Yep, I got nothing. Nothing really happened that was huge…I mean compared to the NFL which is a complete shitshow. So why don’t we just get to the damn schedule? Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.
Thursday
| US | Canada | ||
| Navy at Memphis | 7:30 PM |  |
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| Georgia Southern at South Alabama | 7:30 PM |  |
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Two games. Neither game really being big as none of these teams are near the top of their conference or division. I mean the Thursday Night Football matchup is Tampa Bay against Philadelphia so we kind of know that will be a blowout so maybe one of these games can be close and give us something fun to watch.
Friday
| US | Canada | ||
| Marshall at North Texas | 7:00 PM |  |
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| Clemson at Syracuse | 7:00 PM | |
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| Montana State at Weber State | 10:00 PM |  |
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| #24 San Diego State at San Jose State | 10:30 PM | |
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| California at #9 Oregon | 10:30 PM | |
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Five games, one in the FCS on this night. SDSU has a date with Nevada later in the year and need a win to keep pace. Oregon trying desperately to keep the Pac-12’s almost non-existent playoff hopes alive. I’m very curious as to why ESPN is all of a sudden showing Big Sky games. They already have the MEAC, SWAC and Ivy League, all leagues that don’t go to the FCS playoffs. Going this route is something different and I, for one, welcome it. If it’s anything like the Montana-Eastern Washington game two weeks ago, then buckle up.
Saturday Early
| US | Canada | ||
| UCF at #3 Cincinnati | Noon |  |
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| Rutgers at Northwestern | Noon |  |
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| Auburn at #17 Arkansas | Noon |  |
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| Yale at UConn | Noon | |
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| #20 Florida at LSU | Noon | |
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| Nebraska at Minnesota | Noon | |
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| Tulsa at USF | Noon | |
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| #12 Oklahoma State at #25 Texas | Noon |  |
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| #21 Texas A&M at Missouri | Noon |  |
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| Duke at Virginia | 12:30 PM |  |
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OK not the sexiest lineup per se but it has some decent quality. CBS gets their one Noon game of the season and actually didn’t get too bad a pick with the Tigers and Razorbacks. Remember that when CBS has a Noon SEC game, they get the top SEC pick for their afternoon game and then ESPN gets the next two choices. THEN CBS gets to select their Noon SEC game. Other than that, UCF and the Gus Bus try to derail the Bearcat Express, Oklahoma State hopes to continue their unexpected undefeated run against the Longhorns and Yale and UConn face off in yet another game where CBS regrets ever signing the Huskies to a broadcast contract.
Saturday Afternoon
| US | Canada | ||
| Purdue at #2 Iowa | 3:30 PM | |
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| Miami at North Carolina | 3:30 PM |  |
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| #11 Kentucky at #1 Georgia | 3:30 PM | |
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| #19 BYU at Baylor | 3:30 PM | |
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| Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech | 3:30 PM | |
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| Kent State at Western Michigan | 3:30 PM | |
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| Vanderbilt at South Carolina | 4:00 PM | |
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The afternoon shows that many times quality is much better than quantity. We shall see if the craziness continues in Athens. TSN has really not stepped up yet and it has nothing to do with the CFL for the most part. I’ve mentioned it before but it feels like they are going slightly backwards with their college football coverage (and then will wonder why college football fans go different routes that aren’t TSN to get their college football fix). Anyway, Purdue gets a rare ABC spot (which should result in them getting obliterated) and the specialty pack picks up the rest of the games. Brutal.
Saturday Primetime
| US | Canada | ||
| Utah State at UNLV | 7:00 PM | |
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| #5 Alabama at Mississippi State | 7:00 PM | |
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| TCU at #4 Oklahoma | 7:30 PM | |
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| #22 NC State at Boston College | 7:30 PM | |
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| Iowa State at Kansas State | 7:30 PM | |
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| Stanford at Washington State | 7:30 PM | |
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| #13 Ole Miss at Tennessee | 7:30 PM | |
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| Army at Wisconsin | 8:00 PM | |
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| UCLA at Washington | 8:30 PM | |
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Technically this is a primetime schedule. Nothing impressive but if you don’t have quality get some quantity (I know what I said in the last section). Again, no TSN games but at least FOX, BTN and CBSSN are back in this timeslot. Got to hope there is at least one close game or one upset here or it’s looking pretty grim going into the late night portion of our schedule.
Saturday Late Night
| US | Canada | ||
| #18 Arizona State at Utah | 10:00 PM | |
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| Hawaii at Nevada | 10:30 PM | |
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Only two games but both of them could end up being pretty good. Hawaii could make it so San Diego State is clearly in the driver’s seat if they can beat the Wolf Pack in Reno. And Utah isn’t as bad as their record indicates and could cause all sorts of problems for the Sun Devils, especially with their rowdy student section.
Games to set your eyeballs on
Kentucky at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Easily the biggest game of the week, if not a great candidate for Game of the Year. I know, even with Kentucky involved! An expected Bulldog victory would put them in the driver’s seat in the SEC East with, realistically, a win in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party the only thing standing between them and a trip to Atlanta. If the Wildcats win then ho boy, the insanity meter gets ratcheted up a whole lot more (and also puts Bama back in the mix to get back to #1). I’m hoping, for Brad Nessler’s sake, it’s a good game.
Oklahoma State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – OK so there is a bit of a drop off after the Game of the Week. But, the Pokes are seriously good and we could be heading for the best Bedlam in a long time if they can keep this up. Texas helped the cause by losing an absolute heartbreaker in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. I have this feeling that if Okie State wins this, it’s basically a foregone conclusion that we will have a Bedlam rematch at JerryWorld in December. We almost need the Longhorns to pull something out here to keep things exciting in the Big XII.
UCF at Cincinnati (Noon, ABC) – Look I will be honest: the quality of this game all depends on which Knights team shows up. We’ve seen the quite good Knights where the team is rolling along and the Gus Bus is humming. And we’ve seen the horrible Knights where the Gus Bus has serious mechanical problems and/or is on fire. Here’s hoping we get the former. You could say this is the last true hurdle to the Bearcats running the table until the AAC Championship as they don’t have Houston on their schedule.
BYU at Baylor (3:30, specialty pack) – BYU losing last week means they are locked into the Independence Bowl unless a bunch of crazy shit happens. Don’t want to say they have nothing to play for but they have a lot less to play for now. Baylor, on the other hand, could be the surprise team of the season if they keep winning as Dave Aranda is doing a miraculous job in Waco. The Cougs need to win big and the Bears just need to win. Could be the sneaky good game of the week.
NC State at Boston College (7:30, specialty pack) – The ACC Network kind of lucked out in getting this game. Both teams are somehow contending in the ACC Atlantic division since Clemson is not the Clemson of the past decade. The Wolfpack are obviously in better shape here since they actually beat the Tigers whereas the Eagles lost (albeit with a backup quarterback). With a relatively weak primetime schedule, this game could shine.
Honourable mention: Auburn at Arkansas (Noon, CBS); Alabama at Mississippi State (7:00, specialty pack); TCU at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC)
You wanna bet?
Before the season I said Alabama would lose one game and I thought, at the time, it would be Texas A&M. Then I chickened out last week and had Bama beating the Aggies. Should have gone with my gut! Other than that (and picking LSU over Kentucky) it was a pretty good week. Wonder if I can replicate it….I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. Here we go:
Baylor over BYU (an upset!)
NC State over Boston College
Oklahoma over TCU
Texas over Oklahoma State (another upset!)
Cincinnati over UCF
Georgia over Kentucky
Alabama over Mississippi State
Auburn over Arkansas
Marshall over North Texas
Utah over Arizona State (slight upset)
UNLV over Utah State (to get their first win of the season)
Going to be honest: I feel like I put less than my best effort into this post. It’s been a rough time for me lately and I try to push through it. Part of that is doing this blog as it gets my mind off of everything I’m going through for a few hours. Part of my therapy so to speak. So as much as there is work involved in doing these posts on a near-daily basis these days, it’s also cathartic and something I enjoy doing. Everyone needs a hobby or something they do outside of work and this is the one real thing I’m doing these days. I’m sure I will get back to doing a better job soon enough (hey, there’s an NFL post tomorrow). Anyway, take some time for yourself and watch some college football these next few nights. You deserve it! Have a great week!
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