As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday

Noon:

• Pennsylvania State @ West Virginia (FOX): And finally, welcome back to College Football Saturday! Y’all, I think this is a perfectly wonderful way to come back. Well, maybe not this particular game, which will kind of be a theme of this weekend. Penn State should have this one easy.
• Clemson vs. Georgia (Aflac Kickoff Game @ Atlanta, GA; ABC): That said, this is a game of the day, and it’s kind of weirdly… early? Like, why isn’t this in prime time? Oh, sure, the “dawgs” are a huge favorite, and, well, I don’t have a lot of reasons to disagree. That said, this Clemson team should still be game enough to test them, and this should be worth watching.
• Virginia Tech @ Vanderbilt (ESPN): Whereas, well, I suspect the Hokies got this…
• Connecticut @ Maryland (FS1): … and so do the Terps.
• Illinois State @ Iowa (BTN)
• Indiana State @ Purdue (BTN)
• Kent State @ Pittsburgh (ESPNU): Y’all, I promise to try to talk about every FBS vs. FBS game, but, look, I may need until we get into conference season in a week or two.
• Bucknell @ Navy (CBSS)
• Austin Peay @ Louisville (ACCN)

12:45: Tennessee-Chattanooga @ Tennessee (SEC)

2:00: South Dakota State @ Oklahoma State (ESPN+)

2:30: Towson @ Cincinnati (ESPN+)

3:00: Portland State @ Washington State (CW)

3:30:

• Miami @ Florida (ABC): There’s not really a fantastic name for this rivalry, but it’s a rivalry nonetheless. I personally… do not understand any of the hype around the Canes at all, and also, it really feeds into the “ACC is imploding” memes if Florida wins, so I’m going with that.
• Akron @ Ohio State (CBS): Yeah, we’re in season two of the “B1G on CBS”, but still, the idea of CBS showing football this early is somewhat disorienting. I suspect that the first weekend of the US Open might be slightly better content than this, but, well, I’ve never talked about tennis on here, so I’m probably wrong.
• Texas-El Paso @ Nebraska (FOX): As usual, I want UTEP to be fun, but I’ll need some results before Is tart calling them to beat Nebraska.
• Colorado State @ Texas (ESPN): Unlike the above, I have zero worries about the Longhorns being able to handle business here.
• North Dakota @ Iowa State (FS1)
• Miami @ Northwestern (BTN): The main reason to watch most Northwestern home games this season will be to see if a wayward kick goes into Lake Michigan. That said, no worries for the Cats here.
• Florida International @ Indiana (BTN): 9Windiana has to get started somewhere, eh?
• Merrimack @ Air Force (CBSS)
• Ohio @ Syracuse (ACCN): I have no idea what to expect from the Orange here, so how the handle a… probably not very good MAC team will indicate a lot to me for the rest of the season.
• Kennesaw State @ Texas-San Antonio (ESPN+)
• Eastern Michigan @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)
• Western Illinois @ Northern Illinois (ESPN+)
• East Tennessee State @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)

4:00: Boise State @ Georgia Southern (ESPNU): This, low-key, may be one of the games of the day. Regional G5 teams traveling to play at home is a wonderful thing and we’d definitely like to see more of it. I definitely think that, on paper, Boise has the edge here, but y’all, we’re talking about a 4:00 PM Eastern kick below the gnat belt down in Statesboro. I think just about anything can happen in this one. I still like Boise, but this could be one of the best games of the day.

4:15: Old Dominion @ South Carolina (SEC): Whereas, well, I’m not sure what the Gamecocks have now, but it’s probably(?) enough to beat ODU.

5:00:

• California-Davis @ California (ACCNX)
• Stony Brook @ Marshall (ESPN+)
• North Texas @ South Alabama (ESPN+)

6:00:

• Richmond @ Virginia (ACCNX)
• Norfolk State @ East Carolina (ESPN+)
• Campbell @ Liberty (ESPN+)
• Eastern Kentucky @ Mississippi STate (ESPN+)

6:30: Idaho State @ Oregon State (CW)

7:00:

• Western Kentucky @ Alabama (ESPN): Well, there’s a new sheriff in town down in Tuscaloosa, but the real tests won’t start for another couple of weeks. If you’re young, though, please let me remind you: it is not manifest destiny for the Crimson Tide to be one of the major powers in this sport. Trust me.
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Houston (FS1): UNLV is definitely getting a bit of a glow-up this offseason, whereas no one seems to know what to do with post-Dana Houston. So I guess I like the Runnin’ Rebels here?
• Tarleton State @ Baylor (ESPN+)
• Tennessee-Martin @ Kansas State (ESPN+)
• Tennessee Tech @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPN+)
• Furman @ Mississippi (ESPN+)
• North Alabama @ Memphis (ESPN+)
• Sam Houston State @ Rice (ESPN+)
• Bethune-Cookman @ South Florida (ESPN+)
• Central Arkansas @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)
• Nevada @ Troy (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Fresno State @ Michigan (NBC): Michigan has no idea who their quarterback is, but that has no bearing on this game.
• Notre Dame @ Texas A&M (ABC): Speaking of new eras, it’s A&M’s first post-Jimbo game, because, well, they actually did the thing! And, well, they’ll probably lose this one.
• California-Los Angeles @ Hawaii (CBS): UCLA gets some exercise, fresh air, and an easy win over in the islands before heading for the Midwest.
• Idaho @ Oregon (BTN)
• Alabama A&M @ Auburn (ESPN+)
• Abilene Christian @ Texas Tech (ESPN+)

7:45: Southern Mississippi @ Kentucky (SEC): In addition to being old enough to remember when Alabama was bad, I remember when Southern Miss was good, which included beating Bama. Alas, well, I don’t like their chances these days against the SEC.

8:00:

• Texas A&M-Commerce @ San Diego State (truTV)
• James Madison @ Charlotte (ESPNU): Charlotte weirdly has a lot of starters missing, so I’m going JMU in this one.
• Georgia State @ Georgia Tech (ACCN): Y’all. Where do I even start? Like, we ran straight down their throats in Dublin. Is that just, like, how good we are, or more “game in Ireland” weirdness. I dunno, we lost to Bowling Green last season, so for both myself and my fellow Tech friends… stay frosty, y’all.
• Robert Morris @ Utah State (MWN)
• Houston Christian @ Southern Methodist (ACCNX)
• Southern Illinois @ Brigham Young (ESPN+)
• Nicholls State @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN+)
• Grambling State @ Louisiana (ESPN+
• Lamar @ Texas State (ESPN+)

9:00: Southeast Missouri State @ New Mexico State (ESPN+)

10:30:

• New Mexico @ Arizona (ESPN): Zona has this, right?
• Wyoming @ Arizona State (FS1): State has this, right? (Actually, I have way more doubt about State here.)

11:00: Weber State @ Washington (BTN)

Sunday

7:30: Southern California vs. Louisiana State (Vegas Kickoff Classic @ Las Vegas, NV; ABC): This may be legitimately one of the best games of the opening weekend. Obviously, we’re not much for NFL stadium neutral games this early in the season, but these teams are both playoff contenders with tons of questions. Like, can USC actually move the ball? Can LSU both replace all the talent they lost and rise to the level expected based on the talent they lost? It’s a huge conundrum that will require several weeks of this season to resolve, but we’ll likely be writing in a week that we have a read on these teams based on this one. So who knows? I tend to prefer LSU, but I won’t be surprised by any result here.

Monday

7:30: Boston College @ Florida State (ESPN): And finally… FSU will win an ACC game this season. I guarantee it.

 

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon: Florida State vs. Georgia Tech (@Dublin, Ireland; ESPN): Okay, here we go. So, for starters, I am doing the OOC preview, but it’ll come out next week. I just simply didn’t have time to get it done now. Anyway, the game! So I was recently on a trip that took me to this part of Europe, and I have to say… that doesn’t provide me with any particular insight into this game. I’m not especially optimistic, but I am pretty sure we’re not going to get blown out. I think that counts for something, given where we’ve been the past few years. I’ll type the rest of this out quickly because I’d like to be awake for this game, so if you don’t mind…

3:30: McNeese State @ Tarleton State (ESPN2)

4:00: Montana State @ New Mexico (FS1)

7:00: North Alabama @ Southeast Missouri State (FCS Kickoff Classic @ Montgomery, AL; ESPN)

7:30: Florida A&M vs. Norfolk State (MEAC/SWAC Challenge @ Atlanta, GA; ABC)

8:00: Southern Methodist @ Nevada (CBSS): In the other FBS vs. FBS matchup of the day, new ACC member SMU heads to Reno, where they should win handily.

Midnight: Delaware State @ Hawaii (Team1Sports)

 

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Villanova @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quaterfinals; ESPN)
• Lenoir-Rhyme @ Hardin (NCAA Division II Semifinals; ESPN+)
• Courtland @ Randolph-Macon (NCAA Division III Semifnals; ESPN+)

2:30: North Dakota State @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Quaterfinals; ABC)

3:00: Navy vs. Army (@Foxborough, MA; CBS): In a somewhat unexpected development, the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy is on the line in this game. I say this because most of this season made it look as though it would be Air Force’s for the taking, which is about when Army rolled into Colorado Springs and completely disrupted everything and/or the Falcons forgot how to hold on to the ball. Either way, if Army wins they get the CiC Trophy, and if Navy wins it’s split. I like Army in this contest, though I do have some concerns that sort of go either way.

3:30:

• Kutztown @ Colorado School of Mines (NCAA Division II Semifinals; ESPN+)
• North Central @ Wartburg (NCAA Division III Semifinals; ESPN+)

10:00: Albany @ Idaho (NCAA Division I Quarterfinals; ESPN+)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

7:00: New Mexico State @ Liberty (Conference USA Championship; CBSSN): I suspect Liberty will win, but that won’t stop me from pulling hard for the Aggies here. And if the Aggies do pull it off, Jerry Kill should merit some serious Coach of the Year consideration.

8:00: Washington vs. Oregon (Pacific 12 Championship @ Las Vegas, NV; ABC): There’s still a chance I may just up and off out to Vegas today because this game is not only the last ever Pac-12 Championship game (at least, as we know it) it should also be an absolute banger of a game. These are two of the best teams in the country in what is functionally a playoff quarterfinal. I am rolling with the conventional wisdom and predicting Oregon to win, but it is impossible to discount the Huskies, who seem to have a knack for getting out of close games.

Saturday

Noon:

• Oklahoma State vs. Texas (Big 12 Championship @ Arlington, TX; ABC): This would be a super bad time for the version of Texas that existed before this season to show up. That said, so far Texas hasn’t really Texas’d this season, and there’s not any reason to think they’ll start now.
• Toledo vs. Miami (Mid-American Championship @ Detroit, MI; ESPN): This may secretly be the better game. These are clearly the two best teams in the MAC. Toledo is rightly favored as the Rockets have shaken off their reputation for not being able to win the big game. It should be a good game, though, and may be a refuge if Texas is taking care of business.
• Youngstown State @ Villanova (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Richmond @ State University of New York at Albany (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

1:00: Tennessee-Chattanooga @ Furman (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

2:00:

• Mercer @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
• Sacramento State @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

3:00: Boise State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (Mountain West Championship; FOX): It’s not often that a team in a conference championship game fired their coach less than a month before said game, but that’s what the Broncos did. It does seem to have some impact, but they’re also here because the computers said they were better than San Jose State, which is the tiebreaker the Mountain West had to go with because none of the the three teams played the other. That said, it’s been a heckuva year for the Runnin’ Rebels and I don’t see it stopping here.

4:00:

• Southern Methodist @ Tulane (American Championship; ABC): SMU got better as the year went on, but Tulane just figures to still be the class of the conference.
• Georgia vs. Alabama (Southeastern Championship @ Atlanta, GA; CBS): Both of these teams kinda seemed to take it easy in their rivalry games. That put the Tide in real danger that took converting what might become the most famous “4th and goal from the 31” play in history. And while I’m not complaining, the Bulldogs looked pretty one-dimensional against us as they opted to rest McConkey and Bowers. (That said, when you average seven yards per carry, there’s not any reason to stop doing that.) At any rate, unlike the past couple seasons, Bama doesn’t feel like the team most capable of stopping Georgia: I would say both Michigan and Oregon could beat them. This Bama team isn’t perfect either, though they have figured what they can do with their QB the past few weeks. So, in summary, this Georgia team can get got, and while I don’t think it will happen here, I wouldn’t be surprised either.
• Appalachian State @ Troy (Sun Belt Championship; ESPN): While JMU obviously deserves to be here, at least App beat them. Troy, though, continues to be Troy: play (relatively) great defense and run the ball. App is just too inconsistent to make me think they have a chance here.
• Prairie View A&M @ Florida A&M (Southwestern Championship; ESPN2)

6:00: North Dakota State @ Montana State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

8:00:

• Florida State vs. Louisville (Atlantic Coast Championship @ Charlotte, NC; ABC): You can discount rivalry week or not, but it’s really hard not to think about how those games might carry over to this one. FSU rallied to beat Florida and show that can still work an offense without their best player. Louisville missed a chance to finally show Kentucky who’s boss (indeed, it’s as though Kentucky’s chances of beating the Cardinals is inversely proportional to how good the Cards are that season). Add that to the sort of general “they can’t keep getting away with this!” vibe the Cardinals have been doing all season, and it’s hard to see how FSU doesn’t win this.
• Iowa vs. Michigan (Big Ten Championship @ Indianapolis, IN; FOX): It’s very difficult to see how this will be any different from the 2021 version of this game that the Wolverines won 42-3.

9:00: Delaware @ Montana (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

10:00: Southern Illinois @ Idaho (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Ohio State @ Michigan (“The Game”; FOX): And once again, we start the last full day of college football with The Game, which is every bit as consequential as it has been the past two seasons. In Ohio State’s favor is human cheat code Marvin Harrison, Jr. In Michigan’s favor is a two game winning streak where they have more-or-less out-toughed the Buckeyes. It’s sort of crazy to think about, but I think the Wolverines will make it three in a row.
• Kentucky @ Louisville (ABC): I still don’t really believe in Louisville and they could definitely lose this, but I can’t really put my fingers to the keyboard and type that.
• Texas A&M @ Louisiana State (ESPN): A&M is probably slightly less dysfunctional on offense without Jimbo. LSU though just has a score-at-will type ability through Jayden Daniels that a lot of other teams, even top ten teams, lack.
• Navy @ Southern Methodist (ESPN2): Ponies figure to keep the pedal down all the way through the end of the season here, with a date with Tulane next weekend looming.
• Houston @ Central Florida (FS1): Both of these teams have been varying degrees of bad this year, especially Houston. It was a rough go for both in their first year of Big 12 play. That said, I have no idea what to expect here and I’m kind of tempted to pick Houston.
• Indiana @ Purdue (BTN): The Old Oaken Bucket is on the line, and, well, it’s a battle of 3-8 teams. State of Indiana pride is on the line, and that’s about it. One of the things about being 3-8 is that it’s hard to say if a win over Minnesota or Wisconsin means anything when the context is that you only won two other games. I’ll take the Boilermakers because they’re at home.
• Troy @ Southern Mississippi (ESPNU): Southern Miss did reel off two straight wins before losing to Miss State last week, but regardless Troy isn’t as good as they were, but they’re still in the upper crust of the Sun Belt. They should be fine here.
• Pittsburgh @ Duke (ACCN): Duke has QB injury issues, but Pitt just has offense issues in general. The Blue Devils should romp.
• Miami @ Ball State (CBSS): We’ll have some Saturday MACtion back, though this one should be straightforward for Miami.
• Northern Illinois @ Kent State (ESPN+)
• Middle Tennessee State @ Sam Houston State (ESPN+)
• Connecticut @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)

1:00:

• Florida Atlantic @ Rice (ESPN+)
• Sacramento State @ North Dakota (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)

2:00:

• Wake Forest @ Syracuse (The CW): We’ll close out the first (only? I need to check) year of ACC football on the CW. Wake Forest has lost four straight. Yes, Syracuse just fired their coach (the second time my team has gotten a Syracuse coach fired since I matriculated) and the offense is… limited, to say the least, but they still seem like a more coherent team than Wake at this point.
• Tulsa @ East Carolina (ESPN+)
• Alabama-Birmingham @ North Texas (ESPN+)
• Georgia State @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)
• Southern vs. Grambling State (Bayou Classic @ New Orleans, LA; NBC)
• North Carolina Central @ Richmond (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)
• Lafayette @ Delaware (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)

3:00:

• Colorado @ Utah (“Rumble in the Rockies”; Pac12): Remember what Oregon did to Colorado a couple of months back? Well, Utah doesn’t have Bo Nix (or anyone else that’s a real quarterback, for that matter), but I expect this to look pretty similar.
• San Jose State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (MWN)
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Louisiana (“Battle on the Bayou”; ESPN+)
• Western Kentucky @ Florida International (ESPN+)
• Tennessee-Chattanooga @ Austin Peay (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)
• Nicholls State @ Southern Illinois (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)
• Gardner-Webb @ Mercer (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)

3:30:

• Alabama @ Auburn (“Iron Bowl”; CBS): Okay, it’s the Iron Bowl, and it’s on the Plains, and sometimes stuff can… look, just no. The Tigers just got manhandled by New Mexico State last week. [Editor’s note: italics here for emphasis, NMSU is a FBS school.] I’m pretty sure Alabama can scheme some stuff up to do something similar. This might be a good point in the afternoon to go to the store.
• Brigham Young @ Oklahoma State (ABC): On the one hand, Oklahoma State seems determined to show that they won their one-game season by winning Bedlam, even if they did rally and beat Houston last week. On the other, BYU is super beat up and has lost four straight. Oklahoma State may well try to throw this but just back their way into getting blasted by Texas next week. This could wind up being interesting in a certain sort of way.
• Arizona @ Arizona State (“Territorial Cup”; ESPN): It’s generally a bad sign for your roster depth when you starting a true freshman at QB, who then got hurt, and is now starting again for the first time since September. That’s what Arizona State is doing, and I suspect that this one might be over early.
• James Madison @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN2): It’s neat Grayson McCall came back for Coastal this season, but they just don’t have the juice this season. I like JMU here.
• Wisconsin @ Minnesota (FS1): This is the most ambiguous Axe game in a while. Neither of these teams is especially good, with Minnesota stalling out a bit and Wisconsin going through a philosophy change on offense under a new coach. With the game effectively being a coin toss, I’ll take the home team.
• Maryland @ Rutgers (BTN): Maryland scared the heck out of Michigan last week, even if it was never really really in doubt. I suspect that means Rutgers is going to win easily this week.
• Northwestern @ Illinois (BTN): Northwestern’s coach should win at least one of the various coach of the year awards. Seriously. I think they win this one easily.
• Georgia Southern @ Appalachian State (“Modern Day Hate”; ESPNU): App is still somewhat maddening, as I’d definitely written them off going into JMU last week. Naturally, they left with the upset. This is a real G5 rivalry that goes back to their FCS days and there should be a good crowd in Boone. This could be a sneaky good game, or… an App rout. We’ll see.
• Vanderbilt @ Tennessee (SEC): Vols by a lot.
• Virginia Tech @ Virginia (“Commonwealth Cup”; ACCN): Virginia’s upset of Duke last week aside, there’s been a lot more to be optimistic about over on Blacksburg. That said, the talent level of these two teams is similar so we could wind up with a close game, though I’m expecting a VPI win.
• Liberty @ Texas-El Paso (CBSS): It brings me no pleasure to report that Liberty will be 12-0 after this. Tulane, we need you to win out.
• Arkansas State @ Marshall (ESPN+)
• Drake @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)

4:00:

• Washington State @ Washington (“Apple Cup”; FOX): Wazzu worked out some frustration last week on Colorado, subjecting the Buffs to a 56-14 game that wasn’t that close. Before that, however, the Cougs lost 6 straight after beating Oregon State, which made one feel like they’d lost the plot a bit. UDub is 11-0 and definitely more talented. I’m a bit skittish after what happened in Eugene earlier tonight, but I think this game is going to be closer than one might think.
• Jacksonville State @ New Mexico State (ESPN+)

5:00: Duquense @ Youngstown State (NCAA Division I First Round; ESPN+)

7:00:

• Florida State @ Florida (“Sunshine Showdown” ; ESPN): Even with their backup QB, I still expect FSU to win here. The talent level on both sides of the ball is still good and the Gators are just not good enough right now to overcome it.
• West Virginia @ Baylor (FS1): I’m still trying to figure out what happened at Baylor after last year. ‘Neers get to one of the most unexpected 8 win seasons in the country after this one.
• South Alabama @ Texas State (NFLN): Texas State probably won’t give up 77 again, but I don’t really trust them at this point.
• Notre Dame @ Stanford (Pac12): It’s not a coincidence that this is one of the largest point spreads of the weekend (at Notre Dame favored by 25). Maybe it’s for the best this will probably be the last ever football game shown on the Pac-12 Network.

7:30:

• Georgia @ Georgia Tech (“Clean, Old Fashioned Hate”; ABC): TO HELL WITH GEORGIA
• Kansas @ Cincinnati (ESPN2): I know the QB at situation means this line is close, but KU shouldn’t have any trouble here.
• Charlotte @ South Florida (ESPNU): USF figures to get bowl eligible against one of the worst teams in the country.
• Clemson @ South Carolina (“Palmetto Bowl”; SEC): The Gamecocks have won three in a row and salvaged the season a little, but that figures to come to a screeching halt at the hands of a seemingly rejuvenated Clemson squad.

8:00:

• Iowa State @ Kansas State (“Farmageddon”; FOX): This is the longest continuously played rivalry in FBS, but regardless it’s due to rotate off the Big 12 schedule in 2028. This error should be fixed. Outside of that, we’ve already remarked a couple of times that Iowa State is playing well as of late after being dead in the water earlier in the season. I hope it’s been fun, because this trip to the Little Apple isn’t likely to be.
• North Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACCN): NC State has reached 8 wins, which isn’t exactly news, because they do that almost every year. What this does imply is that UNC will probably win. Look, I don’t make the rules, okay.

9:00: Wyoming @ Nevada (CBSS): Wyoming isn’t as good as their record (7-4), but they good enough to take care of business in Reno.

10:30:

• California @ California-Los Angeles (ESPN): It’s a shame this game never really got a name, considering the shared history and governance of these schools. Plus that it’s probably on hold for the foreseeable future. But yeah, the main motivation in this one is that we’re going to be winding down the season with these games, and this does figure to be more watchable than the next game. That said, UCLA should handle business here.
• Fresno State @ San Diego State (FS1): And finally, we’ve got the battle for the Oil Can. I still have no idea what is going on with Fresno after they lost to New Mexico last week, but I will still say they’re going to be able to take care of this SDSU team. Well, unless the Aztecs decide to send Brady Hoke off with a sudden burst of competence on the offensive side of the ball, which feels unlikely.

11:00: Colorado State @ Hawaii (Team1Sports): Mahalo, the 2023 college football regular season. There’s a lot of change coming in 2024, and it’s been a fun send-off to what will possibly be a very significant point in the history of the sport.