Once again, this is going to be the express edition because a) I am tired and b) I haven’t actually watched like any games in the first three weeks. Expect a proper writeup next week.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech (ESPN): Both these teams have had what one might generously call “up-and-down” seasons so far. After beating Ohio State by two touchdowns, VPI lost to East Carolina. But wait, haven’t I in this column been saying like all summer that ECU is a very common darkhourse? So it’s not like they should’ve been surprised.
  Meanwhile, Georgia Tech has yet to play a coherent game of football. They’ve had excellent halves, sure. But the second half against Georgia Southern was basically a disaster. The first half against Tulane was similarly puzzling. There’s maybe a good team somewhere in that jumble, but with the ACC slate now completely in front of us we really need to figure out it out starting immediately.
• Bowling Green @ Wisconsin (ESPN2): Wisconsin.
• Iowa @ Pittsburgh (ESPNU): Pitt.
• Western Illinois @ Northwestern (ESPNEWS): Northwestern.
• Old Dominion @ Rice (FSN): Rice.
• Troy @ Georgia (SEC): Georgia. (Seriously. Troy is super bad this year. They lost to Abilene Christian last week. Abilene Christian is a transitional FCS team. As in, they just moved up. To FCS.)
• Eastern Michigan @ Michigan State (BTN): Sparty.

12:30:

• Maryland @ Syracuse (ACC): Not a conference game! Also this one is hard to call. Maryland?
• Tulane @ Duke (ACC/RSN): Duke.

2:00: Hawaii @ Colorado (Pac12): Colorado.

3:30:

• Florida @ Alabama (CBS): Alabama.
• Utah @ Michigan (ABC/ESPN2): Michigan.
• Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Southern Methodist (ABC/ESPN2): TAMU.
• Virginia @ Brigham Young (ESPN): BYU, though I’m having a hard time dealing with the reality that UVA might not be awful this year.
• North Carolina @ East Carolina (ESPNU): ECU.
• Louisville @ Florida International (FS1): Louisville.
• Central Michigan @ Kansas (FSN): Central Michigan.
• Rutgers @ Navy (CBSS): Navy?

4:00:

• Texas State @ Illinois (ESPNEWS): Illinois.
• Massachusetts @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State.
• San Jose State @ Minnesota (BTN): Minnesota.
• Indiana @ Missouri (SEC): Mizzou.

6:00: Georgia State @ Washington (Pac12): UDub.

7:00:

• Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (ESPN): LSU.
• Northern Illinois @ Arkansas (ESPNU): Arkansas.
• Miami @ Cincinnati (CBSS): Ciny.

7:30

• Oklahoma @ West Virginia (FOX): Oklahoma.
• South Carolina @ Vanderbilt (SEC): South Carolina. (Seriously, what the hell happened to Vandy?)

8:00

• Clemson @ Florida State (ABC): FSU? (Downgraded from a ‘.’ with Winston being suspended for the whole game.)
• Miami @ Nebraska (ESPN2): Nebraska.

10:00: California @ Arizona (Pac12): Cal? (This would be their first conference win since… October 2012. Hard to tell at this point, though. This is the first week of conference play in most leagues, which is at least nice because in a couple weeks we’ll start to have a much more coherent picture of the landscape.)

10:30:

• Oregon @ Washington State (ESPN): Oregon.
• San Diego State @ Oregon State (FS1): Oregon State?
• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Boise State (CBSS): Boise.

Again quick due to lack of time.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Kent State @ Ohio State (ABC/ESPN2): Ohio State.
• Boise State @ Connecticut (ABC/ESPN2): Boise.
• East Carolina @ Virginia Tech (ESPN): VPI.
• Pittsburgh @ Florida International (FS1): Pitt.
• Indiana @ Bowling Green (ESPNU): Indiana?
• Syracuse @ Central Michigan (ESPNEWS): Syracuse?
• Ohio @ Marshall (CBSS): Marshall.
• West Virginia @ Maryland (BTN): West Virginia?
• Central Florida @ Missouri (SEC): Mizzou?
• Massachusetts @ Vanderbilt (FSN): Vandy?
• Georgia Southern @ Georgia Tech (ACCR): This is a tough one to call. The main fear is that Georgia Southern beat Florida last year (of course, they then lost to NC State the next week). If GT comes out as flat as they have in their first two games, though, then we might be in real trouble.

12:30: Louisville @ Virginia (ACC): Louisville.

2:00: Wyoming @ Oregon (Pac12): Oregon.

3:30:

• Georgia @ South Carolina (CBS): Georgia.
• Arkansas @ Texas Tech (ABC): Arkansas?
• Iowa State @ Iowa (ESPN): Iowa.
• Arkansas State @ Miami (ESPNU): Miami.
• Miami @ Michigan (BTN): Michigan.
• North Carolina State @ South Florida (CBSS): NC State?
• Kansas @ Duke (ACCR): Duke?

4:00:

• Illinois @ Washington (FOX): Washington.
• Minnesota @ Texas Christian (FS1): Minnesota?
• Mississippi State @ South Alabama (ESPNEWS): Miss State.
• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Mississippi (SEC): Ole Miss.

5:00: Army @ Stanford (Pac12): Stanford.

6:00: Southern Mississippi @ Alabama (ESPN2): Alabama.

7:00:

• Louisiana-Monroe @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): LSU.
• Texas-San Antonio @ Oklahoma State (FSN): Oklahoma State.
• Wake Forest @ Utah State (CBSS): Utah State?

7:30:

• Purdue vs. Notre Dame (@Indianapolis, IN; NBC): Notre Dame.
• Kentucky @ Florida (SEC): Florida.

8:00:

• Tennessee @ Oklahoma (ABC): Oklahoma.
• California-Los Angeles vs. Texas (@Arlington, TX; FOX): UCLA?
• Southern California @ Boston College (ESPN): Southern Cal.
• Navy @ Texas State (ESPNEWS): Navy.
• Pennsylvania State @ Rutgers (BTN): Penn State.

9:00: Rice @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ESPN2): TAMU.

10:00: Arizona State @ Colorado (ESPNU): Arizona State.

10:30: Nebraska @ Fresno State (CBSS): Nebraska.

11:00: Nevada @ Arizona (Pac12): Arizona.

This is going to be quick, as I’ve spent most the past eighteen hours traveling.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Oklahoma @ Tulsa (ABC/ESPN2): Oklahoma.
• Akron @ Pennsylvania State (ABC/ESPN2): Penn State.
• Missouri @ Toledo (ESPN): Mizzou.
• Kansas State @ Iowa State (FS1): Kansas State.
• Central Michigan @ Purdue (ESPNEWS): Central Michigan?
• Southern Methodist @ North Texas (FSN): SMU.
• Buffalo @ Army (CBSS): Buffalo.
• Western Kentucky @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois?
• Florida Atlantic @ Alabama (SEC): Alabama.
• Arkansas State @ Tennessee (SEC): Tennessee.

2:00: Alabama-Birmingham @ Mississippi State (SEC/FSN): Miss State.

3:00: Fresno State @ Utah (Pac12): Utah?

3:30:

• Southern California @ Stanford (ABC): Stanford?
• Ball State @ Iowa (ESPN2): Iowa.
• Ohio @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Kentucky.
• Maryland @ South Florida (CBSS): Maryland?

4:00:

• Georgia Tech @ Tulane (ESPNEWS): This is a bit of a tough call. It’s the first home game in over three decades for the Green Wave, who are moving out of the cavernous Superdome and back into a proper stadium. It’s also tough because we didn’t exactly cover ourselves in glory last week against Wofford, with a sluggish start that lasted for the entire first half. There’s some questions for this team, and I suspect there will be some answers from this game.
• Eastern Michigan @ Florida (SEC): Florida.

4:30: Mississippi @ Vanderbilt (@Nashville, TN; ESPN): I figured all week there was some Cinderella metaphor where, with James Franklin leaving representing the clock hitting midnight and turning back into a pumpkin and stuff, but I’m super exhausted so I’m not sure how I was going to really tie it together. Either way, Ole Miss.

6:30: Michigan State @ Oregon (FOX): Oregon?

7:00:

• San Jose State @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn.
• East Carolina @ South Carolina (ESPNU): South Carolina?
• Arizona State @ New Mexico (CBSS): Arizona State.

7:30:

• Michigan @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame?
• Brigham Young @ Texas (FS1): Texas.

8:00:

• Virginia Tech @ Ohio State (ESPN): Ohio State?
• San Diego State @ North Carolina (ESPNEWS): North Carolina.

10:00: Memphis @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): UCLA.

10:15:

• Colorado State @ Boise State (ESPN2): Boise State.
• Air Force @ Wyoming (ESPNU): Air Force?

10:30: Oregon State @ Hawaii (CBSS): Oregon State.

11:00: Texas Tech @ Texas-El Paso (FS1): Texas Tech?

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday
8:30: Pennsylvania State vs. Central Florida (@Dublin, Ireland; ESPN2):

Noon:

• California-Los Angeles @ Virginia (ESPN): And so begins the “Mike London is So Fired” watch. This should give the hands a good shove toward “so very, very fired”, but not quite all the way there.
• Appalachian State @ Michigan (ESPN2): Would it absolutely wonderful if Appalachian State won again? Yes, yes it would be. Will it happen? No, probably not.
• North Dakota State @ Iowa State (FS1): Iowa State. Er, wait, didn’t NDSU beat Kansas State last year en route to a 15-0 season and the FCS national title? In that case, well, I like NDSU odds better than Appy State’s.
• Western Michigan @ Purdue (ESPNU): I’d like to think that even Purdue could win this game, but life is full of uncertainty. (These two teams combined to go 2-22 last year.)
• Indiana State @ Indiana (ESPNEWS): Hoosiers. (Did you know Indiana State are the Sycamores, though? And did you know Larry Bird went there? Just saying.)
• Ohio State vs. Navy (@Baltimore, MD; CBSS): As fun as it would be to see Navy do their thing to the Buckeyes, it just doesn’t seem in the cards, Braxton Miller or no.
• Tennessee-Martin @ Kentucky (SEC): Kentucky.
• Northern Iowa @ Iowa (BTN): Iowa. Well, probably. They’ve messed this up before.
• Youngstown State @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois.
• Troy @ Alabama-Birmingham (FCS): It’s the Little Iron Bowl! I’m pretty sure no one calls it that, but hey, you take what you can get from these sorts of games. I’ll go with Troy.

12:30:

• Georgia Southern @ North Carolina State (ACC): NC State… probably.
• Wofford @ Georgia Tech (ACC): It’s been a bit of a rough offseason for Tech. Attrition, injuries, etc. This game, if nothing else, will serve as a useful yardstick for how the offseason might have affected the team, and what we might see going forward this year.

3:30:

• Rice @ Notre Dame (NBC): Wait, isn’t Notre Dame the team that’s always going to Ireland to play American Football games? Why is it Penn State this year? Well, Penn State and UCF, but that doesn’t really help it make any more sense.
• West Virginia vs. Alabama (@Atlanta, GA; ABC/ESPN2): It’s hard to see how the Mountaineers have much of a shot in this. Even calling it “much of a shot” might be a bit generous.
• California @ Northwestern (ABC/ESPN2): No team seemed to be as affected by one loss as last year’s Northwestern. Rising to #16 and playing at home, they lost by 10 at home to Ohio State. From there, they lost seven straight games, including wrenchingly close losses to teams like Minnesota and Iowa that cost them bowl eligibility. Of course, the question is whether this Northwestern team is still mostly okay, and more importantly, whether they’re still better than Cal. My guess is yes.
• South Dakota State @ Missouri (ESPNU): Missouri.
• Florida Atlantic @ Nebraska (BTN): Nebraska.
• James Madison @ Maryland (BTN): Maryland.

4:00:

• William and Mary @ Virginia Tech (ESPNEWS): Virginia Tech (but see the Iowa caveat above).
• Arkansas @ Auburn (SEC): More stupidly early conference games to satisfy TV, ahoy! Hopefully Arkansas is the entertaining sort of terrible they’re capable of being and not the more milquetoast sort of terrible they’re currently more poised to be.
• Portland State @ Oregon State (Pac12): Oregon State.
• California-Davis @ Stanford (Pac12): Stanford.

5:30: Clemson @ Georgia (ESPN): Both these teams have lost a key players on the offensive side of the ball, with both starting quarterbacks gone. However, Georgia still returns a large chunk of their offensive production while Clemson replaces almost all their skill players. I reluctantly have to go with UGA in this one.

7:00:

• Idaho @ Florida (ESPNU): Florida.
• Northern Arizona @ San Diego State (CBSS): San Diego State.

7:30:

• Fresno State @ Southern California (FOX): It’s a rematch of literally the last game these two teams played. Helpfully, USC won easily, which makes this one also easy.
• Southern Mississippi @ Mississippi State (SEC): Miss State.

8:00:

• Oklahoma State vs. Florida State (@Arlington, TX; ABC): It’s the game of the year of the week! That said, how do you pick against the defending national champs that still have their dynamic, Heisman winning quarterback?
• North Carolina Central @ East Carolina (ESPNEWS): ECU. (There’s a reason why I don’t ordinarily list these games.)

9:00: Louisiana State vs. Wisconsin (@Houston, TX; ESPN): I already used this in my OOC schedule preview, but dammit I really need to wrap this up, so: it’s hard to imagine two fanbases more broadly similar yet utterly different than Wisconsin and LSU. Obviously, every college football tailgater likes drinking (well, except maybe BYU fans), that’s not in dispute. Many of them also like eating. But I really feel like there could be some good inter-sectional bonding in the parking lots of Reliant Stadium (well, provided they don’t ban tailgating like at Levi’s Stadium), or at least some Midwesterners discovering the wonders of andouille. Also, LSU is probably going to win.

10:30:

• Washington @ Hawaii (CBSS): Washington.
• South Dakota @ Oregon (Pac12): Oregon.

Sunday
7:00: Utah State @ Tennessee (SEC): Sunday college football, for what I’m going to assume is the only time this year. I’m going to wearily pick the Vols here.

7:30: Southern Methodist @ Baylor (FS1): As noted in my OOC schedule previews, I am enthusiastic about the continued Southwest Conference rematches. I’m somewhat less enthusiastic about the Mustangs’ chances, though.

Monday
8:00: Miami @ Louisville (ESPN): Frankly, it’s hard to give Louisville much of a shot here in their ACC debut. They did not exactly excel in the depleted remnants of the Big East last year, and Miami returns a singular talent in Duke Johnson. It’s difficult to see how the Cardinals will keep up.

Yep, it’s week 16. Why 16? Well, there was an extra week due to the calendar this year, which why teams had two bye weeks during the season.

Quick note: I won’t cover them here, but several more FCS playoff games are available online, including Eastern Washington’s blood-red field.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon: Coastal Carolina @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN): North Dakota State is undefeated on the season, and it hasn’t really been close. Of the two games decided by less than a touchdown, one was the win over Kansas State and the other to fellow FCS power (though they had a down year this year) Northern Iowa. The Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina were also pretty dominant, but they did lose a game to a non-FCS opponent (South Carolina) and well I’m going with the Bison.

3:00: Army vs. Navy (@Philadelphia, PA; CBS): The 2nd and 3rd ranked rushing attacks in the country meet again, so don’t expect a lot of passing. That said, Navy was simply the better team on the year. Army struggled against other teams with strong rushing attacks (Boston College and Air Force) and in general their three wins were over some really lousy teams. It’s hard to see the USMA’s losing streak ending this year.