As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Navy @ Tulane (ABC): Navy looked bad last week, and while it stands to reason they they’ll be a little more in shape this week, it’s still tough to call this one for them. I’ll take Tulane.
• Tulsa @ Oklahoma State (ESPN):  Oklahoma State shouldn’t have any issues.
• Louisiana @ Georgia State (ESPN2): Georgia State is kinda bad? I’ll take the Cajuns to rage here.
• Liberty @ Western Kentucky (ESPNU): Go Hilltoppers!
• Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (ACCN): Syracuse seemed to take a step back last year, and uh, without the traditional sources of internet previews I’ve come to rely on over the years this year, I have no idea what their current state is. I’ll take Pitt.
• Boston College @ Duke (ACC/RSN): Duke isn’t what was in the past under Cutcliffe, but I can’t see them losing to BC just yet.

2:30: South Florida @ Notre Dame (USA): This doesn’t figure to be pretty, but hey I guess if you want the novelty of seeing Notre Dame on a cable channel you can watch this one.

3:30:

• Central Florida @ Georgia Tech (ABC): Beating Florida State always feels good, even FSU is a shadow of its former self. (Seriously, I figured our d-line play would be improved, but FSU offensive line has somehow been atrocious for like three years running.) GT is still young, extremely young, and this actually figures to be a harder test than FSU was last week. This will be a yardstick, but it could well be one of our tougher games this year.
• Appalachian State @ Marshall (CBS): App State figures to walk in this one.
• Florida Atlantic @ Georgia Southern (ESPN): Is FAU still any good? Is Georgia Southern? Y’all, I don’t know. It’s early in the season, it’s week 3 and the teams that have played have played like one game, and I’m so slammed with work that I haven’t had time to do even the most superficial of research. So, uh, Southern?

4:00: Troy @ Middle Tennessee State (Battle for the Palladium; ESPN2): THIS IS ACTUALLY RIVALRY GAME. SUPPOSEDLY. MAYBE. IT’S GOT A WIKIPEDIA PAGE. But yeah I like Troy.

6:00: Southern Methodist @ North Texas (CBSS): I’m going with the Ponies here? Yeah, I’ve just received word—I’m going with the Mustangs.

7:30:

• Miami @ Louisville (ABC): I’m picking Miami here mostly on the assumption that Louisville is still garbage. That’s a college football opinion from like two years ago, but look, that’s what I got right now.
• Louisiana Tech @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN2): Okay, one piece of current college football news that I am up on is that they were so good last week they fired their coach. Or he resigned, who can say? Either way, yeah, I’ll take LT over an interim coaching staff.
• Texas State @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPNU): Just picking ULM out of reflex out of this point. I’ll say this about the Big Ten: I definitely have a better idea of how, say, Indiana or Northwestern is doing in a given year than the Texas States of the world,

8:00: Wake Forest @ North Carolina State (ACCN): It feels like every year is the year NCSU is finally going to win more than 9 games, so this year seems as good as any to pick them.

Yeah, look, I’m just as surprised as you are.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday

8:00: Central Arkansas @ Alabama-Birmingham (espn3.com): Mostly just posting this one because, well, for obvious reasons this weekend is greatly diminished, and also because I enjoy the Shutdown Fullcast joke about UCA being a bunch of Ozark ronin.

9:00: South Alabama @ Southern Mississippi (CBSS): I have no idea which, if either, of these teams are going to be good this year. But here you are: FBS vs. FBS football. I’ll pick USM.

Saturday

1:00: Eastern Kentucky @ Marshall (ESPN): Naturally, because of the pandemic there is no PAX this year. So I have plenty of time to watch the first full weekend of college football. Which is, of course, also not really its normal self during the pandemic. Also, Marshall.

1:30: Middle Tennessee State @ Army (CBSS): So instead we’ll get this nicely spaced out slate that features no Power 5 teams. Army will get in the first of its eight home games this year. Has that ever happened before? Well, since WWII anyway? Also, my site I use for TV listings started calling Army “Army West Point”, and while I do respect anyone’s decision to be called whatever they want, Army is still referred to plenty as just Army, so I’ll stick to that. (I have finally caved and started referring to Louisiana-Lafayette as just Louisiana, though.) Oh, and I like Army here.

4:30: Southern Methodist @ Texas State (ESPN): I am as unsure about everything as I about most of these contests, but I’m pretty sure Texas State will still be terrible.

8:00: Arkansas State @ Memphis (ESPN): I’ll also assume that Memphis is still fun and good.

Monday

8:00: Brigham Young @ Navy (ESPN): I need to check, but I think BYU may be the only FBS team west of the Rockies that is playing football this year. I’ll also take Navy here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon: Illinois State @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN)

3:00: Army vs. Navy (@Philadelphia, PA; CBS): Well, while I recommend watching the FCS playoffs if you get the chance, this is pretty much it for the season. Unfortunately for my preferred Army side, it looks like the Cadets have dropped off a bit while the Midshipmen were damn competitive in the strongest Group of Five conference this season. It’s hard to see this one as anything other than a Navy win, but it should hopefully still be worth watching.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

8:00: Oregon vs. Utah (Pac-12 Conference Championship @ Santa Clara, CA; ABC): Well, it’s not quite the matchup of 1-loss teams the Pac-12 was so desperately hoping for. Instead, the Pac-12 needs the Utes to pull through to have any shot of getting anyone into the playoff, and even then it’s not obvious they’d get in over, say, Oklahoma. Utah appears to be a better team, but I also think Oregon will stress their (very good) defense the most since they played (and lost to) USC. So it’s not a walk for the Utes at all, who could definitely use an impressive victory.

Saturday

Noon:

• Baylor vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference Championship @ Arlington, TX; ABC): Oklahoma’s defense will probably keep this interesting, but I like the Sooners here in the neutral-site rematch.
• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Appalachian State (Sun Belt Conference Championship; ESPN): The Cajuns are sure to be Ragin’, but I think App State is just as good and they’re at home.
• Miami vs. Central Michigan (Mid-American Conference Championship @ Detroit, MI; ESPN2): CMU should win this one easily, but given the history of MAC championship games that means this could go either way.

1:30: Alabama-Birmingham @ Florida Atlantic (Conference USA Championship; CBSS): Go Blazers!

3:30: Cincinnati @ Memphis (American Athletic Conference Championship; ABC): It’s one thing when you’ve got a Baylor-Oklahoma situation, where the first game was over a month ago. Things have changed since then. Meanwhile, these two met last week, and Memphis won easily at home. I think they’ll be able to pull that off again.

4:00:

• Georgia vs. Louisiana State (Southeastern Conference Championship @ Atlanta, GA; CBS): At no point in UGA’s 52-7 drubbing of us last week did I think to myself “you know, Jake Fromm looks like a competent, poised passer”. Georgia’s best bet is that their defense shuts LSU down and that they can keep it close and win like 17-3. Otherwise I think LSU enters the half with a slim lead and then expands it in the second half.
• Hawaii @ Boise State (Mountain West Conference Championship; ESPN): This game is either going to be close, fun, and pointsy (with a Boise win), or Boise will win easily since it figures to be cold and wet for this one.

7:30: Clemson vs. Virginia (Atlantic Coast Conference Championship @ Charlotte, NC; ABC): Clemson’s going to be able to name their own score in this one.

8:00: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (Big Ten Conference Championship @ Indianapolis, IN; FOX): Wisky figure to offer Ohio State slightly more resistance than Virginia will to Clemson, but not much. Yeah, on this day the interesting games are early, y’all.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Georgia @ Georgia Tech (“Clean, Old Fashioned Hate”; ABC): TO HELL WITH GEORGIA.
• Ohio State @ Michigan (“The Game”; FOX): As much as Michigan’s offense has improved since September (and I believe it’s a legitimate improvement” it’s still hard to fathom how they will operate against Ohio State. That said, the Wolverines figure to provide the stiffest test the Buckeyes have yet faced, though that may not be saying much since last week’s 11 point win over Penn State is by far the closest margin they’ve had all year (the previous closest game was 24, in blowouts where OSU took their foot off the gas). So yeah, Michigan could still lose by two scores and be as close to beating Ohio State as anyone this year.
• Clemson @ South Carolina (“The Palmetto Bowl”; ESPN): Speaking of probable blowouts, hopefully the Tigers destroy the Gamecocks with such ruthlessness that the Powers That Be remember that this South Carolina team beat Georgia.
• Indiana @ Purdue (ESPN2): The battle for the Old Oaken Bucket is joined once again, but for once it’s the Hooisers who are prohibitive favorites.
• Northwestern @ Illinois (FS1): Illinois figures to get the Land of Lincoln trophy based solely on the fact that scoring three touchdowns is not a foreign concept for the Illini.
• Tulsa @ East Carolina (ESPNU): Well, this isn’t a rivalry game in any sort of way that I could figure, and given that there’s not much else going for this game, I can’t recommend watching. That said, this a matchup of two of the AAC’s teams that tend to play to the level of their opposition, which makes predicting this one a real headscratcher. I’ll take ECU I guess?
• Louisville @ Kentucky (SEC): These two play for The Governor’s Cup, which I think is the most common rivalry trophy name. Anyway, Kentucky’s been Kentucky for most of the second half the season, while Louisville has looked… better? With signs of life? So yeah, I’ll take the Cardinals here.
• Florida International @ Marshall (CBSS): Good thing FIU beat Miami last week, because otherwise I didn’t have them making a bowl game. I still don’t have them winning this game.
• Texas State @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)

12:30: Wake Forest @ Syracuse (ACC/RSN): A woeful year for the Orange will close off with a loss, and a long central New York winter to think about what went wrong after an all-around good season in 2018.

2:00:

• Wyoming @ Air Force (Stadium/Facebook)
• Charlotte @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)
• Middle Tennessee State @ Western Kentucky (“100 Miles of Hate”; ESPN+)
• New Mexico State @ Liberty (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Wisconsin @ Minnesota (ABC): Paul Bunyan’s Axe is on the line once again. After a long stretch of dominance by the Badgers, the Gophers finally broke through last year and did the deed, felling Wisconsin’s 14 game losing streak. I personally think Minnesota will cap off one of the greatest seasons in their history, though whether it remains that way after playing Ohio State next week is TBD.
• Alabama @ Auburn (“The Iron Bowl”; CBS): Given the status of Alabama’s all-everything starting quarterback, the Tua-less Iron Bowl feels like it should have an asterisk next to it. In particular, Auburn’s defensive line figures to cause problems for Mac Jones (whose name I had to look up just now). Also, Bama has lost two consecutive games against names nicknamed the “Tigers”, including a time when they were so desperate for points they ran a fake field goal with the kicker as a lead blocker. So yeah, I like Auburn here. It’s science!
• Baylor @ Kansas (ESPN): This is certainly a game you could watch other than the first two listed here, but I cannot fathom why. Baylor figures to roll.
• Miami @ Duke (ESPN2): In the past couple of years, I would’ve figured that Duke would pile upon Miami’s misery after the Canes suffered a huge upset loss, but… yeah this Duke team is almost as bad as the Canes. Again, don’t watch this. And I like the Canes.
• Maryland @ Michigan State (FS1): This is also a certainly a game that will happen starting at 3:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Seriously, this scheduling to avoid Wisky-UMN and the Iron Bowl has to be intentional. Sparty figures to roll here.
• Southern Mississippi @ Florida Atlantic (NFL): This might be the most intriguing 2nd-tier game in this time slot, but FAU figures to roll.
• Rutgers @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): You have got to be kidding me. Penn State.
• Connecticut @ Temple (CBSS): Seriously? Temple.
• Boston College @ Pittsburgh (ACCN): Well, it’d work a lot better for my bowl predictions if BC were to pull off a win, so I like Pitt here.

4:00:

• Notre Dame @ Stanford (FOX): The Irish have blown out three straight opponents and this game doesn’t figure to be much different.
• Tulane @ Southern Methodist (ESPNU): Well, Willie Fritz’s crew have lost four of their last five, but the games were all close (except for Memphis) and they did soundly beat a Tulsa team that has befuddled other AAC teams. That said, SMU just figures to be a tier above and I like them at home, but I hope no one sours on a Tulane team that exceeded all expectations this season.
• Vanderbilt @ Tennessee (SEC): This game doesn’t appear to have a name or moniker, but it’s a rivalry nonetheless. But the Vols have one four straight and Vandy, well, not so much. The Commodores offensive struggles figure to continue, and the Vols figure to roll.
• Oregon State @ Oregon (“The Civil War”; Pac12): I just verified that I still get Pac-12 Network through my Comcast subscription even though I’m at my parent’s house, which will allow me to second screen the heck out of this game. The atmospheres in both Eugene and Corvallis are outstanding for this game, and Oregon State has definitely had a good season so far. But they need this game to get to 6-6, and with it in Eugene, I just like the ducks too much.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ North Texas (Stadium): Go Blazers!

6:00: Georgia State @ Georgia Southern (“Modern Day Hate”; ESPN+)

7:00:

• Texas A&M @ Louisiana State (ESPN): My prediction: this will go to slightly less than the 7 overtimes last year’s game did. But there could definitely be some chippiness, but regardless, LSU will roll.
• Navy @ Houston (ESPN2): Navy finishes off a disinterested Houston team.
• Iowa State @ Kansas State (“Farmageddon”; FS1): This game figures to be slightly in Iowa State’s favor, but with the game in the Little Apple I figure it’s about even. Ah, what the heck, I’ll pick K-State.
• North Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACCN): NC State lost to us last week, so I’m picking UNC.

7:30:

• Colorado @ Utah (“The Rumble in the Rockies”; ABC): I’m on Eastern time for the weekend, so that means at these games will be after dinner, instead of before. Anyway, while the digestion is going, let’s evaluate this night slate. We’re starting… not so hot, as Colorado didn’t figure to have much of a chance in this game regardless of venue, much less the cauldron of despair known was RICE-ECCLES STADIUM. (Fun fact that I know just because I wanted to look up whether I spelled the name correctly: it was the main stadium for the 2002 Winter Olympics, which means that it’s in a pretty small group of college football stadiums that have hosted the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies. The other two I can think off the top of my head are the LA Coliseum and what is now known as Georgia State Stadium.) At any rate, Colorado is kinda bad and the Utes aren’t, so the full effect of the Cauldron probably won’t be needed and the Utah figures to roll. Probably.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Louisiana-Lafayette (“The Battle on the Bayou”; ESPNU): John Fogerty wrote the song “Born the Bayou”. Having been born and raised in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, he was not, suffice it to say, born on the Bayou, but he apparently admitted this interviews. At any rate, ULL are 3 touchdowns favorites, so yeah, I like them here.
• Florida State @ Florida (“The Sunshine Showdown”; SEC): Florida State looks a little better after firing their coach mid-season, but the Gators are just more organized and figure to roll.

8:00: Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State (“Bedlam”; FOX): As most probably know by now, despite the series’s nickname, Oklahoma is 88-18-7 all-time and have now win 4 straight, 6 of the last 7, and 14 of the last 16. As the joke I heard on of my podcasts a few weeks ago goes: “Something crazy will happen, and Oklahoma will win.” Sounds about right.

9:00: Brigham Young @ San Diego State (CBSS): I generally like the Aztecs most times, and despite the Cougars being favorites, I’ll stick to that.

10:00: Arizona @ Arizona State (“The Duel in the Desert”; ESPN): The Sun Devils scored a huge upset last week in defeating Oregon, can they remain focused and beat a rival they’re heavily favored against? In a word: yes.

10:30:

• Fresno State @ San Jose State (“The Valley Cup”; ESPN2): Fresno has struggled this year, but SJSU is, well, at the historical level of San Jose State Spartans football. I like Fresno here.
• California @ California-Los Angeles (“The Bear Bowl”; FS1): Well, it hasn’t been a good evening slate so far, and… yeah, this doesn’t do much to improve things. UCLA appeared to take some steps backward against USC and Cal’s defense and somewhat rejuvenated offense don’t figure to give them much of a reprieve.

12:30: Army @ Hawaii (CBSS): And finally, we conclude the last full Saturday of the college football season with Army traveling to what figure to be their bowl game. Hawaii actually won the Mountain West West division this year, and will play in Boise next week. As long as the Rainbow Warriors aren’t looking forward to that trip too much, I think they’ll probably beat Army.