As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (FOX): It’s week 5 already? It’s the end of September already? How in the world did this happen? I feel like I was just rushing to get Week 1 out before PAX. Anyway, OU status: still rolling!
• Northwestern @ Wisconsin (ABC): This may well be a replay of last week’s demolition of Michigan for the Badgers, as they’re facing another Big Ten team with serious issues on offense.
• Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (@Arlington, TX; ESPN): Arkansas didn’t just lose to San Jose State last week. They got demolished by San Jose State. Suffice it to say, I don’t like their chances here!
• Middle Tennessee State @ Iowa (ESPN2): The Blue Raiders are fun and all, but I can’t take them over Iowa here.
• Kansas @ Texas Christian (FS1): TCU got a little unlucky in losing the Iron Skillet last week, but KU doesn’t figure to put up as much of a fight as SMU did.
• Buffalo @ Miami (ESPNU): Buffalo is at least decent, probably? To be clear, this is some Saturday Maction here, not a team from Buffalo, NY venturing to south Florida.
• Northern Illinois @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Vandy gets some relief from the Georgias and LSUs of the world with a chance to catch its breath here.
• Rutgers @ Michigan (BTN): Well, presumably the Michigan offense will look like it has some semblance of idea of how to play football against Rutgers… right?
• Central Michigan @ Western Michigan (CBSS): The spread here is WMU by 17.5, but don’t be fooled, the Directional Michigan Rivalries are the toughest in the sport. Okay, well, maybe not, but there is a trophy on the line.
• Brigham Young @ Toledo (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Clemson @ North Carolina (ABC): Apparently on this Saturday “ABC” stands for “All Blowout Coverage” because, seriously, go ahead and peek at what the prime time game is. It’s cool, I’ll wait here.
• Virginia @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame actually managed to earn a smidgen of respect for hanging with Georgia. Now they need to show they’re closer to that tier by holding serve at home against a good UVA team.
• Southern California @ Washington (FOX): What to make of the Pac-12? I seriously don’t know. UDub is a solid favorite here, but USC is a little hotter right now and may actually have a clue on what its doing on offense. We’re certainly farther away than ever than all the half-joking 0-6 starts predicted for USC. I like them here, straight-up.
• Mississippi @ Alabama (CBS): Ole Miss is bad, y’all.
• Iowa State @ Baylor (ESPN): Iowa State is one of the few Big 12 teams that purports to play defense, and they’ll need that to pick up a win in Waco.
• Minnesota @ Purdue (ESPN2): Here’s another mid-tier matchup in a conference that’s “Big” followed by a number. That said, I don’t know what’s really up with Purdue at this point, so I’m also taking the road team again.
• Wake Forest @ Boston College (ACCN): Y’all, anyone who gives up 40+ to Kansas (in football) is bad. Wake all the way here.
• Florida Atlantic @ Charlotte (NFL): Hey, it’s on TV, so I gotta talk about it. I think Charlotte is starting to be okay now? And it sure seems like Lane is going to be stuck in Boca forever, eh?
• Indiana @ Michigan State (BTN): You could watch this, but then you’d have to watch a game involving both Indiana and Michigan State on purpose, and I just in good conscience can’t recommend that. Uh, I’ll take Sparty here?
• Georgia Tech @ Temple (CBSS): Sigh
  Maybe it would be more bearable here in Year 0 if two of the most visible problems with this team weren’t almost diametrically opposed to how the previous regime handled things. Let’s start with the deep handoff on 3rd/4th and short, which may be the one of the most crazy things to the average football fan. I guess my point of view is that if Tom Brady, who is approximately 500 years old and in his 300th NFL season, can get under center and run a QB sneak, then just about anyone should be able to.
  The other thing is that while we did run the ball about 80% of the time, Paul Johnson did not call a conservative offense. If we were on the other side of the opponent’s 40, we were going for it. I’m pretty sure we’ve already punted from that area three games into this season more than the previous regime did in several seasons put together. It’s ridiculous. Personally, I think that if you really trust your defense, that if you’re willing to live and die with your defense, then you should be okay with turning it over on downs at the opponent’s 35. Maybe that’s just me, though.
  Either way, look, it really is Year Zero. That term was coined for a reason. Arguably the previous regime probably should’ve lost to a FCS team in their first season. Not all is lost, and it’s not time to hit the panic button yet.
  At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.
• Coastal Carolina @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)

4:00: Southern Methodist @ South Florida (ESPNU): SMU is good. USF, uh, not so much.

5:00: Cincinnati @ Marshall (Facebook): I have no idea how to watch this game, but I may need to figure it out. Marshall’s only blemish so far is a tight loss to Boise, and while I don’t think Cincy will still be reeling from getting destroyed by Ohio State, they’re still a bit of a step down from where most of us thought they would be in this season. But hey, the season is long and they can still go beat UCF and Memphis, so not all is lost of the Bearcats. And I still like them in this game.

6:00:

• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)
• Arkansas State @ Troy (ESPN+)
• East Carolina @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)
• New Mexico @ Liberty (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Mississippi State @ Auburn (ESPN): Auburn’s defensive line will likely just be too good for the Bulldogs.
• Connecticut @ Central Florida (ESPN2): UCF took a direct hit from the Pitt Superweapon, but they still get to also play the UConns of the world and regroup.
• Stanford @ Oregon State (Pac12): These might be the two worst teams in the Pac-12, ugh. I’m picking the Beavers just because I can’t pick Stanford anymore.
• Texas-El Paso @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN+)
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Western Kentucky (ESPN+)
• South Alabama @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Ohio State @ Nebraska (ABC): So, yeah, like I said, nothin’ but blowouts in ABC today. Eesh.
• Kentucky @ South Carolina (SEC): I’d almost say that this is a mid-tier SEC game, but South Carolina is just kinda really bad on offense. I like Kentucky here.
• North Carolina State @ Florida State (ACCN): NC State was thought to be solidly in the middle of the ACC, and then they took a surprising a surprising blowout from a rebuilding West Virginia team a couple weeks ago. Of course, it’s basically impossible to predict what FSU will do at this point, so this may be interesting in a trainwreck sort of way. I’m going with FSU here.
• Colorado State @ Utah State (CBSS): I like the Aggies here.

8:00: Nevada-Las Vegas @ Wyoming (ESPNU): Well, Wyoming is no longer America’s luckiest team after losing to Tulsa, but they’re still good enough to beat UNLV.

10:00: Washington State @ Utah (FS1): Wazzu had a game for the ages last weekend, which is a statement that as equally true now as it was at halftime of that game when they had a 35-17 lead that didn’t even feel that close. 78(!) second half points later, they lost to UCLA. I’m not comfortable predicting a win for them here, as Utah shouldn’t be able to keep pace, but that’s what anyone would’ve said last week too.

10:30:

• California-Los Angeles @ Arizona (ESPN): For now, I’m not going to get too high off that crazy comeback and predict a UCLA victory here. But you may wanna watch this one.
• Hawaii @ Nevada (ESPN2): You may wanna watch this too. I like Hawaii but it should be fun, and who knows what can happen as the midnight hour approaches in Reno?

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Michigan @ Wisconsin (FOX): Well, FOX’s attempts to revitalize the noon slot gives us the most Big Ten game possible. I think Michigan is a favorite here, but with the caveat that they need to absolutely figure out their offensive playcalling.
• Michigan State @ Northwestern (ABC): We know how this is going to go. Let’s go ahead and resign ourselves to Sparty 10, Northwestern 7 or some crap.
• Tennessee @ Florida (ESPN): For whatever reason, a large portion of the college football writing talent I follow online is Florida fans, who for whatever reason seem to be especially neurotic about their team. So expect to read a bunch of tweets, wonder if Florida even won the game, and realize they won like 30-14 or something like that.
• Southern Mississippi @ Alabama (ESPN2): On September 16, 2000, Southern Miss shut out Alabama 21-0 in Tuscaloosa, somewhat marking the nadir of Alabama football. Just take that one occurrence and remember that not all dynasties are permanent, and someday Bama will be terrible again.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Iowa State (FS1): If Iowa State can return some punts tomorrow, they should be okay.
• California @ Mississippi (ESPNU): Ah, to be a fly in the Grove on this game day; well, provided any Cal fans actually travel to Oxford. Either way, this may give the East Coast the first look at Cal’s new-look defense. I like the Bears here.
• Louisiana State @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Now that LSU seems to have a functional offense, well, good luck Vandy.
• Western Michigan @ Syracuse (ACCN): What happened to Syracuse? I don’t think they’ll have any issues with WMU, but we may see a lot of inconsistency from the mid-to-bottom tier of the ACC this year.
• Boston College @ Rutgers (BTN): So… who could have possibly seen BC getting waxed by Kansas coming? And if you did, can I ask you for some other predictions of the future? Because you are apparently omniscient? I mean, despite that happening there’s just no way you can say Rutgers is going to win, right?
• Connecticut @ Indiana (BTN): This sure is a football game that will happen. Indiana, I guess.

2:00: Louisiana-Lafayette @ Ohio (ESPN+)

3:00: Troy @ Akron (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Auburn @ Texas A&M (CBS): Given the overall trajectories of these two programs and the attitude of their fans, I fully expect Auburn to win this game, because no one is expecting it and that is generally how Auburn operates.
• Washington @ Brigham Young (ABC/ESPN2): Since losing the Holy War, BYU has since made up some ground by beating Tennessee and USC. I don’t think they’ll be able to pull off that trick a third time, but they’ve got a chance.
• Central Florida @ Pittsburgh (ABC/ESPN2): The Pitt Superweapon misfired against Penn State, so UCF should cruise.
• Louisville @ Florida State (ESPN): FSU.
• Southern Methodist @ Texas Christian (FS1): It’s the Battle for the Iron Skillet! And also probably an easy TCU win.
• Temple @ Buffalo (ESPNU): Buffalo just lost to Liberty, so going with Temple here.
• South Alabama @ Alabama-Birmingham (NFL): The Battle of I-65! Well, if that didn’t already kinda refer to UAB-MTSU. If that does refer to UAB-MTSU. Look, I’m not going to look that up, but I’m from Alabama, so just trust me on this. Also, UAB is real bad this year, but I’ll still take them here.
• Miami @ Ohio State (BTN): OSU.
• Wyoming @ Tulsa (CBSS): Wyoming is one of the luckiest teams in football right now, but fortunately for them Tulsa is bad enough to allow them to go to 4-0 to succeed just on talent.
• Appalachian State @ North Carolina (RSN): I wasn’t really prepared for Year 1 Mack Brown Back At UNC to be good enough that we’d be kind of shocked that they lost to Wake Forest, but here we are. They’re still going to be App State, though.

4:00:

• Kentucky @ Mississippi State (SEC): This is a battle of mid-tier SEC teams that I think are probably about evenly matched, which another way of saying that I don’t know who will win. As is my usual crutch, I’ll go with the home team.
• South Carolina @ Missouri (SECA): Gamecocks, probably.
• Central Michigan @ Miami (ACCN): Canes should roll.

4:30: West Virginia @ Kansas (ESPN+): Speaking of odd victories from last week, WVU also waxed NC State. Now the teams that were predicted to be two of the worst P5 teams in the country face off. Who will win? I have no idea! Let’s, uh, go with history and WVU because it still feels weird to pick Kansas to win anything.

7:00:

• Oregon @ Stanford (ESPN): Stanford is not good this year, Ducks roll.
• Old Dominion @ Virginia (ESPN2): UVA holds serve and their bid to emerge from the chaos to be the second-best team in the ACC.
• Ball State @ North Carolina State (ESPNU): NC State presumably will get over the shock of losing to WVU long enough to take care of business here.
• Baylor @ Rice (CBSS): Baylor shouldn’t have any issues at the Rice Bowl.
• Georgia State @ Texas State (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Oklahoma State @ Texas (ABC): Texas fans will quickly let you know that Texas hasn’t beat Oklahoma State at home since 2008, but look, that’s just a weird quirk more than anything else. I’m taking Texas.
• San Jose State @ Arkansas (SEC): Even Arkansas can win this game!
• Charlotte @ Clemson (ACCN): Clemson.

8:00:

• Notre Dame @ Georgia (CBS): I’ll watch this game with a scowl on my face. At least this should knock Notre Dame thoroughly out of the playoff picture.
• Nebraska @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois is kind of okay this year? Yeah, I don’t know either. I’ll take Nebraska.

10:00: Colorado @ Arizona State (Pac12): Arizona State, just, I don’t get you. To continue to ensure that I don’t understand you, I’ve got Colorado here.

10:15: Toledo @ Colorado State (ESPN2): Rams?

10:30:

• California-Los Angeles @ Washington State (ESPN): Hey, it turns out Mike Leach isn’t woke! Yeah, uh, no one who pays attention is surprised. They’ll still win this game.
• Utah State @ San Diego State (CBSS): Here’s a witching hour game that might actually be interesting! Don’t forget where CBS Sports Network is on your dial and get some solid late-night West Coast football. I’ll take the Aztecs.

 

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Ohio State @ Indiana (FOX): Both teams are undefeated going in, but it’ll be the home team going out with a loss in this one.
• Pittsburgh @ Pennsylvania State (ABC): This might be worth watching to see a rivalry dusted off, but it’s likely going to be a Nittany Lion romp.
• Kansas State @ Mississippi State (ESPN): I’m bullish on Miss State, but then I read that their QB got hurt last week. Even though Tommy Stevens should play, I think this might be closer than it initially appeared.
• Arkansas State @ Georgia (ESPN2): Georgia should have no trouble here (unfortunately).
• North Carolina State @ West Virginia (FS1): WVU is a tire fire this year, NC State should have no issues.
• Miami @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): Cincinnati gets to take a breath after getting absolutely clobbered by Ohio State last week.
• Eastern Michigan @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois is bad, but not “lose to EMU at home” bad. Well, probably.
• Maryland @ Temple (CBSS): Considering the respective performances of the Maryland and Michigan offenses so far, I guess that settles the off-season dispute of “who called the plays for ‘Bama last year?” Temple is feisty, but after demolishing Syracuse I have to go with the Terps here.

12:30: The Citadel @ Georgia Tech (RSN): Naturally, GT will face two blasts from its past in consecutive weeks here. First, they’ll face some good ol’ flexbone offense. Next week, Geoff Collins will get to play against his old charges. As far as this game goes, for once I hope all that negative recruiting about the defense being bad because they practiced against the option was actually the case. Also I’d prefer not to see a repeat of that Gardner-Webb game from 2008.

1:00: Air Force @ Colorado (Pac12): There may be slightly more Colorado fans in attendance for this one, after a mass of Cornhuskers left Boulder shocked last week. The Buffs don’t figure to be in trouble with Air Force.

2:00: Florida Atlantic @ Ball State (ESPN+): I’m going to not provide commentary on most of these ESPN+ games, but I will continue to list them.

2:30: New Mexico @ Notre Dame (NBC): Hey, it’s ND on NBC for the first time this year! Against a dreadful Lobos squad! Don’t want this!

3:00: Akron @ Central Michigan (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Alabama @ South Carolina (CBS): Yeah, look, as far as Bama goes, wake me up when they play Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia, or let’s face the inevitable, Clemson.
• Southern California @ Brigham Young (ABC): So…. in the college football offseason it was only kind of a joke that a lot of folks thought USC would start 0-5. Well, here we are, with an undefeated USC that seems to have an idea of what they’re doing on offense for the first time years. Utah handled the Stormin’ Mormons pretty handily, so should USC.
• Stanford @ Central Florida (ESPN): UCF, if you want anyone to take you seriously, you have to win this game. Sure, you may not actually get a lot of credit for beating what looks like a down-year Stanford team, but you can’t lose.
• Oklahoma State @ Tulsa (ESPN2): No problem for the ‘Pokes here.
• Memphis @ South Alabama (ESPNU): No problem for the Tigers here.
• Army @ Texas-San Antonio (NFL): No problem for, uh, the Army here? (Apparently one of the Michigan radio announces last week kept referring to Army as “the Army”, as if the actual military was rolling tanks up and down Michigan Stadium.)
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Northwestern (BTN): UNLV is bad, to put it charitably.
• Georgia Southern @ Minnesota (BTN): Minnesota should win, but man it doesn’t feel like a guarantee, does it?
• East Carolina @ Navy (CBSS): It’s starting to feel like it’s getting further away from Navy being good, but they should still be good enough to beat ECU.

4:00:

• Arizona State @ Michigan State (FOX): Sparty is well and truly favored here, but it’s still such a weird matchup that it feels hard to predict.
• Iowa @ Iowa State (FS1): ¡EL ASSICO! is back! The thing is, the name may have been given in jest, but let’s face it, it’s somewhat unironically the best early season P5 rivalry now, right? Heck, they even got Gameday to go to Ames for a game that’s not even on ESPN. (Just don’t, uh, look too hard at the alternatives.) This should be fun, and let’s just say the Cyclones win, what the heck.
• Colorado State @ Arkansas (SEC): Colorado State could win this game. I won’t say that they will, but they could. You may definitely find yourself flipping to this a coupe of times.
• Louisville vs. Western Kentucky (@Nashville, TN; Stadium): Well, Louisville is bad, but fortunately for them and this bizarre neutral site matchup, this isn’t cool, fun Western Kentucky anymore.

4:15: North Texas @ California (Pac12): Cal needs to avoid the letdown after escaping a bizarre, delay-ridden game in Seattle last weekend that lasted after midnight Pacific time. They should be able to navigate past North Texas .

5:00: Louisiana Tech @ Bowling Green (ESPN+)

6:00:

• Southern Mississippi @ Troy (ESPN+)
• Buffalo @ Liberty (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Florida @ Kentucky (ESPN): Kentucky isn’t bad or anything (I think), but it figures that after finally getting past that ridiculous streak last year means that we have Good Florida again, which bodes poorly for the Wildcats looking to avoid the start of another streak.
• Kent State @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn should be fine.
• Georgia State @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Clemson @ Syracuse (ABC): Well, Syracuse picked a bad time to get knocked around by Maryland last week, because it only figures to get worse here.
• Florida State @ Virginia (ACCN): If UVA wants to prove they’ve moved up a tier in the ACC, then they really need to beat a battered FSU at home.
• Texas Christian @ Purdue (BTN): It’s unfortunate this game got relegated to the Big Ten Network, it could be fun, provided it’s not a TCU rout.
• Hawaii @ Washington (Pac12): UDub tries to get back on the horse and avoid giving Hawaii their third(!) Pac-12 win of the season. They should be able to do it, but it could be tricky.

8:00:

• Oklahoma @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): Fun intersectional matchups aside (it’s in the Rose Bowl!), this looks like a Sooner rout.
• Northern Illinois @ Nebraska (FS1): Nebraska figures to be able to hold on against the Huskies.
• Texas vs. Rice (@Houston, TX; CBSS): “Why does Rice play Texas?” indeed. Texas should be able to get back on the beam with a win over Rice.

10:30: Texas Tech @ Arizona (ESPN): Should a run the triple, Khalil Tate. I’ll take TTU here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

11:00: Ohio @ Pittsburgh (ACC): Why is this on this early? Who knows, I won’t (slash can’t) watch it anyway. Pitt.

Noon:

• Cincinnati @ Ohio State (ABC): We’ve actually got a pretty interesting noon slate this week, and this might be most interesting of them all. Cincy probably doesn’t have the talent to win, but they’ve certainly got enough to make it interesting. So, suffice it to say, I’m taking the Buckeyes.
• Army @ Michigan (FOX): I don’t think this will be as close as many say. Going with Michigan all the way.
• Syracuse @ Maryland (ESPN): ‘Cuse? Yeah, sure, that sounds right, let’s go with them, mainly because the alternative is, you know, Maryland.
• West Virginia @ Missouri (ESPN2): These are two teams trying to figure it out, but I think Mizzou may have gotten cosmically unlucky in Laramie last weekend, so I’ll go with them at home.
• Rutgers @ Iowa (FS1): This is certainly a Big Ten conference game you could totally watch on any television. Yep. I have no idea why, though. Iowa.
• Old Dominion @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): VPI may downplay the revenge angle, but I say, embrace it. Don’t get embarrassed again!
• Bowling Green @ Kansas State (FSN): I’m still easing into the 2019 season right now, so let’s just go with K-State.
• Vanderbilt @ Purdue (BTN): Vandy lost to Georgia last week, which okay, fine, sure. Purdue went on the road to Reno and lost to Nevada. Whoops! I’ll go with Vandy here.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Akron (CBSS): I know nothing about these two teams right now, so let’s go with the people’s champ, UAB.

1:00: Northern Illinois @ Utah (Pac12): Lot of games this week, and this one of them that you could watch on the West Coast. Well, unless you have DirecTV, then I guess not. Anyway, Utah.

2:00: Southern Florida @ Georgia Tech (ACC): So I was able to watch the first half the Clemson game and I didn’t have time to watch the second half. Frankly, I didn’t need to. This GT team is definitely a work in progress. There were some encouraging signs, like a much improved defense that managed to hold Clemson in check to the highest extent possible. But nothing perhaps summarized the offensive differences than the repeated attempts in short yardage situations that lost year. I mean, get Tobias Oliver back under center if that’s what it takes to punch it in from a yard out, we should still be good at it. I despised short yardage deep handoffs even before my alma mater ran an offense that, generally speaking, was always good for at least a yard, so I would like us to be able to at least correct that deficiency from last week.

3:30:

• Nebraska @ Colorado (FOX): BIG EIGHT TIME! Some folks may remember when this was a big game. I’d say my Mom, but she’s from Kansas, so yeah she didn’t like either of these schools. I guess I’m going with the Cornhuskers?
• Texas A&M @ Clemson (ABC): I HAVE GOT NO SLEEP OVER THE PAST WEEK AND I NEED OT FIGURE OUT HOW I’M GOING TO WATCH GEORGIA TECH TOMORROW, SO… LIGHTNING ROUND! Clemson.
• Southern Mississippi @ Mississippi State (ESPNU): Miss Stat,e probably./
• Central Michigan @ Wisconsin (BTN): Wisky.
• Illinois @ Connecticut (CBSS): Uh, Illinois?

4:00:

• Texas-San Antonio @ Baylor (FSN): Baylor.
• New Mexico State @ Alabama (SEC): Bama.

4:15: San Diego State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): SDSU!

5:00: Louisiana-Monroe @ Florida State (ACC): FSU?

7:00:

• Brigham Young @ Tennessee (ESPN): BYU.
• Central Florida @ Florida Atlantic (CBSS): UCF.
• Coastal Carolina @ Kansas (ESPN+): This is the first one in a while to give me pause, and it is a FBS vs. FBS game! But yeah, Kansas, Les Miles or no, should win this one.
• Wyoming @ Texas State (ESPN+): LIGHTNING ROUND RESUMES! Wyoming.
• Western Kentucky @ Florida International (ESPN+): FIU?

7:30:

• Louisiana State @ Texas (ABC): These are both good teams, but if LSU actually has an offense now, then I have to go with them.
• Buffalo @ Pennsylvania State (FOX): Penn State.
• Tulane @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn.
• Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Oh geez, this game already has the feel of a game that will determine who comes in last in the SEC West. Arkansas may be slightly less of a disaster than Ole Miss though, so let’s go with them.
• Western Michigan @ Michigan State (BTN): Sparty!
• Nevada @ Oregon (Pac12): Well, Nevada will be able to at least say they beat a Big Te team.
• Liberty @ Louisiana-Lafayette (ESPN+): Go Cajuns.

8:00: Miami @ North Carolina (ACC): I think most were surprised by UNC’s win over South Carolina last week, and also surprised by how bad Miami looked against Florida. Naturally, I’m picking Miami to win.

10:30:

• Stanford @ Southern California (ESPN): We’re arriving at the west coast night caps, and just in time. I like Stanford here.
• California @ Washington (FS1): If UDub can score 21 in this game, I really like their chances, but that’s a big if.
• Minnesota @ Fresno State (CBSS): I think this will go a long way to tell us about both of these programs, but for now I’m going to take Minnesota, but I don’t like it.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday
Noon:

• Mississippi @ Memphis (ABC): I think Memphis is going to win this game, straight up.
• Florida Atlantic @ Ohio State (FOX): Well, I guess if you’re FOX and you’ve got that Big Ten deal you gotta roll the dice and hope there’s enough Ohio State fans out there to justify airing this. 
• South Alabama @ Nebraska (ESPN): The one time you’ll find folks in Nebraska resenting a good ol’ U-S-A chant. 
• Mississippi State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (@New Orleans, LA; ESPNU): Miss State has plenty of questions, but those questions aren’t questionable enough to put this game in doubt.
• Toledo @ Kentucky (SEC): We’ll find out pretty quickly if Kentucky is good this year.
• East Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACC): We’ll also find out pretty quickly if ECU is less awful this year, though regardless NC State should win.
• Akron @ Illinois (BTN): With Illinois, who knows? I refuse to predict this.
• Indiana vs. Ball State (@Indianapolis, IN; CBSS): Uh, hard to foresee anyone outside of Indiana caring about this unless they are from Indiana. iI’ll take the team nicknamed the Hooisers though.
• Boise State @ Florida State (ESPNEWS): So this game was moved up due to the circumstances around the weather in Florida. I hope everyone can stay safe. Less importantly, I also like Boise here.

3:30:

• Duke vs. Alabama (@Atlanta, GA; ABC): This might the worst choice for an early season neutral site kick-off game I’ve ever seen. Just… why?
• North Carolina vs. South Carolina (@Charlotte, NC; ESPN): They should make it so that the winner here gets to refer to themselves as “Carolina” for the rest the year. Alas, that will still remain mostly UNC territory. Which, I guess they’ll take what they can get because they’re probably going to get clobbered here.
• Georgia State @ Tennessee (ESPNU): Even Tennessee can win this one.
• Eastern Michigan @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN+): For the first time ever, I’ll be listing these streaming only games, at least when they’re FBS vs. FBS. ESPN+ is cheap enough that everyone can get it. 

4:00:

• Northwestern @ Stanford (FOX): Fun and intersectional! Awesome! And, uh, I’ll I take Stanford I guess?
• Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ACC): More Week 1 ACC action/sacrifices for the almighty conference network. Is VPI going to be any good this year? Is the clock running out at BC? I have no idea, because they’re playing in Week 1! I’ll take BC, I guess?

6:00: Syracuse @ Liberty (ESPN+): I really hope this was a 4-for-1 or something. ‘Cuse should roll, at least.

7:00: Southern Methodist @ Arkansas State (ESPN+): State I guess?

7:30:

• Oregon vs. Auburn (@Arlington, TX; ABC): Ah, finally, the actual marquee matchup of the weekend. Oregon! Auburn! The creeping realization of the fact of your own mortality when you remember that “MICHEAL DYER WAS DOWN!” was 8 years ago. Auburn should win this one.
• Miami @ Iowa (FS1): LIGHTNING ROUND! This is the Miami from Ohio. I’ll take Iowa.
• Georgia Southern @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): LSU.
• Georgia @ Vanderbilt (SEC): UGA. 
• Virginia @ Pittsburgh (ACC): UVA.
• Middle Tennessee State @ Michigan (BTN): Michigan.
• Missouri @ Wyoming (CBSS): Mizzou?

10:00: New Mexico State @ Washington State (Pac12): Wazzu.

10:30: Fresno State @ Southern California (ESPN): It’s been a bit of a goof on the college football Internet to talk about USC starting 0-6. But, um, this could actually be a really tough game for them, to the point where I actually like Fresno.

Sunday
7:30: Houston @ Oklahoma (ABC): Do you like offense? I really hope you like offense. This could be the highest combined score of the season. I don’t know what the over/under is, but I’ll probably take the over. That said, I still have to go with the Sooners here.

Monday
8:00: Notre Dame @ Louisville (ESPN): Well, this is maybe the worst Monday-night special game ever. Bleh. Louisville is going to be awful this year, so I’ll take the Domers.

Apologies for the quality here, I’m at PAX and for various reasons this went up late. Look forward to next week’s column actually going up before the games kick off!