What are we looking at here? Why, it’s Wembley Stadium, one of two London-area stadiums that the NFL uses for their games over there, the other being Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Why am I showing you a picture of this stadium (which really does look like a very nice stadium to tell you the truth)? It’s because the Commish, Roger Goodell (who recently signed an extension through 2027 which I am sure people cheered and had parties for) stated that at some point in the future he thinks the Super Bowl might come to London.
Excuse me? London? As in England? He was totally serious, by the way. He fucking loves London. Wants a team there desperately and I will find a way to do so before he is done his time as commissioner.
Look, do I really care where the Super Bowl is? Not really. I will never be able to afford to go to it. Ever. Hell, it’s tough enough to go to a single game. So I always watch at home or at a friend’s house or once at a bar which honestly kind of sucked. The thing is though, the Super Bowl, for the past God-knows how many years (OK it’s 32), has started between 6:25 and 6:40 every year. If the game is in London, that would be a no go. It would start no later than 3:30 in the afternoon on the East Coast. Can you imagine West Coast fans starting their Super Bowl parties at just after Noon? That to me would be the one thing I wouldn’t like about it. And I can’t see many people in North America liking it either.
What does this all mean? Goodell will probably eventually get his wish but he may not be around to see it. He’s got regular season games in London and Germany now. I am sure one or two more countries will be added shortly. Once half the weeks have a Europe game, talks will start about expansion there. It will happen, folks. Just a matter of time. THEN, I see the Super Bowl in London talks to heat up and not before there are expansion teams there (although that may just be my opinion).
Alright, enough of that gobshite, let’s get to what you came for, the NFL schedule (pronounced shed-jew-ull) for the week.
No games in jolly old England this weekend. Those are done for the season. Such a shame (not really).
Games not being shown on the telly in Canada unless you receive that lovely fellow Scott Hanson’s rousing football highlights show:
Las Vegas at Chicago
Atlanta at Tampa Bay
After last week’s mind-blowingly disgusting matchup between the New York Football Giants and the Bills of Buffalo, we are gifted a welcome matchup. Two of the best teams in the land will face off as the Eagles host the Dolphins in what should be a smashing match.
The Monday Night Football game, on the other hand, might not be a particularly close affair. Even with the 49ers loss to the Cleveland Browns last week, they still should be heavy favourites when they travel to Minneapolis to tangle with the Vikings. Now watch it be a great game to end the football week.
Is it just me or has CBS done quite a few games where over 90% of the affiliates are showing one game over the other(s)?
By the way, can NFL Twitter/X stop talking about that one crazy Chargers fan from the Monday night game? Like who gives a shit? People calling her a plant and a fake. Many are taking this all way too seriously. The fact that the Chargers even have a fan that is that intense should have been the main story since I don’t think they’ve had a true home field advantage since they left San Diego.
Alright, there you go. Hopefully it’s better than this past week’s games since they were mostly awful. Might have been one of the worst weeks of NFL football I have seen in a long time. Enjoy the games everyone!
Now if you asked me what is wrong with Mel Tucker? Or Jeff Lebby? Or a host of past football coaches? I’d say plenty. I mean what the fuck is up with some people?
If you haven’t heard about ol’ Tucks, here’s a brief rundown:
Brenda Tracy, a well-known rape victim advocate (and victim herself), was hired to speak to the Spartans football team two years ago. Depending on who you believe, Tucker and Tracy became friends and then developed a bit of a romantic interest in each other. Tucker says this is true, Tracy denies this. He said, she said. Then last April, there was a phone call between the two where Tucker decided it should be phone sex (Tucker says they were both speaking in that manner) and then decided to whip it out and jerk off on the phone.
Tracy filed a formal complaint in December and then a report was filed in July to say that they should have a hearing to discuss whether Tucker violated a school policy on sexual misconduct. This hearing was to be next month. Now Tucker is suspended and probably will be fired with cause.
Crazy. And ridiculous. And even if it isn’t all true, the stuff Tucker admits paints him as a guy who can’t control himself. Then his letter on the matter makes him sound like a fucking idiot. No matter what, this is not going to turn out well for someone.
As for Jeff Lebby, he decided this was a perfect time to let his father-in-law, disgraced piece of shit former head coach Art Briles, on to the field after an Oklahoma victory on Saturday. Lebby just wanted his family on the field. Which includes Briles. I don’t know if Lebby understood the whole situation which makes him a complete dummy. He did apologize, though. Whether he meant it or did it while Brent Venables held a gun to his nuts, we will never know.
All of this is to say that there are some college football head coaches, past and present, who seem to think they can do whatever the fuck they feel like and get away with it. Again, even if Tucker is deemed not guilty, he admitted to cheating on his wife and pretty much seems OK with it. Lebby didn’t think once that “hey, my father-in-law, who has not been hired anywhere else since he was fired from Baylor for pretty fucking terrible reasons, should get to have Sooners gear on and come on the Sooners field and celebrate with the Sooners because…”…..why exactly? Oh, because he pretty much doesn’t give a shit. That’s why some of these players need to be told “Don’t be like your coach. He’s an asshole.”
Alright, enough of that nonsense. It’s schedule time.
Thursday
US
Canada
Bethune-Cookman at #22 Miami
7:30
Navy at Memphis
7:30
Nothing much of note here but I am interested in seeing Navy truly for the first time this season (after watching very little of them earlier on).
Friday
US
Canada
Army at UTSA
7:00
Utah State at Air Force
8:00
Interestingly enough, the other two military academies play on Friday night. So all three are done before Midnight on Friday. Odd. But fun that they are all pretty much getting national play on their own.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#3 Florida State at Boston College
Noon
Louisville vs. Indiana (in Indianapolis)
Noon
Georgia Southern at Wisconsin
Noon
Liberty at Buffalo
Noon
#14 LSU at Mississippi State
Noon
Wake Forest at Old Dominion
Noon
Iowa State at Ohio
Noon
#7 Penn State at Illinois
Noon
#15 Kansas State at Missouri
Noon
Big games? Ah no. So devoid of big games that Big Noon Kickoff decided not to stick with Champaign as the site before the Illini host Penn State. They moved it to Colorado so they can keep that Deion Boner going. I guess you got to strike while the iron is hot.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
VMI at NC State
2:00
Weber State at #12 Utah
2:00
#10 Alabama at USF
3:30
Northwestern at #21 Duke
3:30
Western Michigan at #25 Iowa
3:30
Virginia Tech at Rutgers
3:30
South Carolina at #1 Georgia
3:30
FIU at UConn
3:30
Minnesota at #20 North Carolina
3:30
East Carolina at Appalachian State
3:30
#19 Oklahoma at Tulsa
3:30
Tulane at Southern Miss
4:00
WKU at #6 Ohio State
4:00
ULM at Texas A&M
4:00
NC Central at #24 UCLA
5:00
A ton of choice here. The CW gets to show an afternoon game. Also a Pac-12 Network quardrupleheader. Well, a quadrupleheader here if you watch Pac-12 International on YouTube. See, the games on Pac-12 International are the Pac-12 Network national feed games. There are a couple other games that won’t be shown in Canada because they are regional only. Again, no big games here but we all remember what South Carolina did Between the Hedges back in 2019. If an upset of that magnitude happened again, it immediately changes the season and turns it on its head. Finally, Notre Dame is playing today…at home. But it’s on Peacock so no getting it here.
UPDATE: Thanks to reader William, I have found out about Fighting Irish TV (https://fightingirishtv.live/login). If you want to watch the game on Peacock, there’s your ticket.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Vanderbilt at UNLV
7:00
#11 Tennessee at Florida
7:00
James Madison at Troy
7:00
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
7:30
Bowling Green at #2 Michigan
7:30
BYU at Arkansas
7:30
Akron at Kentucky
7:30
Syracuse at Purdue
7:30
Georgia Tech at #17 Ole Miss
7:30
FAU at Clemson
8:00
TCU at Houston
8:00
Wyoming at #4 Texas
8:00
Hawaii at #13 Oregon
8:00
No massive games but Tennessee travelling to The Swamp to face Florida bears some interest since the Vols have struggled there a lot in years past. Still no Harbaugh on the sidelines (unless you count Jack) as the Wolverines host Bowling Green who hopes to keep things relatively close. And lookie here…the Longhorn Network? That’s right. For the first time ever (as far as I can tell), LHN can be viewed (legally) in Canada. Hopefully Wyoming can play like they did against Texas Tech and keep this game competitive.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
Colorado State at #18 Colorado
10:00
Kansas at Nevada
10:30
UTEP at Arizona
11:00
Finally, the game that’s being played where both ESPN and FOX’s pregame shows were at…Colorado hosting mighty Colorado State. It must be since both networks were there. Don’t get me wrong, I totally get the hype but with two much bigger games coming up for the Buffaloes you think they would save this for the next couple of weeks. Or they might just camp out there until October. I mean why take the set down if you are just going to put it back up again a few days later?
Hey, Watch This!
South Carolina at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Yes this is, arguably, the best game of the week. Kind of sad, not gonna lie. Saying that, if 2019 happens again, the SEC is seriously wide open. Don’t bet against the Gamecocks, even if they did look mediocre against North Carolina earlier this year. Or do because you think UGA will win. Either way.
Washington at Michigan State (5:00, Peacock) – This feels a bit icky but there is a ton of intrigue now with this one. A very good Huskies team against a team that will have to fight some adversity without their disgraced head coach. And it’s on Peacock of all places. NBC might have inadvertantly struck it rich by putting this game on the streaming service a while back.
Tennessee at Florida (7:00, TSN+/SP) – As I said above, the Vols, and many teams, have struggled in the hot and humid Swamp in Septembers past. Will it happen here? Eh, probably not. Man, how can a week be that devoid of big games?
Minnesota at North Carolina (3:30, TSN+/SP) – Um……well, it’s two undefeated teams so there’s that. Yeah, I got nothing.
Sickos Game of the Week
Vanderbilt at UNLV (7:00, CBSSN) – Look, there is a possibility that we see a 3-0 UNLV team by the end of Saturday night. So yeah, you could say the season is already a bit strange. And if Barry Odom wants a signature victory of sorts, this game is ripe for the picking. Or…OR…this could be a hilariously bad game that one team has to win. I am morbidly curious.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Alabama at USF (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Why is this game on ABC? Well, it’s not like there are a ton of strong contenders *waves wildly at the Games of the Week list*. Coming off a loss, Nick Saban is going to be uber-pissed. Which will make the rest of the coaches pissed. Which will make the players very angry. And they are going to take it out on a Bulls team who might not know what hit them until long after this one is over.
Wanna Bet?
Will this list be decent? After looking back at my picks last week, I am going to venture to say that’s a no.
Bethune-Cookman (+53.5) over Miami (but the U wins by 40)
Buffalo (+3.5) over Liberty (and the outright win)
LSU (-9.5) over Mississippi State
UConn (-7) over FIU
North Carolina (-7.5) over Minnesota
South Carolina (+27.5) over Georgia (and I think this will be relatively close but the Dawgs will hold on for the W)
Tulane (-13) over Southern Miss
Florida (+6.5) over Tennessee (the Vols win a VERY close one)
Vanderbilt (-4.5) over UNLV
Michigan (-40.5) over Bowling Green
Clemson (-24.5) over FAU
Oregon (-38) over Hawaii
Colorado (-23) over Colorado State
Spotty information so far for the specialty packs as I see some information but not all of it. It should all be up by tomorrow and should match what I have. Funny enough, TSN+ has their shit together and has their full schedule up (and has since Monday).
I’ll be on the TwiXter machine this Saturday (@TheBauceman) so you can interact mwith me there if you like. Or you can just sit in your favourite chair like a normal person and watch more than 14 hours of football unlike a normal person. Enjoy the games everyone!
Look, did Colorado surprise a lot of people this past weekend? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Deion Sanders is proving, whether you like him or not, that he can flat-out coach. And overhauling the roster like he did was not a bad idea at all. It does suck for the players that had to transfer out but unfortunately it’s football and the name of the game is winning.
Saying that………the amount of people I saw on Twitter that said Colorado will win 10 or 11 games this season was way too much. It should have been zero. Colorado may be better than advertised but they aren’t all of a sudden a New Year’s Six possibility. But hey, that’s the reactions from Week 1 of college football. Every. Single. Fucking. Year.
So let’s do it again on here! It’s overreaction time! Let’s look at some of the other overreactions you may (or may not) have heard after the Week 1 games were complete:
Ohio State is just an average team. Do we expect more from the Buckeyes against a team like Indiana? Sure. But they are bringing in a new quarterback and their best receiver was not 100%. The defense was amazing. Now the offense does have to be ready since in about a week and a half they get Notre Dame and that could get ugly if they don’t produce more points.
Colorado will have not one, but TWO Heisman finalists. What in the fuck? Who are the morons saying this? They are out there for sure. I saw them. Sure, they did great in their opening week win over TCU but calm the fuck down. TCU isn’t the TCU of last season for one and it’s only WEEK ONE. Anyway, moving on…
Gene Chizik has finally got the defense cooking in Chapel Hill. Again, it’s one game. Do the Heels look improved? Sure. But it’s not like South Carolina played well at all because, for the most part they didn’t. That, and the chain gang wouldn’t eat their hot dogs fast enough. Let’s see how UNC does when a top-notch offense is staring them in the face.
Jalen Milroe is already looking like another Alabama Jalen…that being Hurts. My God where do these people come up with this shit? Milroe looked OK but it was Middle Tennessee and he’s playing for Ala-frickin-Bama. We will see how he handles SEC competition before crowning him anything.
Washington has the best offense in the country. Could that end up being the case? Possibly. Michael Penix Jr. has already started his Heisman campaign in style. But let’s slow our roll here. There are at least four teams who looked better on offense (Colorado, Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon) during Week 1. And I wouldn’t even say any of those teams will be the best offense in the country so why go ahead and put the Huskies at #1?
Book the Sooners for the Big XII Championship NOW! As I said, their offense was on fire but they were playing Arkansas State. We are all waiting to see if Brent Venables can have a Venables-type defense in Norman. If that happens, this could very well happen. But for now, I wouldn’t book any tickets yet if I were a Sooners fan.
Miami is BACK. Ho boy. Pump the damn brakes.
Let’s just put Week 1 behind us, shall we? Let’s move on to Week 2 which…oh my. Well, it’s better than Week 1. That’s really all I can say. But you know what that usually means. That’s right…chaos!
Thursday
US
Canada
Murray State at Louisville
7:30
Yep, that’s a new logo you see. TSN+ will be showing college football games this year. It kind of mimics the specialty pack but there are a few differences. But if you want to get TSN+ rather than the specialty pack for your college football fix, you are getting close to the same. Not a bad alternative and a good move by TSN to copy ESPN for the 10,000th time.
Friday
US
Canada
Indiana State at Indiana
7:00
Illinois at Kansas
7:30
It kind of feels like this could be a relatively important game when the Illini travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks. Imagine saying that even two years ago. You’d be laughed out of whatever building you were in.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest
11:00 AM
#10 Notre Dame at NC State
Noon
Youngstown State at #5 Ohio State
Noon
Delaware State at Army
Noon
#12 Utah at Baylor
Noon
Purdue at Virginia Tech
Noon
James Madison at Virginia
Noon
Nebraska at #22 Colorado
Noon
Ball State at #1 Georgia
Noon
Is the quality there? Eh, not really. But there’s choice. A lot of it. Can’t ask for much else. Also…MORNING FOOTBAW! The ACC Network’s weird annual Week 2 quadrupleheader hits again with the odd three hour-and-fifteen-minute windows. This will be a lot easier to do next year when Stanford and California join as you know one of them will host the ACC After Dark Week 2 matchup, guaranteed.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Charleston Southern at #25 Clemson
2:15
#23 Texas A&M at Miami
3:30
UTEP at Northwestern
3:30
Richmond at Michigan State
3:30
UNLV at #2 Michigan
3:30
Wagner at Navy
3:30
#20 Ole Miss at #24 Tulane
3:30
Iowa at Iowa State
3:30
Marshall at East Carolina
4:00
Kent State at Arkansas
4:00
Tulsa at #8 Washington
5:00
Appalachian State at #17 North Carolina
5:15
Is the afternoon slate better than the Noon slate? Sure. Not by much though. Some intriguing matchups though. As per the rules, one of Texas A&M or Miami must win their game against each other. Ties were outlawed almost three decades ago. Will CyHawk feature more than 30 points? Can App State and UNC put up ridiculous numbers like last year? And this will be Tulane’s opportunity to get a huge leg up in the Group of Five. A win over Ole Miss would be massive.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Ohio at FAU
6:00
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
6:30
#11 Texas at #3 Alabama
7:00
#13 Oregon at Texas Tech
7:00
Houston at Rice
7:00
#19 Wisconsin at Washington State
7:30
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
7:30
Temple at Rutgers
7:30
UCLA at San Diego State
7:30
Grambling at #14 LSU
7:30
McNeese State at Florida
7:30
Charlotte at Maryland
7:30
Arizona at Mississippi State
7:30
Air Force vs. Sam Houston (in NRG Stadium)
8:00
Southern Miss at #4 Florida State
8:30
FIFTEEN GAMES! Holy shit! I think this has to be the most in one timeslot ever on this blog. I don’t feel like checking so let’s just say we have a new record! Plenty of games but most people will be watching one game in particular, that being the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide. If Texas can somehow do what they were robbed of last season and upset Bama, this season turns on its head. This game is so big that they are also showing it on ESPN2 in the US and on TSN+ and the specialty packs. But it’s not the same broadcast. It’s the Pat McAfee Show alternate broadcast. So if you like that kind of thing, have at it.
Also, you will notice we have a new network showing college football. That’s right, the CW, with such hits as 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Smallville and LIV Golf (well it was a hit with the golfers who got fucking PAID with that Saudi blood money) will be showing ACC football (and later on, ACC basketball) this year. This replaces Bally which, for all intents and purposes, is flat broke. There will be games most weeks and, it looks like, at odd times. 6:30? Weird.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
UC-Davis at #16 Oregon State
9:00
Auburn at California
10:30
Stanford at #6 USC
10:30
FOX quadrupleheader? Don’t mind if I do. TSN2 quadrupleheader? Yes, please. A good week if you are a Canadian as I don’t remember seeing this much college football being shown up here in a while. Maybe things are turning around. Looks like TSN finally gives a shit about things that aren’t the CFL, NFL, and NHL (which they don’t even have the national broadcasting rights to).
Hey, Watch This!
Texas at Alabama (7:00, TSN2/TSN+/specialty pack) – Unequivocally the game of the week and there’s nothing else close. That also means there will be some wild and wacky finishes that might overshadow this game. That is, unless, this is a close one and the Longhorns pull off the upset. Then it will be THE story in college football no matter what else happens.
Ole Miss at Tulane (3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – As I mentioned above, if the Green Wave pull off a win here in front of what should be a raucous crowd in hot and humid New Orleans, there’s not a whole lot that will prevent them from a perfect regular season and another New Year’s Six spot. Normally I would say this is a lose-lose situation for any Power Five team in this situation but when the Group of Five team is ranked it can count as a big win (as long as that team doesn’t totally shit the bed the rest of the way).
Texas A&M at Miami (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I made the joke above that one of these teams has to win, as per the rules of college football. We may actually see which one of these teams is back (for the most part) and which team still has some work to do. Now watch it be a 13-10 almost-unwatchable slog.
Nebraska at Colorado (Noon, FOX) – Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s see if the hype matches what ends up happening. Some might have put this higher but that’s crazy. It makes this list because of the talk, not because of the teams involved. And Colorado can’t just win this game by a little. That would prove nothing. If they beat the brakes off the Huskers, then we all have to take notice and maybe think the Buffs could be for real.
Sickos Game of the Week
Temple at Rutgers (7:30, specialty pack) – Look, Rutgers is probably going to start 2-0 which really doesn’t mean a whole lot considering their schedule but still, that’s something right? With everything on at this time, you would have to be a complete psychopath to watch this game. I will make sure to tune in and watch at least a few plays. I feel like I owe it to everyone and myself.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Ball State at Georgia (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – Time to bring back the blowout of the week segment. And this could be the dictionary definition of blowout. I could see UGA putting up 60 on the poor Cardinals.
Wanna Bet?
Nebraska was actually a good bet. That game ended up exactly how I thought it would (for the most part). Florida, however….well the less said about that one the better. Time for my gambling picks for the second week of the college football season. Use them at your own peril.
Indiana (-30.5) over Indiana State
Purdue (+3) over Virginia Tech (and the outright win)
Ohio State (-41.5) over Youngstown State
Utah (-8) over Baylor
Nebraska (+2.5) over Colorado (and the upset win…definitely going out on a limb with this one)
Michigan (-37.5) over UNLV
Tulane (+7.5) over Ole Miss (but the Rebs will hold on for a close victory)
Texas A&M (-4) over Miami
Alabama (-7) over Texas
Washington State (+6) over Wisconsin (with the Badgers winning a tight affair)
Minnesota (-20.5) over Eastern Michigan
Mississippi State (-9) over Arizona
Stanford (+29.5) over USC (I feel a backdoor cover in this one)
I will be on the Twitter/X machine again this weekend. Even without Tweetdeck I am figuring out how to navigate fairly well. We shall see if I can make it two Saturdays in a row making it all the way to the end. Enjoy the games everyone!
Alright, we fucking made it! Well, we mostly made it last week. The appetizer. The scallops if you like watching Hell’s Kitchen. But this is the main course coming up. The true start of the season for the rest of college football. I still agree with some people that either Week Zero has to be bulked up a bit to give it some extra oomph to start the season or just start calling it Week One since Week Zero is honestly a dumb name. Well, if I was college football commissioner…
…ha ha like they’d give that title to a Canadian. That would be blasphemy, especially in the states on the southern end of the spectrum, geographically (and educationally) speaking.
OK enough is enough! It’s schedule time. I have to get back into posting mode and what a way to do it than to wade in the shallow end a bit last week and then plunge off a dock 200 metres out into a deep lake this week. What could go wrong?
Thursday
US
Canada
Elon at Wake Forest
7:00
NC State at UConn
7:30
Florida at #14 Utah
8:00
Nebraska at Minnesota
8:00
South Dakota at Missouri
8:00
Southern Utah at Arizona State
10:00
We get right into two fairly big games on the first Thursday of the college football season. Matt Rhule gets to start proving he can turn around any college football team as his Huskers travel to Minneapolis and the question about Cam Rising and Brant Kuithe playing might be answered by the morning of the game but who knows with Kyle Whittingham. I am sure gamblers would be pissed if they had to wait until just before gametime. TSN also starts their season with the UF-Utah game.
UPDATE: Cam Rising has been ruled out for the UF-Utah game.
Friday
US
Canada
Miami-OH at Miami
7:00
Louisville at Georgia Tech
7:30
Stanford at Hawaii
11:00
Hate to say it but the game of the night might end up being The Battle for Miami between the Miami of Ohio and the Miami of Florida. That is unless Mario Cristobal has truly turned the Canes around. Then it might be a bloodbath. UL-GT might end up being good but you never know which Louisville team you are going to get. Finally…it’s Hawaii Test time! Starting just an hour before midnight? Oh baby, bring it on!
By the way, UL-GT will start on TSN5 joined in progress after the NWSL game is complete, which should be around 10:00.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#12 Tennessee vs. Virginia (in Nashville)
Noon
Northern Illinois at Boston College
Noon
Fresno State at Purdue
Noon
Bowling Green at Liberty
Noon
Arkansas State at #20 Oklahoma
Noon
Louisiana Tech at SMU
Noon
Colorado at #17 TCU
Noon
Ball State at Kentucky
Noon
The first true remote control portion of the season. My remote control is going to hate me. Well, hate me more. It already hates me I’m sure. We shall see how Neon Deion does in Colorado’s opener in TCU. I mean, hell, if you looked at the ads for the game, you would have figured TCU was an FCS team with how little they were shown. FSU-PU should be a fairly interesting game and a good potential for a win by the Group of Five over the Power Five. Also, UVA returns to the field for the first time since the horrific tragedy late last season where three of their players were gunned down during a school excursion.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Portland State at #15 Oregon
3:00
Boise State at #10 Washington
3:30
Wofford at Pittsburgh
3:30
Towson at Maryland
3:30
#3 Ohio State at Indiana
3:30
USF at WKU
3:30
UMass at Auburn
3:30
Rice at #11 Texas
3:30
Tennessee State at #13 Notre Dame
3:30
California at North Texas
4:00
SE Louisiana at Mississippi State
4:00
I guess you could say things get slightly better here. Boise-Washington could end up being very important when it comes to the New Year’s Six. By the way, the new clock rules started this past weekend. The ones where the clock doesn’t stop on first down until the final two minutes of the first and second halves. A little more extreme than my suggestion of doing it for the first and third quarters but I digress. Anyway, it seems like the amount of time saved during the game was equal to the amount of commercials added on. I’ll admit it: didn’t see that one coming. Especially since baseball broadcasts are shorter with their pitch clock. Either way, to the people who said this is what ruins the game, I am sure you are the same people who thought playing freshmen and NIL were horrible things as well. Also, to the people who did the whole “I told you so” thing…unless you have the receipts you can shove that shit up your ass.
“I told you so!”
“When?”
“Uh…”
Yeah that’s right, go fuck yourself.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Nevada at #6 USC
6:30
Washington State at Colorado State
7:00
New Mexico at #23 Texas A&M
7:00
Army at ULM
7:00
South Carolina vs. #21 North Carolina (in Charlotte)
7:30
Toledo at Illinois
7:30
Texas Tech at Wyoming
7:30
West Virginia at #7 Penn State
7:30
Middle Tennessee at #4 Alabama
7:30
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech
8:00
South Alabama at #24 Tulane
8:00
This primetime schedule looks a fair amount different than most of the primetime schedules in the past. Big Ten on NBC! Mountain West on CBS! I’m sure we will get used to it very quickly. Well, maybe not the Mountain West on CBS since they only have a few games on the main network. USA-Tulane is a massive Group of Five match and the winner gets a quick leg up on the competition for that one spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game. SC-NC should be good and I hope it’s a good crowd for a neutral site since I usually don’t like college neutral site games. Finally, Wazzu and CSU meet in what could end up being a conference game starting next season.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
Northern Arizona at Arizona
10:00
Idaho State at San Diego State
10:30
Coastal Carolina at UCLA
10:30
After the Hawaii Test the night before, I should be ready to tackle this set of late night games. Then again, I will be ten hours in once the NAU-U of A game starts so we shall see how I am at that point. Almost feels like I’m training for this which is absurd but I’m sure some people do it (how I don’t know). UCLA is on upset alert with the Chants coming into the Rose Bowl. A win there and the Sun Belt could look like the Group of Five conference to beat going forward.
Sunday
US
Canada
Northwestern at Rutgers
Noon
Jackson State vs. Florida A&M (in Miami)
3:00
#18 Oregon State at San Jose State
3:30
#5 LSU vs. #8 Florida State (in Orlando)
7:30
Sunday CBS doubleheader? Sunday CBS doubleheader! That’s right, two games on CBS on Sunday including Northwestern playing their first game after all the ridiculousness about the team came out a month or so ago. And yes, I will watch that game. But the game of the day, week, and one of the games of the year goes Sunday night. Winner probably puts themselves immediately into the national title picture while the loser, while not eliminated, has to pretty much run the table the rest of the way to get a shot. High stakes in the happiest place on Earth (if you don’t live anywhere near Scandinavia).
Monday
US
Canada
#9 Clemson at Duke
8:00
There are quite a few people who are putting Clemson on Upset Alert for this one. Really? I mean I can’t see it happening but man would it be a crazy way to start the season.
Hey, Watch This!
LSU vs. Florida State (in Orlando) (Sunday, 7:30, ABC) – Easily the game to watch for Week 1 and an early candidate for Game of the Year if it’s anything like last year’s game. Even casual college football fans should be geared up for this one. As I said above, the winner is instantly in the national title picture, the loser will have some work to do.
South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte) (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Neutral site games are ruling the day as the battle for which Carolina is better (that’s a pretty wordy name for a rivalry game) happens in Charlotte in primetime (said that in my head in Chris Berman’s voice) on ABC (and TSN2). Should be quite the intriguing game and I’d be shocked if it wasn’t a packed house for this one. Because if it isn’t, those two fanbases should be ashamed of themselves.
Boise State at Washington (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – The return of the Chris Petersen Bowl. Many have the Huskies and Michael Penix Jr. doing big things this season. I just have this funny feeling that the schedule will be too daunting for them to motor through. And that includes this game right here against a Broncos team that wants to get back to the New Year’s Six badly and believes they have their best shot in a long time after the American Conference exodus of their three best programs.
South Alabama at Tulane (8:00, specialty pack) – This is a big mega Group of Five matchup right here. Two of the favourites going toe-to-toe with the winner getting to the front of the G-5 pack right off the hop. Kind of wish it got a better network assignment considering the not-so-great Week 1 schedule but hey, at least we can see the game up here, right?
Sickos Game of the Week
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech (8:00, specialty pack) – Like last year, I will also pick a game that you would have to be a complete Sicko to watch the entirety of. I think I might qualify and if this was a standalone game then God damn it I would watch the whole fucking thing. The criteria are as follows:
The game must be not good on paper. Preferably horrifically bad on paper.
The game must be shown here in Canada in some form (no IPTV or illegal streams allowed in this section).
Yeah that’s it. Two criteria. That’s all.
Anyway, this is the pick for Week One because holy shit this could be all kinds of awful. I’m not going to go into too much depth on this one because it frankly doesn’t deserve it. Now watch it end up being a thrilling game.
Also, I am going with the term Sickos this season. Every true college football fan knows what a Sicko is and if you don’t, follow Sickos Committee on Twitter or X or whatever the fuck Elon is calling it these days. One of the best accounts on Twitter bar none. Or X. Or…something even worse.
Wanna Bet?
Now we really get into the gambling and things. And yes, I am picking against the spread since picking games straight up doesn’t make me look bad enough!
Nebraska (+7) over Minnesota (with the Gophers wininng a close one)
Florida (+4.5) over Utah (and the outright win for a mini-upset!)
Miami (-16.5) over Miami-OH
Stanford (-3.5) over Hawaii
Ball State (+26) over Kentucky (with the Cats winning relatively easily)
Virginia (+28) over Tennessee (Vols win by about three touchdowns)
Indiana (+30) over Ohio State (tOSU wins easy but a bit of a sloppy start to the season for the Buckeyes)
Washington (-14) over Boise State
Texas (-35) over Rice (why does Rice play Texas?)
South Carolina (+2.5) over North Carolina (and the outright win)
Tulane (-6.5) over South Alabama
Oregon State (-16.5) over San Jose State
Florida State (+2.5) over LSU (and the big opening night win)
Five straight days of college football coming up, people! Hopefully I am ready for it. Takes a lot of stamina to watch that much football. As far as I can tell, everything is set on the specialty packs although I did notice one schedule I look at having no ESPN games for Rogers but all the others were listed. Werid. I’m sure the ESPN games will be there for all you subscribers. I wil be on the X machine (@TheBauceman) most of the time games are on so you can check me out there if you are still OK with what that site has become. Without Tweetdeck it is infinitely shittier but I make due.
We made it. Time for you to be a crazy Canadian college football fan. I know I am. Have a great rest of your week everyone.
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