about the NFL Draft)

It’s been too damn long since I’ve written a post directed solely to college football.  Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd….this won’t be one either.  I did not do a full NFL draft review post because, honestly, I didn’t feel like it.  There are enough reviews of the draft so I can put a paragraph or two at the end of this post and that should suffice.  I will say it was nice to watch that.  And then to watch some actual college football?  An absolute delight.  The FCS, as a whole, has got a lot of publicity with this Spring season.  To play games on ESPN and even ABC is huge for some of those teams.  Don’t be surprised when realignment talk starts again (and oh it will), that some of these teams that got big national audiences in April and May surface as possible FBS teams.

Anyway, now to the task at hand: the upcoming 2021 college football schedules.  At least this year I am almost 100% positive that games won’t be cancelled except for reasons that aren’t COVID-related but those rarely happen.  I’m doing this a tiny bit later than I normally do so if for some reason you were waiting for these posts, I apologize.  As the saying goes, life sometimes gets in the way.  I will say the same thing I have said every year I have done this.  Very few of the games are confirmed.  I will try and note if they are in these important game posts.  A lot more should be set by the time I get to network-specific schedule posts but even then, it’s really a crapshoot once October comes around.

Saying that, there are a few probables.  Like let’s be honest here: the Iron Bowl will be on CBS.  The only way this doesn’t happen is if both teams are somehow under .500.  I’d bet everything I have (which isn’t much) on that not being the case.  So you can be rest assured some things will be the same as they’ve always been.

For the fourth year in a row, the Important Games list will be broken down week-by-week and then as per the following:

• Game of the Week – This is my opinion of the game of the week.  It may differ from your opinion.  That is OK.  Because the next part is…
• Other Really Important Games – See?  One of these games might be your game of the week choice.
• Sneaky-Good Underrated Game – Some games are underrated.  I will try to find one each week that could fulfill that criterion.
• Best Group of Five Game – Pretty self-explanatory but has to have TWO G5 teams involved.
• Worst Power Five Game – Just like above, except the opposite (with two P5 teams involved).

The “Other Really Important Games” section is the one section where the number of games I include may vary.  In some weeks you will only see one or two.  Others there may be like seven.  We pretty much know which weeks will have better games and which ones won’t so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

SOUND THE TRUMPETS!  Hear ye, hear ye!  It’s time for the commencement of the Bossman’s Blog college football blog posting season: the ranking of the weeks.  If you were looking for something similar to every other year then ho boy are you in for a shock…again.  For all that stays the same with college football, these weekly rankings have been changing a fair bit lately.  Just a reminder that I list the week and the date that corresponds to the Saturday of that week so you can follow along at home:

1. Week 10 (November 6)
2. Week 13 (November 27 – American Thanksgiving)
3. Week 5 (October 2)
4. Week 9 (October 30)
5. Week 1 (September 4)
6. Week 7 (October 16)
7. Week 12 (November 20)
8. Week 11 (November 13)
9. Week 8 (October 23)
10. Week 6 (October 9)
11. Week 3 (September 18)
12. Week 4 (September 25)
13. Week 2 (September 11)

First off, same as last year there are thirteen weeks to the regular season.  Do I like this?  I have not changed my stance from last year that no I do not like this.  Honestly I would prefer 14 if not 15 weeks in a season.  I understand there are issues there when it comes to the schools and players’ courses but for the health and safety of the players, this is a no-brainer.  Which means the NCAA will take another decade to figure this out.  For the first time since they did that Sunday night Notre Dame-Texas thriller years ago, Week 1 is really good.  Top 5 even!  There are some great games to start the season and that is what college football needs this season: a strong start.  American Thanksgiving moves up to second but still hasn’t regained its crown.  Weeks 10 looks ridiculously good.  Honestly, all of November is great, even the former SEC Sleepwalk Saturday which I really can’t call it that anymore because it’s a good week now.  October is a big drop from last year as it feels like we are really easing into the end of the season and then building to the November crescendo, if you will.  Then there’s September.  Ouch.  After Week 1 it’s a bit of a shitshow.  As per usual, there are a couple of potential games of the year in there with a lot of crap surrounding it.  Meaning at least one of those weeks will end up being the most exciting week of the year.  Why?  It’s what the college football universe has decided.  I don’t make the rules.

Now it’s time for the weekly breakdowns.  Many of the TSN times will be wrong but hey, it’s May.  If the game time has been confirmed it will be in bold.  Let’s GO!

Week 1

Game of the Week: Georgia vs. Clemson (in Charlotte) (7:30, ABC) – Wow this is quite the game of the week to start the season.  College football is seriously not fucking around.  I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s a neutral-site game which I am not the fondest of but I understand the reasoning behind them (spoiler: it’s money).  You can honestly say this game is a Game of the Year candidate right off the hop.  Let’s also be honest here: when the College Football Playoff expands to 8 teams, you could make the argument that this game isn’t nearly as big since a loss doesn’t even close to eliminate either of these teams from contention.  It will be interesting to see who gets the bigger start on the road to topple Bama from their throne.  Clemson is the favourite here but there will be a lot of questions after losing Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne in the NFL Draft.  Both teams are at least New Year’s Six or bust but the winner takes a step up in their bid for the College Football Playoff which is still four teams.

Other Really Important Games: Alabama vs. Miami (in Atlanta) (3:30, ABC) – Maybe the ACC and SEC should do an opening week ACC-SEC Challenge from now on.  Who the hell says no to this?  I mean yes it means that you will get a Duke-Vanderbilt game possibly somewhere but if you don’t want to head to the ACC or SEC Network then don’t.  No one is forcing you to.  But with the annual Labour Day game that seems to always end up being the SEC and ACC to opening up the day before Labour Day for college football and neutral-site games all over the place, this might be a good idea.  I’m sure there’s a party pooper out there that would say it’s a dumb idea but that might also be the same person who thinks scheduling games two decades out makes sense.  Anyway, Bama will probably win by three touchdowns.  NEXT!

Penn State at Wisconsin (4:00, FOX) – At least FOX has realized that opening weekend is a good weekend to at least try and get a good slate of games on.  Now if they can just realize that for the rest of the weeks during the regular season that only getting one good game to show with two mediocre ones after is not the greatest approach to grow a fanbase.  It looks like the Big Ten will be a huge part of FOX’s opening week which is no surprise since the B1G is to FOX like the SEC is to CBS (almost).  Both of these teams looking to rebound from bad years (at least for each of these programs).  The Big Ten West is always wide open so the Badgers have as good a chance as any team not named Illinois.  The Nittany Lions will be looking up once again at Ohio State so every game is huge and these are the games they have to win to have a shot at a division title.  I wish they would just do away with division titles but let’s not start that talk again.  Speaking of the Buckeyes…

Ohio State at Minnesota (Thursday, 8:00, FOX) – Will this be close?  Probably not but it’s an early Big Ten game on a night that Ohio State is not used to playing.  And now with no Justin Fields, we shall see if it’s steady as she goes for Ryan Day or a bit of stress and a higher blood pressure for Ryan Day.  See what I mean about FOX really stepping up this opening weekend?  This is the first Thursday night FOX college football regular season game ever if I’m not mistaken.

Indiana at Iowa (Noon, FOX) – The third straight FOX game and the third straight Big Ten game.  The Big Ten may have a good idea here with putting a few big conference games during Week One when pretty much no other conference is doing so.  I guess that’s the advantage of having nine conference games instead of eight.  Both of these teams have to be considered dark-horse contenders this season.  No one will put them in their College Football Playoff predictions.  Hell, I’m sure most won’t put either team in their New Year’s Six predictions.  I haven’t done my predictions yet but I have a feeling that will be the case with me.  And that’s fine since I wouldn’t mind either of these teams surprising a lot of people and being in contention late into November.

LSU at UCLA (8:00, FOX) – Four of the most important games of the week are on FOX (from what I believe).  That’s FOX’s entire weekend schedule.  Seriously impressive.  And something ABC does rarely and ESPN does never.  Here’s to hoping LSU is at least not worse than last year’s team (which they have the reasons why so I can give them that) and that UCLA is better than what they’ve been the past few years.  Many believe both those things will be true so we could be in for a great end to at least the Saturday portion of the 5-day Labour Day College Football Fiesta.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Ole Miss at Louisville (Monday, 8:00, TSN1/TSN4/TSN5) – Maybe some will consider this not so underrated.  Louisville was much better under Scott Satterfield this past season and, well, Lane Kiffin is Lane Kiffin.  But until either or both of these teams shows some serious Top 25 consistency, I can’t buy that we would be looking at one of the best games of the week.  Both teams have almost no chance to win their conference considering the teams on top but they could certainly put a scare in those same top teams if they are better than advertised.  We may look back at this game and realize this was, in actuality, a huge game in the battle for a New Year’s Six spot.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at UCF (Thursday, 7:30, TSN2) – Interesting that I have the chance to watch games on all sorts of different networks now and the best games of Week One will all be available quite easily in Canada.  C’est la vie.  Boise State has a very interesting part of the Mountain West’s new television deals (which started last year but really do come into play starting this season).  FOX gets ALL of Boise State’s home games on the season so there’s a good chance at least one time that the Broncos will get to the main network which would be huge for the conference.  CBS gets all of Boise State’s conference road games.  I don’t know if any of those will be shown late night on CBS (which is the plan at least once this season) but if I were them I would try and do so.  As for the other couple games that Boise State has, they can be shown anywhere.  Like this one, which will probably be on ESPN.  Bizarre?  Not really for a team that should have been picked up by the Big XII by now and is somewhat stuck in a Group of Five conference.  A good Group of Five conference but a G-5 conference nonetheless.

Worst Power Five Game: Oregon State at Purdue (3:30, Big Ten Network) – I had to go through a lot of games to find this one.  The next worst game?  Stanford and Kansas State in Arlington.  And this isn’t a part of Week One having a much better schedule than normal.  Week One is not really known for too many P5 vs. P5 games so it’s slim pickings trying to find a really bad one.  We will really see if either of these teams are worse than what they were last year: probably near the bottom of their conferences but honestly not that bad and a couple of breaks away from a bowl game.

Week 2

Game of the Week: Oregon at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Hey, how about that?  Same two teams occupy the Game of the Week spot for Week 2 and have to be considered a Game of the Year candidate.  I will not refer to the Oregon Ducks as the defending Pac-12 North champions.  They didn’t fucking win the division.  They only went to the Pac-12 Championship because Washington couldn’t due to COVID.  See this would have been a great year for USC to have been Top 5 and looking at a College Football Playoff spot and it’s ruined by a 4-3 team.  Considering what some people want, Oregon would have to also be put in the CFP.  How stupid is that?  It’s really fucking stupid.

Other Really Important Games: Washington at Michigan (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Not fully confirmed for TSN2 but it will be on at least one TSN channel.  This could be a lot better than the two teams have been as of late.  Washington hasn’t hit the heights from early on in the Chris Petersen era.  And, Michigan is Michigan under Jim Harbaugh.  Usually good for at least 8 wins and a loss to Ohio State.  Big Blue can’t be as bad as they were last year can they?  No one thinks that but you never know.  This shows how bad Week 2 is since this may not even be an important game in the New Year’s Six story of the season.

Iowa at Iowa State (3:30, FOX) – Iowa State should be back in the Big XII title mix this season.  And Iowa has one of the longest tenured head coaches, Kirk Ferentz, who is good for at least one Ferentzing every season.  It’s why he gets these crazy contracts and great bonuses for a team that is almost never a Top 10 team.  Saying that, I would love to see one of these two teams on the precipice of the CFP because it needs some new blood, especially from non-blue blood programs.

Texas at Arkansas (7:00, specialty pack) – The first appearance of the specialty pack in this year’s important games series.  Not quite the Game of the Century of 1969…ok not even close to that.  But Arkansas is somehow trending in the right direction with one of the more popular coaches in college football nowadays and we get to see what Steve Sarkisian is really all about.  I sincerely hope he does well and doesn’t fall off the wagon again.  Now that doesn’t mean I want Texas to win the national championship.  I just mean I want Sark to have a good time in Austin and for people in Austin to give him a chance.  OK, I’m now officially worried for his well-being.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Missouri at Kentucky (7:30, specialty pack) – This will be buried in the schedule but could end up being a gem for the SEC Network.  We have two teams that really are on the rise (and in the Cats’ case, again).  It’s never the case that the SEC East is wide open but you need to win games like this to have a shot at the division title.  Kentucky knows that from a few years back when they still had a shot in November to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship.  I kind of wish this somehow gets to ESPN or ESPN2 but I doubt it.  And no, it won’t go to CBS, I’m almost certain of it.

Best Group of Five Game: Liberty at Troy (2:00, ESPN+) – Yes…ESPN+.  It was either this or UTEP-Boise State which I have going to FOX Sports One which, yes, is a better network.  But the Broncos should win that one by about 50 whereas this game should be fairly competitive.  It will be very interesting to see if the Flames are as good as they were last season.  It was funny watching the begrudging respect from so-called open minded college football media members last year so I hope they do well again this season.  Maybe, Conference USA finally gets their act together and invites them (unless the Sun Belt or even, dare I say, the American gets to them first).

Worst Power Five Game: Rutgers at Syracuse (Noon, ACC Network) – Funny I had these same two teams in this exact same spot last season before shit went sideways.  At least this season it would go to the proper network, unlike last year where the rumour was it would be on FOX because FOX just doesn’t care about their primetime window nearly as much as they should.  Again, I had other options here.  The one that stood out most was Illinois-Virginia but I think that might end up being good.  Just the Bronco Mendenhall-Bret Bielema coaching matchup is intriguing in itself.  RU-SU has none of that intrigue.  Zero.

Week 3

Game of the Week: Alabama at Florida (3:30, CBS) – This will have serious national championship implications but I don’t need to tell you that.  Now could this end up as a primetime game for CBS?  Possibly and it wouldn’t surprise me if they do it just for the fact that it would then be on at night and not in the afternoon where the players (and fans) would bake in the Gainesville sun.  This is a rematch of the SEC Championship where the Gators honestly looked like they could beat the Tide which is surprising considering how good Bama was last year.  It was the only time where the Tide looked like they were in trouble.  I wouldn’t even mind seeing a Bama loss here as it would make the SEC season, if not the entire college football season, a lot more interesting.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – OK we’re still doing good with the high-profile games.  A definite step down from the Game of the Week but still a great game.  It was also really the only choice for ABC in primetime, especially since Boise State can’t be on the network for any of their home games and I can’t see them putting Cincinnati-Indiana on in that spot (although that would be a great idea in my opinion).  Two teams who have definitely taken a step, or two, back from previous seasons.  This should be a highly heated matchup as a loss could be devastating and portend not-so-good things to come on their season.

Nebraska at Oklahoma (Noon, FOX) – The story of this game was almost too good to be true.  Nebraska was trying desperately to get out of this game.  Social media found out and, predictably, took a huge creamy dump all over the Huskers organization.  In the end, they relented and kept this game on the schedule.  This is Scott Frost’s biggest chance since coming to Lincoln to put a huge stamp on the program and show that they are turning the corner.  A win here, as unlikely as it seems, would be the jolt the program needs to get back to prominence.  Now watch the Sooners win by 60.

Cincinnati at Indiana (4:00, FOX) – I would say FOX is kicking ABC/ESPN’s ass early on.  I mean they are but when it’s a week like this it doesn’t exactly mean a whole lot.  It’s a pretty good drop from the second best game of the week which was already a drop from the Game of the Week.  Much like last year’s Week 3 (or what it was supposed to be) this week is such a shit sandwich.  Meaning there is a very good opportunity for it to be an exciting and crazy week of college football, something that happens at least once a season.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Oklahoma State at Boise State (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Could this end up on the main FOX network?  If they take all of their broadcast windows seriously, then yes.  Which is why I have this game on FS1.  At least it’s not like last season when the Broncos were slated to host Florida State on FOX at Noon Eastern, 10:00 in the morning local.  Not saying they won’t have to do that in the future to get that big national audience but it’s a tough introduction to Big Noon Saturday (if it had ended up happening).  Hey, maybe this game will end up at Noon.  May be a better option than Nebraska-Oklahoma even if it’s just to promote the Mountain West.

Best Group of Five Game: Coastal Carolina at Buffalo (3:30, ESPN+) – Look I’m going to be honest again here.  I go through the season, setting up these schedules based on what I believe will happen by using current TV contract info and what has happened over the past year or two.  This does not mean that all the “choices” I make are good ones or ones that I agree with.  I may change my mind even before I start doing these posts.  This feels like a game, if it were in October, would easily be on ESPNU if not ESPN2.  So between now and the network-specific posts, I may change my mind.  This will be the first test to see if the Chants are as good as advertised and potentially a Group of Five favourite for the NY6 spot.

Worst Power Five Game: Baylor at Kansas (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – This is more for Kansas than it is for Baylor.  Not saying the Bears are great because it was a struggle last year in Dave Aranda’s first season in Waco.  But until the Jayhawks show they can contend for a bowl game on a consistent basis, they will be treated like the Big XII’s ugly redheaded stepchild.  The hope is that the hire of Lance Leipold to coach the team will be a good one.  It should be but we won’t see any of that good stuff this season.  They should feel lucky that they get to be on ESPN, even if it is on a Thursday night up against the NFL.

There you go.  The first three weeks are complete.  And it’s the first official blog post for what should be a much more normal college football season.  96 days to the start of a regular regular season.  With fans in the stands.  Maybe not full stadiums but man, hearing fans is so much better than the empty arenas.

Now, let’s have that quick talk about the draft.  It was nice to see fans there in Cleveland despite the chilly weather.  It was nice to see Roger Goodell there even though him in his barcalounger was pretty damn funny.  I wonder how many fans just farted their brains out on that chair on stage.  I followed along with my mock draft and saw it was crap after the first few picks, as per usual.  I got a couple right later on but was way off on some.  It is what it is.  I won’t do a recap.  There are too many out there and I might be repeating what they say.  The Jags got Lawrence.  The Jets got Wilson.  The 49ers reached for Lance (in my opinion) but it was a better choice than Mac Jones who ended up a Patriot.  The Bears may have made the smartest move in the draft.  Yes the same Bears who traded up to get Mitchell Trubisky traded up this time to get Justin Fields in a trade that most everyone thought was brilliant.  The team I cheer for, the Buffalo Bills, did alright.  Not great but then again, they didn’t have serious needs.  They just needed to shore up some areas.  All in all, it was a good watch and I enjoyed it, even watching Mel Kiper try valiantly to keep his blood pressure from going through the roof with some of the picks.

Alright this felt good.  It’s a bit cathartic to do this post.  I’ve been through a pretty crazy last 15 months and now that my life (and hopefully, soon, life in this province) is getting back to normal, this is one of the final parts that need to return, so to speak.  Make my life as whole as it was before my life turned upside-down (not that it’s an amazing life but it wasn’t bad at the time).  Anyway, have a great Victoria Day, whatever you decide to do and have a great (and short!) work week as well…unless you don’t work Monday to Friday.  In that case, still have a good week even if you aren’t working all those days.

Most Important Games of the 2019 College Football Season – Part Deux

It looks like we are getting closer to this.  I mean we won’t have NCAA 20 but NCAA 21 is not out of the question.  And all it took is for the NCAA to realize that maybe these players should earn some money on their likeness.  This would also solve the problem of stars getting the same as third-string guards.  So simple yet it took so damn long to figure this out.  Hopefully it pushes through and then I can get a new system to get the newest NCAA game.  Oh you can bet your bottom dollar I would get whatever new system it’s on.

So for the second straight year I feel like a complete moron.  I thought I was smart starting a day earlier than last year’s first CFB blog post.  So what happens yesterday?  A big schedule dump.  ESPN.  FOX.  CBS.  Hell, Stadium, Facebook, CBS Sports Network.  So much updating (although I will admit I had some right).  But the ones that were wrong…well, here are the updates for those:

• I had the Northwestern-Stanford game on the on FOX Sports One.  This game will now be at 4:00 on FOX.  This is a good thing to be wrong about, no?
• FIU-Tulane, the de facto best Group of Five game of Week 1, has been relegated to ESPN3.  Wow, that’s terrible.  It also means we can’t see it up here which may not be that big a loss to be honest with you.
• The OSU Bowl (Oklahoma and Oregon versions) is now not on the specialty pack.  It will be on FOX Sports One.  Had the time right, but the network wrong.  Damn.
• For the second straight year, I got a USC-Stanford game very wrong.  I had the game at 8 on FOX.  It is now on at 10:30 on the specialty pack.  Instead, FOX chose Buffalo-Penn State.  Yeah I don’t get it either.
• With WVU-Mizzou, I hilariously used 24-hour time to say that it was at 7:00.  That is wrong.  It is at noon.  It will probably still be on the specialty pack though so at least that is (probably) correct…probably.
• Arkansas-Ole Miss has moved to 7:30.  I had it 3:30.  Will still be specialty pack.
• I had a feeling that Oklahoma-UCLA might be picked up FOX.  And it was!  It will now air at 8:00.
• Stanford-UCF still will probably go to ABC but not at Noon anymore.  It has been moved to 3:30 which I am sure the people who bought tickets to that game are very happy about.
• We still can’t see Cy-Hawk but the time was moved from Noon to 4:00.

So to be honest it wasn’t THAT bad.  Now we get to what is truly speculative as 95% of games from Week 4 on have little to no information attached to them.  This is where I can REALLY screw things up.  So let’s begin shall we?

Week 4

Game of the Week: Notre Dame at Georgia (8:00, CBS) – CBS gets one primetime game a season (unless they lobby for 2 but it costs them).  Normally this is LSU-Alabama but this season they could not, in good conscience, let this one opportunity pass them by.  You can say whatever you want about the Fighting Irish but they deliver ratings and if this game lives up to the previous game these two teams, it should be massive.  It helps that the week that houses LSU-Bama is not a good week, schedule-wise, for the SEC.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – First two games this week are CBS games.  Happens pretty much never and is a coup for the network.  The other thing that strikes me is this is happening and neither game involves Alabama.  Which I am sure someone will mention in the hype going into these two games.  Anyway, the winner keeps their shot at usurping the Tide while the loser probably hopes to go to the Outback Bowl.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon, FOX) – Last year, the game in this very spot was Notre Dame-Wake Forest.  Seriously.  Look it up if you want.  This is a deadly game for both teams so early on in the season.  The Big Ten is not known for having huge September conference games but here we are.  This feels like it is more important for Michigan because of two obvious facts: 1) they play in the very difficult Big Ten East which should be really good again this year, and 2) Ohio State fans won’t let them forget it if they lose.  I don’t know which is worse to be honest.

Oregon at Stanford (7:30, ABC) – At this point you still have to feel for the Oregon State Beavers.  They play these two teams, U-Dub, Wazzu and Cal every season.  They’d have to pay me a lot to even consider coaching for this program.  Not that that will be an issue but it has to be one of the toughest jobs in Power Five football.  This game here should be yet another classic between these two as (at one point) consensus 2020 #1 pick Justin Herbert faces off against a usually tough Stanford defense.  I’d love to say the winner has a leg up in the Pac-12 North but considering what happened last year, that is not a guarantee.

Michigan State at Northwestern (8:30, FOX) – This might be overshadowed by the above-mentioned Michigan-Wisky battle.  Also being on the late FOX broadcast might hurt a bit too.  Not sure it will go on this late but it is in Evanston which is Central Time Zone so who the hell knows.

Oklahoma State at Texas (7:00, specialty pack) – Will Texas be as good as last season?  There’s a good possibility yes so Tom Herman and his fancy grill can keep smiling at this point.  But you can never count out The Mullet.  Mike Gundy almost always has good teams and this year’s Cowboys should be better than last year’s so an upset is not impossible.  Sooner fans will be watching this one in earnest.

Tennessee at Florida (7:00, specialty pack) – It’s not “Is Texas Back?” anymore.  It’s “Is Tennessee back?”  Now that the Longhorns are good again, many are craving for the good ol’ days of the Vols being good as well.  Maybe once they apologize for shitcanning Phil Fulmer they can truly turn the corner since they have never really recovered from that.  No longer the Champions of Life, the Vols will try to eek out a new existence under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt who will try to become another Kirby Smart.  Oh yeah, and Florida is in this and they will be good and have one of the best coaches in the land but who cares about that right?

Utah at USC (Friday, 9:00, FOX Sports One) – Can’t win em all right?  This may still move although it seems to be cemented on Friday night.  With no ESPN game on that night, it may appear there so who knows.  Even though it is Week Four it is still rather early to figure some of these things out.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: South Carolina at Missouri (Noon, TSN1) – This may essentially end up being an early season SEC East elimination game.  The loser here will have pretty much no shot at going to Atlanta on December 7th.  Also, this should be a pretty evenly-matched game.  Now watch it be a blowout.  Look it was either this or Cal-Ole Miss for this spot.  My options were thin.

Best Group of Five Game: Air Force at Boise State (Friday, 9:00, specialty pack) – You know, after one bad Air Force season many people, including myself, figured the Falcons would be that way for a while.  So what did Troy Calhoun do?  Just coach them to back-to-back good seasons.  And I am sure this year will be no different.  It is on the blue turf in Boise which is tough for any team but the AFA has done fairly well here in the past.

Worst Power Five Game: West Virginia at Kansas (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Let’s be honest: it will take a lot more than hiring Les Miles to turn this program around.  Even the hype of him arriving isn’t leading many to anoint Kansas as an up-and-coming team just yet.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ohio State at Nebraska (8:30, FOX) – Not a bad week but not a great one as you can see by my choice of GOTW.  No earth-shattering potential games of the year this week (barring any upsets of course).  However, there is a caveat here:  if Scott Frost can somehow make this Husker team an 8 or 9-win team this season then watch out because this could be a prime candidate for a massive upset and season-changing game.  Or it could end up being a blowout.  Who knows.

Other Really Important Games: Mississippi State at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – CBS really racking up the good games early on in the season.  Brad Nessler must be so happy…now he just needs a close game to call, for once.  I wonder what these two programs would be like if they didn’t have Alabama in their division.  I am sure these fanbases have thought of that many times before as these two teams should be firmly in the Top 20 by this point of the season.

Virginia at Notre Dame (3:30, NBC) – The Fighting Irish’s ACC-heavy schedule continues this season (and will for the next 18 years I believe) with a game against the Hoos.  Remember the last time these two teams met?  A last-minute long touchdown pass by the Irish followed by that one fan just hanging over the wall to show his despair.  Many tried to emulate that student in subsequent games in Charlottesville but he was the original.  Anyway, I am sure many college football fans around the country would love to see the Irish faithful look that way after this game.

Washington State at Utah (9:15, specialty pack) – There were a couple of weeks last year where ESPN did not have a 3:30 game and instead ran a 6:00 and 9:15 game instead.  I have a feeling this will be one of those weeks.  Don’t ask me why though since it’s more like “they had one in September last season so I am sure they will have one in September this season”.  As for the two combatants, this should be some really good Pac-12 After Dark action between teams that are looking to make a bigger mark on the conference and win a conference title.

Northwestern at Wisconsin (Noon, ABC) – This feels like your typical early-afternoon Big Ten game.  A lot of offense although much of it will be on the ground.  Great defense, especially on the Wisky side of things.  And potentially a Big Ten West elimination game depending on how these two teams fare the rest of the way.  Should be good.

USC at Washington (7:30, ABC) – The Pac-12 always gets a couple of primetime ABC games and so does the Big XII.  Honestly it sometimes feels weird to put anything other than a Big Ten game there since they get way more games in that timeslot.  I figured this is one of the better games as long as USC is already playing better.  Let’s be honest: if the Trojans aren’t doing well at this point it might be the end for Clay Helton since that shit won’t fly (for very long) in southern California.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: NC State at Florida State (7:00, specialty pack) – Even when the Noles were really good, they seemed to have problems with the Wolfpack.  This becomes potentially one of the more important games of the week if A) NC State doesn’t lose too much with the graduation of Ryan Finley and B) Willie Taggart truly has the Seminoles firing on most, if not all, cylinders.

Best Group of Five Game: Houston at North Texas (8:00, Facebook) – Yes.  Facebook.  We are living in a bit of a new age my friend.  I watched a few minutes of a game on Twitter a couple years back and it wasn’t bad to be honest.  I prefer watching it on TV but sometimes you take what you can get.  Here we have Houston who should once again be trying to usurp UCF as the American Conference’s top dog and North Texas who should, once again, be a contender in Conference USA.  On paper this looks good.  Let’s hope it lives up to that and it will be interesting to see what it’s like to watch a game on Facebook.  I am intrigued I gotta tell ya.

Worst Power Five Game: Wake Forest at Boston College (3:30, specialty pack) – And honestly this isn’t even that bad a game.  It’s just one of those weeks with quite a few decent games but no eye-openers.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30, ABC) – There is a small possibility that this moves to FOX at Noon so this, like most of this post, is not set in stone yet.  Two Big Ten East contenders.  Two Big Ten contenders.  Potentially, two CFP contenders.  Now if it does go to FOX, there’s a possibility of seeing GUS JOHNSON lose his voice or have an aneurysm.  Neither of which would be nice to see at all.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Florida (7:00, TSN2) – Many would say this should be the game of the week.  And I wouldn’t say you were wrong.  Both teams look good heading into the season and there’s always talk about Gus Malzahn being shitcanned so that is fun for people who like that kind of thing.

Virginia Tech at Miami (3:30, ABC) – Hey remember when these two teams were in the Big East and it was awesome?  Miami is finally back to a level where they are competing for a Top 10 spot and VaTech takes a big dump for a couple years.  This could be the first year in a long time that both teams are very good and should compete for the ACC crown (yes, even with Clemson in the conference).  Ya know, I kind of wish the Big East was back.  It was a fun conference.

Washington at Stanford (7:30, FOX) – The four-team round-robin of doom and destruction for the Pac-12 North (say that five times fast) continues here.  The Pac-12 needs one of those four to just break out and win every game so they don’t look like a terrible conference yet again.  And also it’s not late night so Chris Petersen has to be happy.  Now watch it get moved to like an 11:00 pm timeslot.

Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – The “Is Texas Back?” game is now being replaced with the “Is Tennessee back?” game.  And it may be just as annoying.  Despite the fact Florida looks like a bonafide SEC East contender and despite the fact Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina just need a couple of breaks this season to seriously contend, many college football experts will be telling everyone who will listen how the Vols are the real scary team in the SEC East.  Uh, they have to show it first.  The former Champions of Life need to prove they compete.  This may end up as a game that shouldn’t have been in this section but for now I am going with the fact that Tennessee, at the very least, will be quite improved this season.

Iowa at Michigan (3:30, TSN2) – FOX seems to be taking a back seat to Disney this week with their (predicted) selections.  Then again, they may surprise me and take this game and not Northwestern-Nebraska for their Noon start.  Man, the Pac-12 has to be pissed that FOX said that their best games will be on at Noon.  I am sure, at some point, someone will ask if 9:00 am start times out on the West Coast are feasible.

TCU at Iowa State (3:30, specialty pack) – I would love to have them mic up the coaches for this game.  Not as much for Matt Campbell (he’s a great, young coach with a bright future), but more for Gary Patterson.  I’m sure that guy would be a ton of fun to listen to and he has shown that during those ESPN Super-Duper-MegaCast things.  Plus I am sure some stathead could come up with a metric that shows how much of his voice Gary loses during a game since it sounds like he has bronchitis every time he does an interview after a game.

Texas at West Virginia (4:00, FOX) – These are the times when I wonder if Sportsnet will ever get back into the college football game.  I know they, for some reason, have hockey games on at 2:00.  If they were ever able to push that afternoon game to 3:30 then they could simsub a game from FS1 perhaps (although we all know it would be a simsub of the FOX game instead) at Noon.  Anyway, I am quite interested to see how a Holgorsen-less Mountaineers squad does this year.  They also don’t have Will Grier but that might be less of an issue.  And Texas is (back) Texas.

Northwestern at Nebraska (Noon, FOX) – There are a lot of pretty good games this weekend.  Considering that, it is still only the 7th best week of the college football season.  And only the fifth-best before November.  Oh man I am getting stoked for this season.  So let’s see if Coach Frosty and his merry band of Huskers can improve this season and go to a bowl game or if it has just become the norm in Lincoln to have a team that does not, in any way, resemble those crazy-good teams of the 80s and 90s.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Arizona at Colorado (4:00, Pac-12 Network) – Both of these teams could put a huge monkey wrench in the often-ridiculous Pac-12 South.  And I guess some of you can watch this game if you have the means to watch the Pac-12 Network this year (I am working on that myself).

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at Cincinnati (Friday, 8:00, specialty pack) – This could end up being the game that decides the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot.  UCF is UCF and has been good for a few years now and the Bearcats have had a resurgence under Luke Fickell.  And they get most of the national spotlight on the Friday night so a lot of people will again be reminded that football in the American Conference can be pretty damn good when it doesn’t involve UConn.

Worst Power Five Game: Maryland at Rutgers (3:30, BTN) – Ah Rutgers back in the Rutgers spot.  I might even struggle to put Kansas here with the hiring of Les Miles.  Oregon State is still shitty but less people watch those games because of that damn East Coast bias and the fact that the majority of their games are on a network (Pac-12 Network) that most people in Canada don’t get.  So by default, Rutgers is the garbage juice of the Power Five this season until further notice.

Week 7

Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – The SEC has a huge week this week.  And this is the biggest game of a huge bunch.  Jimbo might have his Aggies ready to go for this one and Kyle Field should be shaking (literally).  A Bama loss turns the College Football Playoff on its head.  I am sure that will mentioned a few hundred times early on in the game by Brad and Gary.

Other Really Important Games: Florida at LSU (7:00, TSN2) – Basically GOTW 1B to Bama-TAMU’s GOTW 1A.  Considering both of these teams are legitimate dark horse contenders for the CFP and the Gators are in the SEC’s easier division, this should be great and means, at least in the SEC’s mind, they own the late afternoon and early timeslots.  Sometimes it does just mean more, you know what I’m sayin?

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – It’s the God Damn Red River Shootout!  Can we call this Game of the Week 1C?  Sure we can!  I hate the pussified version of the rivalry name because they don’t want you to use the word shoot.  Give me a fucking break.  Such a complete overreaction.  I would like to know the amount of times someone brought that up when they accused of some sort of gun-related violence.  “Yeah officer I wasn’t going to shoot but then I saw the rotten corpse of what used to be the great Cotton Bowl and remembered the Red River Shootout is still played there and I couldn’t help myself so I shot the guy eighteen times.”

Michigan State at Wisconsin (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Every year, FOX Sports One gets at least a couple of games that would easily be candidates for the main FOX network.  They are put there to raise the profile of FS1 and try to get more Americans to add the channel to their cable packages.  Unfortunately that leaves us Canadians out in the cold.  Let’s just be thankful that the College Football Playoff wasn’t moved to FS1.  I have no idea why that would happen but the uproar would be massive.

South Carolina at Georgia (Noon, TSN2) – Man this week is packed with good games.  No wonder it’s the second best week of the college football season (and the best before November).  That this is the fifth-best game of the week says it all.  I am still waiting for South Carolina to finally win the SEC one of these days.  They have been to one SEC Championship, back in 2010, and got absolutely crushed by Auburn.  It would definitely make for a good story if they made it back to Atlanta this year.  Of course the Bulldogs don’t care about good stories and Kirby Smart wants another shot at the top prize after the heartbreaking loss two years ago in the National Championship.

Virginia at Miami (Friday, 8:00, TSN2) – The Hoos are good again!  Helps to have a guy who takes no bullshit, uh, I mean, bull-phooey like Bronco Mendenhall in charge.  He didn’t take long to turn the Cavaliers around but now with guys actually being drafted it will be interesting to see the encore.  Miami has a new QB in oft-transferred Tate Martell.  He was in that Netflix show QB1: Beyond the Lights.  A good show if you want something to watch.

Florida State at Clemson (7:30, ABC) – It is rare that the ABC Primetime game would be this low on the list.  This is more of a classic matchup than the current huge games and rivalries.  Until the Noles prove that they are truly back, this should go down as an easy Clemson win.  But that’s why you play the game (as Clemson fans hark back to their upset loss a while back to Syracuse).

USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – This feels like a trap game.  For both the Irish and us fans.  First of all, the Irish have to expect to come into this game as the relatively heavy favourites even if the Trojans turn it on to start the season.  Touchdown Jesus has a tougher schedule this season so they can’t take games like this likely or otherwise they can forget the CFB or even the NY6.  As for us fans, this could end up being a primetime blowout which feels like the worst kind of blowout.  The hype coming in gets crushed quickly.  At least this week there are other options during the same timeslot.

Penn State at Iowa (Noon, ABC) – You know what?  I just love that Iowa Wave.  Just wanted to say that.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Syracuse at NC State (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – Rarely does the college football week start of with a really good Thursday nighter.  I mean it’s happened before and these contests are hyped to the tits!  Until Clemson falters, these games will always feel a bit second-rate though but it should be a nice matchup for a Thursday night for sure.

Best Group of Five Game: Cincinnati at Houston (3:30, specialty pack) – I have this down as one of the very few reverse mirrors of the season and one of the very few AAC games on ABC.  Depending on what the other game is (right now I have Michigan-Illinois) we might get this game in our area as the ABC game.  Highly doubtful though.  Possible move to TSN could happen as well and I can’t even guess that at this time.  I am very intrigued to see Drunk Uncle Dana with the Cougs.  I wonder if he parlays this new job into a G5 NY6 spot.

Worst Power Five Game: Louisville at Wake Forest (4:00, specialty pack) – This is around the time the ACC Network will regress like the SEC Network does.  They get the shittier games every week and with a 12-day hold on most of them, there’s almost no chance they get a big game unless a team needs to make an appearance on the network to satisfy one of the criteria.  I feel almost sad that Wake Forest has now appeared in this spot twice.  They aren’t even a bad team.  But when they face teams like North Carolina and Louisville there’s not a whole lot they can do, right?

We are halfway through the season now (with these posts).  14 weeks this year!  WOOHOO!  And remember that networks have the options for 12-day holds on selecting games to show.  This means many of these could be wrong because of that.  That’s who I will blame if this happens.  Not myself.  No sir.

I have not picked up a college football preview magazine yet.  Are there any out?  I haven’t seen any yet but then again I haven’t been in many places that would have them.  I have ordered the Phil Steele magazine (as I have mentioned before) and will probably get Street & Smith’s, Athlon and Lindy’s.  Enough reading for the summer to set me up for college football season which is…still 82 days away.  Ugh.  Have a great week everyone!