As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Georgia @ Vanderbilt (CBS): Okay y’all I need to get back to studying for my checkride, so this one is going to be mostly LIGHTNING ROUND. Also the slate isn’t that great this week anyway outside of a few really good ones. So anyway: UGA.
• Syracuse @ Florida State (ABC): Noles.
• Indiana @ Michigan (FOX): Wolverines.
• Arkansas @ Alabama (ESPN): Bama.
• Georgia Southern @ James Madison (ESPN2): Okay good game #1. These are two of the best teams in the Sun Belt, and JMU is still technically transitioning. Clay Helton has completely renovated Southern’s offense, and unlike previous attempts, it’s actually working. The Dukes are just… more talented than a team that is playing its second season of FBS football should be. In fact, I think they’re talented enough that they’re going to win.
• Iowa State @ Cincinnati (FS1): Clones.
• Michigan State @ Rutgers (BTN): Rutgers?
• Temple @ North Texas (ESPNU): UNT?
• Kent State @ Eastern Michigan (CBSS): Eastern?
• Ohio State @ Purdue (Peacock)

2:00:

• Toledo @ Ball State (ESPN+)
• Navy @ Charlotte (ESPN+)

3:00: California @ Utah (Pac12): Utah just can’t score, but they may well win this one 6-3.

3:30:

• Texas A&M @ Tennessee (CBS): This is an inflection point for both teams. It’s the week before Bama for the Vols, and the week after for the Aggies. That said, it’s the Vols coming with momentum, and perhaps having figured some things out on offense. They’re not quite the buzzsaw they were last year, but they’re still going to scheme some dudes open. I like the Vols at home.
• Oregon @ Washington (ABC): Good game #2. This is the game of the week, featuring two of the best teams in the country (much less the Pac-12). Both are undefeated coming in, and both have dominated their schedule so far. Oregon has beat up some bad defenses, and the Huskies have an offense that makes you think they could score on anyone. In a season that feels as wide open as any in recent memory, the winner of this game has a legitimate shot at the national title. Washington’s slight stumble in Arizona last weekend has me somewhat concerned, but against one of their top-two rivals at home, I think they’ll find a way through.
• Illinois @ Maryland (NBC): Terps.
• Brigham Young @ Texas Christian (ESPN): TCU.
• Florida Atlantic @ South Florida (ESPN2): FAU? Because USF, y’all, you can’t be losing to UConn.
• Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Jayhawks.
• Massachusetts @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Nittany Lions.
• Florida @ South Carolina (SEC): Gators.
• Wake Forest @ Virginia Tech (ACCN): Hokies?
• Troy @ Army (CBSS): This might be the fastest game in FBS this year. Army?
• Bowling Green @ Buffalo (ESPN+)
• Akron @ Central Michigan (ESPN+)
• Miami @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Iowa @ Wisconsin (FOX): Next year, Wisconsin might win this game, but with their offense in flux the Hawkeyes figure to eat them up.
• Ohio @ Northern Illinois (ESPNU): Bobcats.

5:00: Nevada-Las Vegas @ Nevada (“Battle of Nevada”; MWN)

6:00: San Jose State @ New Mexico (MWN)

6:30: Louisville @ Pittsburgh (The CW): Y’all. Pitt’s offense is terrible, the defense is off a tick from where they usually are. Louisville is undefeated somehow. It feels like it’s time.

7:00:

• Auburn @ Louisiana State (“Tiger Bowl”; ESPN): Auburn’s offense is bad. Like real bad. But so is LSU’s defense! The outcome of this game is more or less a coin flip to me that slightly favors LSU.
• Marshall @ Georgia State (ESPN2): Good game #3! This one is a bit sneakier, but both of these teams are 4-1. I favor the Herd here – their loss was a close loss to NC State, while Georgia State just got walloped by a fellow Sun Belt team.
• Kansas State @ Texas Tech (FS1): Tech?
• Wyoming @ Air Force (CBSS): Good game #4! That said, Air Force is a favorite here for good reason – their offense is just good, and Wyoming has sort of just been getting by on what feels a little like luck.
• Arizona @ Washington State (Pac12): Wazzu.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Texas state (ESPN+)

7:30:

•  Southern California @ Notre Dame (NBC): We all keep waiting for it to stop working for USC, you know, the thing where their defense is garbage but Caleb Williams just makes something up and they get away with it. That said, Notre Dame’s loss to Louisville last week gives me no confidence that they’re going to be able to stop Williams. It may be a shootout, but if there’s any team that can handle that, it’s this USC.
• Miami @ North Carolina (ABC): *thinks back to the end of last week’s Miami game* LOL
• Missouri @ Kentucky (SEC): It’s been a dream season for the Tigers. That figures to end in Lexington.

8:00:

• California-Los Angeles @ Oregon State (FOX): I like the Beavers here, but that UCLA defense might be legit.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Texas-San Antonio (ESPNU): Meeps?
• North Carolina State @ Duke (ACCN): Duke.

9:45: Boise State @ Colorado State (FS1): Broncos.

11:00: San Diego State @ Hawaii (CBSS): Bows?

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Maryland @ Ohio State (FOX): The calendar has rolled to October, and while September Maryland went 5-0, things usually go south once they become October Maryland. I expect the same here.
• Oklahoma vs. Texas (“Red River Shootout” @ Dallas, TX; ABC): It’s Red River time. This one figures to be a return to form after last year’s Longhorn romp. I still expect them to win, but I definitely think that Oklahoma’s new discovery of “defense” is going to make it tough on Ewers and Co.
• Louisiana State @ Missouri (ESPN): Speaking of teams undefeated after September, here’s Mizzou. While they are not one of the better offenses LSU has faced, LSU’s defense seems to be bad enough that it won’t matter.
• Toledo @ Massachusetts (ESPNU): Rockets all the way here.
• Western Michigan @ Mississippi State (SEC): Clanga all he way here.
• William & Mary @ Virginia (ACCN)
• Boston College @ Army (CBSS): Outside of whatever went on against FSU, there haven’t been many signs of life on Chestnut Hill. I’m taking Army here.
• Rutgers @ Wisconsin (Peacock)

2:00:

• Marshall @ North Carolina State (The CW):
• Texas-San Antonio @ Temple (ESPN+)
• Central Michigan @ Buffalo (ESPN+)

3:00:

• Washington State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): UCLA is a favorite in this game for reasons that I’m not really sure of. The Cougs have been awesome, while UCLA’s offense has struggled after losing their two best players to the NFL after last season.
• Howard @ Northwestern (BTN)

3:30:

• Alabama @ Texas A&M (CBS): I don’t know the last time that Bama was only an one point favorite in a regular season game. It doesn’t happen a lot. But that said, they seem to have figured some things out on offense, and I don’t think TAMU’s offense is much more talented that Ole Miss’s, whom the Tide smothered pretty effectively a couple weeks ago.
• Virginia Tech @ Florida State (ABC): Struggling VPI got a win over struggling Pitt last week, but this is in Tallahassee and the Noles are not, well, struggling.
• Syracuse @ North Carolina (ESPN): I’ll keep picking Carolina until they play a team that I think can actually stop them.
• Texas State @ Louisiana (ESPNU): Yep, it’s the kind of week that the Sun Belt gets on TV. That said, this game might be pretty solid! Texas State has been… well, one of the surprise teams of the season so far, in that they aren’t one of the worst teams in FBS. The Cajuns are still ragin’, however, and I think they’re still a decent squad. I’ll go with them to give the Bobcats a dose of reality.
• Wake Forest @ Clemson (ACCN): I still can’t believe we sacked Wake Forest eight times. This will be a bit of a get-right game for the Tigers.
• North Texas @ Navy (CBSS): I don’t think Navy is really that bad, and I think this game will be a bit of a chance to regroup after two tough losses.
• Purdue @ Iowa (Peacock): Through 5 games, the Drive for 25 is still being dragged down by the shutout in Happy Valley a couple weeks ago. Right now at 22.2 points per game, Iowa will need to score 26.75 points per game the rest of the way.
• Ball State @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)
• Bowling Green @ Miami (ESPN+)
• Kent State @ Ohio (ESPN+)
• Northern Illinois @ Akron (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Central Florida @ Kansas (FOX): UCF had one of the plays of the weekend against Baylor, but… they still lost. KU, unlike Baylor, is a functional, good football team. I don’t think UCF has much of a chance.
• South Florida @ Alabama-Birmingham (ESPN2): One of the lowlights of the weekend was Trent Dilfer (who is, for whatever reason, the head coach of the Blazers) berating a coach on the sidelines after a kinda dumb penalty. We’re normally a pro-Blazers outfit here, but Dilfer makes it hard to root for them. Also, USF is gonna rout them.
• Vanderbilt @ Florida (SEC): The Gator’s are down bad a bit now that Kentucky has beaten them three in a row. I assume that Vandy will not be able to also have a multi-game winning streak against Florida.
• Arkansas State @ Troy (ESPN+)

5:00: Connecticut @ Rice (ESPN+)

6:00: Tulsa @ Florida Atlantic (ESPN+)

6:30: Colorado @ Arizona State (Pac12): The Buffs were able to make a comeback of sorts against USC’s “defense” last weekend, but that effort does make me think this is a pretty winnable contest for them. I expect this one to be pretty even, as Colorado’s own bad defense lets ASU get some traction on offense. I’ll pick the Buffs here.

7:30:

• Notre Dame @ Louisville (ABC): Louisville is currently undefeated. Didn’t see that coming! At any rate, they won’t be after this.
• Michigan @ Minnesota (NBC): Michigan hasn’t played the Gophers since 2020, but I expect similar results to the scores from the last two times they met (49-24, 33-10).
• Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Arkansas gave LSU everything they wanted, but it’s otherwise been a bit of a struggle for the Hogs. Ole Miss will score early and often, but their defense can definitely be softened up by Arkansas’s bruising attack. I’ll take Ole Miss here but I wouldn’t sleep on this upset.

8:00:

• Fresno State @ Wyoming (FOX): This is the best game of the day outside of Red River, and for good reason. These are two of the best teams in the Mountain West (the other is Air Force). Fresno just looks plain good, after a somewhat wobbly opening couple of weeks they’ve demolished some bad teams, including Arizona State. Wyoming’s only blemish is an understandable loss to a very good Texas, otherwise they’ve handled business. Add in Laramie at night, and this could be some must see TV. (Provided you aren’t living and dying with every pitch involving your team in the baseball playoffs, of course.) At any rate, I still do like Fresno here.
• Texas Tech @ Baylor (ESPN2): Baylor isn’t good, but Texas Tech is worse.
• Texas Christian @ Iowa State (FS2): It’s been a struggle for both teams this year, but TCU at least seems to be functional, whereas… it’s getting kinda late for Matt Campbell up in Ames, eh?
• Georgia Tech @ Miami (ACCN): (reads last week’s post) LOL
• San Jose State @ Boise State (CBSS): Boise isn’t Boise this year, but SJSU is being outscored by FBS opponents by a 165 to 82 margin. That’s not good, which is why they’re 0-4 against those same opponents, and likely will be 0-5 after this.
• Colorado State @ Utah State (MWN)

10:00: Oregon State @ California (Pac12): Same story as always: Cal’s defense is good, the offense is… bad, and the opponent is probably going to win.

10:30: Arizona @ Southern California (ESPN): If Jayden de Laura, college football’s most pure “random number generator” QB, plays, USC’s “defense” is bad enough that the Cats could be hanging around longer than anyone in Heritage Hall is comfortable with. If not… well, I mean, they could still do it, but the odds are much longer.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Clemson @ Syracuse (ABC): While the Cuse is often known for giving Clemson a game, it’s hard to exactly rely on that. I’ll take the Tigers but keep an eye on this one.
• Southern California @ Colorado (FOX): So what we all finally expected to happen to Colorado at some point this year finally did happen at the hands of the Ducks, who absolutely obliterated the Buffs on the lines. USC’s defense is still extremely suspect but there’s nothing wrong with Caleb Williams and company, so while Colorado might get in the end zone more than once, this is still going to be a rout.
• Florida @ Kentucky (ESPN): I don’t have a good read on either of these teams. Well, I know the Gators are still kind of figuring it out, but I don’t have much of an idea about the Wildcats at all. Sure, they’re 4-0, but that schedule has been, well, soft. The Gators are a little more battle-tested and I like them just a bit, but I won’t be surprised either way.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Tulane (ESPN2): It’s going about as well in Birmingham as I thought it would be for Trent Dilfer. Which is to say, not very well. The Green Wave will roll.
• Louisiana @ Minnesota (BTN): Still trying to figure out how the Gophers lost to Northwestern, but they’ll be fine here.
• Pennsylvania State @ Northwestern (BTN): Penn State will not pull a Minnesota here, I feel pretty good about that.
• South Alabama @ James Madison (ESPNU): JMU more or less looks like the best team in the Sun Belt, which makes it somewhat inconvenient for them that they’re still ineligible for the postseason this year. Many folks are trying to pump this one up, but y’all, USA lost to Central Michigan last week. I think JMU will be fine.
• Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (@Arlington, TX; SEC): The Jerry Jones bowl enters what I believe to be its last season as a neutral-site game. Both of these teams enter with plenty of questions. The vibes are off at Arkansas this season, and, well, they’ve been that way for a while for Jimbo down in College Station. That said, it seems like they may’ve figured some stuff out on offense, whereas even with the close effort against LSU last week Arkansas just seems to be missing something. I like the Aggies.
• Utah State @ Connecticut (CBSS): Speaking of Aggies… they’ll roll.
• Buffalo @ Akron (ESPN+)

1:30: Eastern Michigan @ Central Michigan (ESPN+)

2:00: Virginia @ Boston College (The CW): This is, for all intents and purposes, one of the worst games in the Power 5 on this day. It’s not going to be good. Virginia can actually play offense a little, so I’ll take the Hoos.

3:00: Arizona State @ California (Pac12): The Sun Devils can score, Cal can’t.

3:30:

• Georgia @ Auburn (“The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry”; CBS): Well, this edition of the most-played game in the Deep South doesn’t figure to be close. An Auburn shutout seems like the most likely scenario.
• Michigan @ Nebraska (FOX): Michigan’s gradual easing into the season continues. Their first road test will be against a mostly bad Cornhusker squad that will either be easy to deal with or provide motivation to not take anyone lightly.
• Kansas @ Texas (ABC): One of the few ranked vs. ranked games of the day is… KU-Texas? Which, of course, many Internet commentators will note has gone poorly for Texas in the past. But that was when Kansas was terrible. When both have been good, Texas has not had issues here, and I don’t expect them to.
• Central Florida @ Baylor (FS1): UCF looks pretty likely to get their first ever Big 12 win.
• Texas Tech @ Houston (FS2): The Red Raiders look pretty likely to get their first Big 12 win.
• Indiana @ Maryland (BTN): It’s still September and the Hoosiers are terrible, so the Terps will roll.
• Wagner @ Rutgers (BTN)
• Northern Illinois @ Toledo (ESPNU): Rockets figure to roll here.
• Bowling Green @ Georgia Tech (ACCN): The victory over Wake last week was deserved, but it was incredibly weird in many ways. For starters, there were a boatload of penalties, some of them very dumb. The passing game was on fire, but we couldn’t run the ball at all. A defense that came into the game with 1 sack left with 9. (Seriously, was Wake’s o-line play bad or what?) Either way, we were resilient and still mostly competent, all encouraging signs. The focus needs to be maintained in this game, as getting a third victory here makes getting to a bowl for the first time since 2018 very possible.
• South Florida @ Navy (CBSS): Navy’s 1-2 record makes things look worse than they are, which is surprising. That said, they need to get an actual victory and not just a moral victory, and the Bulls will also be a tough test. I like USF here.
• Illinois @ Purdue (Peacock)
• Ball State @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)
• Arkansas State @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)
• Old Dominion @ Marshall (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Boise State @ Memphis (ESPN2): In the days of Peak Boise, this would’ve been a great game. Unfortunately, they’re kind of just okay now. I’ll take Memphis.
• Missouri @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Mizzou should be fine here.
• Hawaii @ Nevada-Las Vegas (Team1Sports)
• New Mexico @ Wyoming (MWN)

6:00: Louisiana State @ Mississippi (“Magnolia Bowl”; ESPN): Ole Miss talked a big game against Bama last week, and then completely failed to follow up on it. LSU had a bit of a weird game against Arkansas, but I’m still going with the Tigers here.

6:30: Oregon @ Stanford (Pac12): The Ducks are going to score here. A lot.

7:00:

• Iowa State @ Oklahoma (FS1):  Iowa State got a conference win last weekend against a similarly bad Oklahoma State team. Oklahoma will not be as accommodating.
• Coastal Carolina @ Georgia Southern (NFLN): A couple years ago this was a marquee Sun Belt matchup, but it’s been tougher since. That said, Coastal just looks a bit more lost, so I like the Eagles here.
• Utah Tech @ Colorado State (MWN)
• Troy @ Georgia State (ESPN+)
• Texas State @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN+)
• Abilene Christian @ North Texas (ESPN+)
• East Carolina @ Rice (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Notre Dame @ Duke (ABC): This is pretty much the game of the day. The obvious quip, of course, is that the Domers will be favored if they can have 11 dudes on the field for defense. That said, this Duke team is good and fun, but… I think Notre Dame is just too talented. I think things will get real quickly for the Blue Devils.
• Michigan State @ Iowa (NBC): The Drive for 25 is now completely off the rails after Penn State deleted Iowa’s “offense” last weekend. By getting shutout, the Hawkeyes are now at 85 points through 4 games, which is 21.25 points per game. Assuming a bowl game, the they’ll need to average 26.67 points per game the rest of the way. That said, the Spartans are… well, it’s not going great up in East Lansing, let’s say that. I suspect whether Iowa can get to 27 will be the main drama here.
• South Carolina @ Tennessee (SEC): The Vols appeared to figure some things out against UTSA last week, so I’ll take them here.
• Charlotte @ Southern Methodist (ESPNU): SMU isn’t that good this year, at least so far, but Charlotte… well, it’s been tough there.

8:00:

• West Virginia @ Texas Christian (ESPN2): Someday we’ll know how exactly this TCU team lost to Colorado, but in the meantime they’ll continue improving against a slightly-better-than-expected WVU squad.
• Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech (ACCN): This one seems dire, but it’s no UVA-BC at least. Pitt actively hates the idea of offensive football, and VPI just lost to Marshall. Just on relative talent I’ll take Pitt, but, uh, not a lot of reasons to watch this one.
• San Diego State @ Air Force (CBSS): The Aztecs have lost three in a row, and Air Force has won four in a row. ‘Nuff said.
• Appalachian State @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPN+)

9:00: Alabama @ Mississippi State (ESPN): Miss State is caught a little bit between offensive identities right now, which is never good, but seems much, much less than ideal against Nick Saban and company.

10:00: Washington @ Arizona (Pac12): While USC-Colorado figures to be the most lopsided game of the day in the Pac-12, this one may give that a run for its money, since UDub can actually play defense.

10:30: Nevada @ Fresno State (FS1): Fresno is pretty good again, and Nevada is possibly the worst team in FBS. That means there’s unfortunately not to recommend in this nightcap.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Florida State @ Clemson (ABC): The game formerly known as the Bowden Bowl is opening the day instead of being one of the closers because of some of the heavy hitters we’re going to get to. Regardless, Clemson is here to try to prove they’re still among the elite in college football, while Florida State is ready to announce their entry into said class. I think the Noles will do it, as well.
• Oklahoma @ Cincinnati (FOX): Cincy definitely wishes they had their 2021 team still around for their first ever Big 12 game, but alas an Oklahoma team that’s still good at offense and much improved on defense will likely be too much for them.
• Auburn @ Texas A&M (ESPN): If this A&M team made any sort of sense, they’d be an easy pick here. Instead, they don’t. I still think Auburn is still too-talent deficient this season for the SEC, but it’s hard to count on A&M to really do anything. I still think Jimbo will get it done in this game, but if I were a betting man I’d stay far away.
• Virginia Tech @ Marshall (ESPN2): Virginia Tech isn’t good, but I don’t think they’re bad enough to lose to this Marshall team.
• Southern Methodist @ Texas Christian (FS1): The Iron Skillet is on the line for the last time in a while, and this figures to go out with a bang. Both teams are little off from last year’s iteration that saw TCU win 42-34. Back across town, SMU’s chances actually seem a little higher against a TCU defense that might be figuring it out a little bit and an offense may not be able to do what last year’s group did. Overall, I give a slight edge to the Ponies.
• Rutgers @ Michigan (BTN): Even entering Big Ten play, Michigan still won’t have played anyone until, well, arguably over a month from now. Yeah.
• Western Kentucky @ Troy (ESPNU): Last year, this would’ve been a lot of fun. This year, not so much. Then again, WKU put up more points on USF than Bama did. Meanwhile, Troy’s defense isn’t what has been the past few years and they’re still limited offensively. The Hilltoppers figure to prevail here.
• Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Yeah, the “Vandy is kind of competent” train derailed last week in Vegas, and with it their prospects of winning a single SEC game this season.
• Tulsa @ Northern Illinois (CBSS): Shouts out to Tulsa for getting that bag, enduring 43-10 and 66-17 losses to Washington and Oklahoma respectively in back-to-back weeks. (At least the Sooners made the trip up to Tulsa.) The degree of difficultly drops significantly for this trip to suburban Chicago, but the downside here is that I have no idea if against a more… even level of competition if the Golden Hurricane will actually be any good. Then again, NIU is the “select” club of teams that have lost to a FCS team this season, so, sure, let’s go with Tulsa.
• Army @ Syracuse (ACCN): Army’s still having some trouble with the passing thing, and this looks to be a competent Syracuse outfit that just beat Purdue by two scores on the road. I’ll take the Orange here.

3:30:

• Colorado @ Oregon (ABC): This is possibly the game with the largest gap I’ve ever seen between “hype” and “point spread”, where the Buffs have all the hype (and interest otherwise) as three touchdown underdogs. That said, I’m mostly just confused. Did one player (Travis Hunter) really mean that the Buffs were able to boat race TCU and Nebraska in the first two weeks, and then following his injury on a dirty hit mean they let Colorado State hang around for way too long. (Arguably, with better coaching in the 4th quarter, the Rams win instead of taking it to overtime.) Meanwhile, the Ducks aren’t without questions themselves, but their main case of letting an underdog hang around too long happened in Lubbock, and let’s face it, I’m sure that’s happened more that once out there. This game is in Eugene, the Buffs are still without their second best player, and their offensive line is still bad. I expect the Ducks to cover.
• California-Los Angeles @ Utah (FOX): I’m not entirely sure how it happened this way, but the Pac-12 somehow managed to go out with a bang. Yep, this is another ranked vs. ranked Pac-12 matchup of the day. That said, I haven’t watched a second of UCLA football yet this season, and their schedule so far isn’t instructive. Meanwhile, I still really like these Utes and the game is in Salt Lake City. Plus, they might have their starting QB back. If that happens, these Utes will get the “darkhorse” dropped from the phrase “darkhorse national title contender” dropped pretty quickly.
• Maryland @ Michigan State (NBC): September Maryland gets a Spartans program that is in utter disarray at the moment. With the two games above in this time slot, and even some of the ones below, yeah, there’s not a lot of reason to watch how much the Terps are going to win by here.
• Brigham Young @ Kansas (ESPN): Meanwhile, a hearty welcome to the Cougars to the Big 12, where a decent Kansas outfit with one of America’s most entertaining quarterbacks in Jalon Daniels rules the plains. (Note: I said entertaining, not best.) That said, the Cougars went on the road to Ar-kansas last week, held their own, and won. The Jayhawks main advantage will be that they’re probably a little more… agile than the Hogs, but nonetheless BYU has the ability to compete well and, I think, win.
• Miami @ Temple (ESPN2): Yes, that’s the Canes blowing into Philly, and the Owls already lost 36-7 to a bad Rutgers outfit. Miami drops games like this, well, it feels like a lot, but nonetheless I can’t really predict that.
• Florida Atlantic @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois should be fine in this one.
• Louisiana Tech @ Nebraska (BTN): There’s been years where I would say that the Huskers would lose this game. This isn’t one of them.
• Boston College @ Louisville (ACCN): BC, after nearly losing to Holy Cross, gave FSU everything they wanted (and more) last weekend in Chestnut Hill, but they’re still not good. I like the Cardinals here.
• Duke @ Connecticut (CBSS): This isn’t one of those fun years where UConn makes a bowl game, unfortunately.
• New Mexico @ Massachusetts (ESPN+)
• Texas Tech @ West Virginia (ESPN+)
• Ohio @ Bowling Green (ESPN+)
• Delaware State @ Miami (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (FS1): Thanks to Houston, neither of these teams is probably the worst team in the Big 12, but the fact that it’s close doesn’t speak well for either of them. The Pokes just lost 33-7 to South Alabama, and the Clones 10-7 to Ohio. Losing to Sun Belt and MAC teams is just… not good. Especially for the amount of time both coaches have been here. Ultimately, the problem for both of these teams is that they can’t really score points. At least Iowa State sorta seems to be able to play defense, though.
• Rice @ South Florida (ESPNU): I don’t think anyone had this game circled a few weeks ago, yet an upset of Rice and a near-upset of Alabama have some eyes turned toward Tampa. That said, at least in the USF-Bama case, that seemed to say more about Bama’s offensive woes than anything USF did well, and Rice seems to legitimately be able to score points. For probably the first time in years on this site, I can say that I like the Owls here.
• Texas-San Antonio @ Tennessee (SEC): Look, the Vols have struggled this year, but the unfortunately the magic has run out for the Roadrunners. I suspect Tennessee may work some things out in this one.

5:00:

• Central Michigan @ South Alabama (ESPN+)
• Eastern Michigan @ Jacksonville State (ESPN+)

6:00: Gardner-Webb @ East Carolina (ESPN+)

6:30:

• Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest (The CW): On the one hand, yes, haha, the CW, but on the other, this game will be on broadcast television nationally. Last year or the year before, we definitely lose this game. While we still didn’t really look in it except for stretches against Ole Miss, this is the best we’ve looked in a while. That said, with our talent level there are still limited chances to put up-or-shut up, and this is one of those of those opportunities. The road back into college football relevance has to start somewhere. Why not in Winston-Salem?
• Liberty @ Florida International (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Oregon State @ Washington State (FOX): Welcome to the Pac-2 Championship! Yep, the left behind teams are both currently ranked and this is starting to get to pretty late in the day in Pullman. There’s an all-time helmet game at 7:30, so this isn’t quite the game of the day, but boy howdy this may be the most fun game of the day. And what the hell, I can’t really bet against the Cougs at home, let’s chug some Fireball and get this thing done.
• Arkansas @ Louisiana State (ESPN): As long as the Tigers aren’t looking forward to the Magnolia Bowl next weekend, they’ll be fine here.
• Appalachian State @ Wyoming (CBSS): Last year, I would’ve liked App’s chances to go out to Laramie, but the Pokes look to actually be pretty good. Nonetheless, check in on this one.
• Arizona @ Stanford (Pac12): Arizona isn’t good… but the Cardinal is bad. As in, just lost to the team they hired their new coach from bad.
• Charlotte @ Florida (ESPN+)
• Southern Mississippi @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)
• Nevada @ Texas State (ESPN+)
• Nicholls State @ Tulane (ESPN+)
• Colorado State @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPN+)
• Sam Houston State @ Houston (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Iowa @ Pennsylvania State (CBS): This is… not the helmet game I was referring to. The Drive for 25 got a huge boost last week, as the Hawkeyes showed they were possibly aware that the entire college football Internet was making fun of them by scoring some late touchdowns to beat Western Michigan 41-10. Iowa now sits at 28.3 points per game, which means they could actually average 24 points per game for the rest of the season (plus bowl game) and wind up with exactly… 25 points per game! At any rate, yeah, they to figure to revert a little more to type in Happy Valley, where barring the some defensive scores (which, well, we are talking about Iowa here) they figure to probably be a little south of 24, much less 25.
• Texas @ Baylor (ABC): Texas had a little bit of a hangover up in Laramie, but back in the Lone Star state and against a familiar punching bag that’s back to “punching bag” status this year, the Horns should be fine.
• Ohio State @ Notre Dame (NBC): Ohio State is Ohio State. After playing with their food a bit in Week 1, they’ve now turned on the jets. If Notre Dame loses track of Marvin Harrison, Jr the same way that F-35 got lost, this figures to be a long night for the folks in South Bend. That said, the Irish have some talent of their own, with Sam Hartman coming in from Wake Forest and fitting right in. On paper, the Buckeyes still out-talent the Irish at most positions and I like them to win, similar to how they out-talented a game Utah squad in the Rose Bowl a couple years ago. But that said, Notre Dame may have a slight edge at quarterback, and so far this season they’ve shown they can score in bunches. This should be fun, but I still like the Buckeyes.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Georgia (ESPN2): I had managed to forget Trent Dilfer is coaching at UAB now, which, well, I don’t know where I’m going with that. Unlike a lot of games this season, Georgia should make this one academic [sic] quickly.
• Minnesota @ Northwestern (BTN): Gophers roll.
• Akron @ Indiana (BTN): Akron is kind of bad, so the fact I can’t completely rule them out here… it’s not great, Hoosiers.
• Memphis vs. Missouri (@St. Louis, MO; ESPNU): This game gets a measure of excitement because it features two undefeated teams, but, uh, Mizzou’s going to win.
• Mississippi State @ South Carolina (SEC): South Carolina gets both of the SEC’s Bulldogs two weeks in a row, but this time I figure they’ll win.
• Buffalo @ Louisiana (ESPN+)

8:00:

• North Carolina @ Pittsburgh (ACCN): Pitt has lost to both FBS teams they’ve played so far, and as long as they just… refuse to play offense I don’t see how they won’t get torched by Drake Maye and company.
• Central Florida @ Kansas State (FS1): K-State participated in one of the games of the season so far in their last-second loss to Mizzou. This doesn’t figure to be the follow up to that as UCF gets possibly one of the rudest welcomes to the Big 12.
• James Madison @ Utah State (MWN)

9:00: Nevada-Las Vegas @ Texas-El Paso (ESPN+)

10:30:

• Southern California @ Arizona State (FOX): Arizona State just got shut out by Fresno. USC’s defense still doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, but yeah, the Sun Devils also figure to lose by more than 29 here.
• California @ Washington (ESPN): Cal will give the Huskies their toughest test so far, but that’s mostly because of their defense. Once they break, expect the Huskies to win by plenty.
• Kent State @ Fresno State (CBSS): Kent has scored 12 points against FBS competition so far. That figures to still be the case after their trip to the Valley.

12:00: New Mexico State @ Hawaii (Team1Sports)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Pennsylvania State @ Illinois (FOX): Okay Penn State, it’s time to go on the road and put up or shut up a bit if this indeed the year you’re going to beat Michigan and/or Ohio State. That said, I think they’ll win this game.
• Florida State @ Boston College (ABC): BC escaped Holy Cross last week. I think FSU will be fine here.
• Louisiana State @ Mississippi State (ESPN): I don’t think Miss State will beat LSU, but also think this game won’t do much to quell the questions around the current state of LSU.
• Wake Forest @ Old Dominion (ESPN2): Wake all the way here.
• North Dakota @ Boise State (FS1)
• Georgia Southern @ Wisconsin (BTN): Wisconsin lost once again to Wazzu. While this Southern team is Sun Belt competent, they’re not “beat even a retooling Wisconsin with a first year coach” competent.
• Louisville vs. Indiana (@Indianapolis, IN; BTN): If you like flailing, this is the game for you! Neither of these teams are good and the game is in a “neutral” site that happens to be in the middle of Indiana. (Seriously, look at Indianapolis on a map sometime.) I guess I’m going Hooiser here?
• Iowa State @ Ohio (ESPNU): Matt Campbell is rapidly becoming, if he hasn’t already, an example of a coach who waited too long to cash out and get a bigger job. He’s definitely starting to get a little past his expiration date and the folks in Ames are getting restless. That said, I don’t think they’re going to lose to Ohio or anything.
• Kansas State @ Missouri (SEC): Yet again, the wrong the Kansas is team is in this game. That said, Mizzou fans will likely be disappointed.
• Liberty @ Buffalo (CBSSN): Buffalo lost to an FCS team earlier this season, so yeah, speaking of past their expiration date coaches, Mo Linguist is also on that list. It brings me pleasure to say the Flames are going to roll here.
• Central Connecticut @ Kent State (ESPN+)
• Long Island @ Baylor (ESPN+)

2:00:

• Virginia Military @ North Carolina State (The CW)
• Weber State @ Utah (Pac12)
• Massachusetts @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)
• Norfolk State @ Temple (ESPN+)
• Indiana State @ Ball State (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Alabama @ South Florida (ABC): Well, there’s “get right” games, and then there’s “go to Tampa because what you’re about to do is probably illegal in Alabama”-type “get right” games. Bama might score 80.
• South Carolina @ Georgia (CBS): Georgia’s looked… sleepy in their first several games. So, yeah, we’ll all get excited when Spencer Rattler hits a 60 yard touchdown early in the second quarter for 10-3 lead… and then the Gamecocks will lose 35-10. Book it.
• Minnesota @ North Carolina (ESPN): Minnesota has looked okay so far this season, while we just saw UNC escape App State once again (to the point where Mack Brown said out loud he was glad he wasn’t going to have to play them anymore). I don’t think the Gophers have the dedication in the same way.
• Oklahoma @ Tulsa (ESPN2): Yeah, the Sooners will be fine here.
• San Diego State @ Oregon State (FS1): SDSU already lost to a Pac-12 team at home last weekend, so that doesn’t bode well for their trip to Corvallis.
• Virginia Tech @ Rutgers (BTN): I, uh, Rutgers I guess? I wouldn’t recommend watching this, that’s for sure.
• Western Michigan @ Iowa (BTN): The Iowa/Brian Ferentz Drive For 25 continues! So far, through two games Iowa has scored 44 points, which means they actually need to average 26.5 points the rest of the season. They should definitely be able to do so against this WMU squad, but then again, we said that about Utah State.
• Northwestern @ Duke (ACCN): I may feel more confident about this game being a blowout than any other today, outside of Bama @ USF. Devils all the way.
• Florida International @ Connecticut (CBSSN): Eh, what the heck, Go Huskies.
• East Carolina @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Western Kentucky @ Ohio State (FOX): Okay, this should also be one-sided, but Ohio State has yet to really turn on the jets offensive. That said, they’re probably the most capable of doing so.
• Tulane @ Southern Mississippi (ESPNU): This is actually a bit of a rivalry, but where these two programs are at the moment doesn’t give me up hope that Southern Miss will be able to hold up their end of the bargain.
• Idaho @ California (Pac12)

5:00:

• North Carolina Central @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12)
• Northern Colorado @ Washington State (Pac12)
• Washington @ Michigan State (Peacock): There’s several scandals rocking college football right now, but the most disgusting is what just got Mel Tucker suspended (read: fired) earlier this week. I don’t have the heart to recap it here, but suffice it to say, Huskies all the way.

6:00: Georgia State @ Charlotte (ESPN+)

6:30: Villanova @ Central Florida (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Tennessee @ Florida (ESPN): The Vols have looked kinda shaky, but to say that about the Gators would be putting that mildly. This might be another early season anxiety bowl? Then again, Florida fans were already setting expectations for Napier Year 2, while Tennessee has mostly just not lived up to their lofty billing yet. So I have to go with the Vols.
• Northern Illinois @ Nebraska (FS1): Former GT quarterback Jeff Sims (who won the job back in 2020) has become something of a national college football punchline two games into the Cornhuskers’ season, and, well, he mostly has himself to blame. I’m not sure who’s going to start for the Huskers in this one, but either way, it should go better for them this one.
• James Madison @ Troy (NFLN): This could well be the game of the week, so it’s worth figuring out where NFL Network is on whatever method you use to get TV. That said, it’s Troy’s to lose at home.
• Vanderbilt @ Nevada-Las Vegas (CBSS): Is any school better at scheduling “vacation” road games than Vandy? Last season the Dores played at Hawaii, the year before they went to Ft. Collins, in 2018 they went to South Bend. They’ll take a break the next few seasons, but then they’ll head back to Ft. Collins and they’ve got two future trips to Palo Alto on the schedule. It’s certainly the most…adventurous out-of-conference scheduling of any SEC team. At any rate, they’ve also looked kind of decent this year and should have no issues out in Vegas.
• San Jose State @ Toledo (ESPN+)
• Stony Brook @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)
• Duquense @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)
• Samford @ Auburn (ESPN+)
• Tartleton State @ Texas Tech (ESPN+)
• North Texas @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN+)
• Murray State @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPN+)
• South Alabama @ Oklahoma State (ESPN+)
• Miami @ Cincinnati (“Battle for the Bell”; ESPN+)
• Louisiana @ Alabama-Birmingham (ESPN+)
• Texas Southern @ Rice (ESPN+)
• Prairie View A&M @ Southern Methodist (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Syracuse @ Purdue (NBC): This is certainly a football game that will be happening, but I think most eyes will be elsewhere. And also I guess I’ll pick Purdue?
• Pittsburgh @ West Virginia (“Backyard Brawl”; ABC): We’re midway through the current revival of the Backyard Brawl, and thank goodness because this week 3 is otherwise kind of bleak. That said, this game last year produced a result that was way above where WVU was at any point the rest of the season. That said, while Pitt isn’t like good this year (they lost to a retooling Cincinatti last week), they optimism for both WVU and their coach is pretty low right now that. Winning this game is probably about the only way Neal Brown keeps his job. So I’m going to take Pitt.
• Brigham Young @ Arkansas (ESPN2): Two years ago, my favorite college football podcast, the Shutdown Fullcast coined the term “WOMP” to describe the physical, smashing quality of the Arkansas offense under Sam Pittman, led by the nation’s WOMPiest quarterback, KJ Jefferson (6’4″, 246 pounds). KJ is still there, but the shine is off a little bit (though that said, they have so far blown out their first two opponents). But if there’s any opponent that also enjoys WOMPin’ (and adds a dash of playin’ dirty), it’s the BYU Cougars. If you think modern football is to finesse, with all the passing and lack of hitting and whatnot, this might be the game for you. I think BYU stands a solid chance of pulling off the upset, but I’ll play it safe and take the Hogs.
• Bowling Green @ Michigan (BTN): One more merciful week until the Harbaugh suspension ends and hopefully sanity prevails again in Ann Arbor. (That said, Harbaugh has been extremely thoughtful about the interim coaches taking charge in his stead for these games.)
• Akron @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Kentucky will be fine in this one.
• Georgia Tech @ Mississippi (SEC): Hoo boy, so the difficultly level sure just spiked. Last week’s outing against South Carolina State was never in doubt. The offense showed signs of competence, similar to the ones that briefly emerged in the second quarter against Louisville. The defense is still a bit of a concern, which if you’re saying that about SC State, well, that doesn’t bode well for playing Ole Miss at the grove. That said, I don’t think we’re going to get shut out this time around.

8:00:

• Texas Christian @ Houston (FOX): Houston lost to Rice last week. ‘Nuff said.
• Florida Atlantic @ Clemson (ACCN): Clemson will be fine, which isn’t really good enough for their recent excellence, but they’re in no danger here.
• Wyoming @ Texas (LHN): Texas teams of old would fall on their face in this kind of game after a big win. The thing about their win in Tuscaloosa last week, though, it wasn’t just that they beat Alabama. It hasn’t happened often since Bama’s dynasty run began, but I mean, come on, Chad Kelly once beat them. No, it’s that the Horns didn’t get lucky, or use a new system to exploit a beefy, talented, but slow defense, a la Texas A&M with Johnny Manziel. No, Texas was just flat out the better team, and they won. And they’ll win this one.
• Hawaii @ Oregon (Pac12): The Ducks made it… interesting on the road in Lubbock last weekend, but well, lots of weird stuff happens out in Lubbock. They’ll fine here.
• Sacramento State @ Stanford (Pac12)
• New Mexico State @ New Mexico (“Rio Grande Rivalry”; MWN): Get out your green chile salsa and sit down for some football, New Mexico style. The Lobos will definitely be favored, but I don’t see this being a blow out or anything.

8:30: Jackson State @ Texas State (ESPN+)

10:00: Colorado State @ Colorado (“Rocky Mountain Showdown”; ESPN): I still think the Buffs are going to get stung at some point (the offensive line is still light and Sanders hangs on to the ball too long), but the Rams aren’t going to be the team that makes them feel pain.

10:30:

• Fresno State @ Arizona State (FS1): Fresno already beat a Power 5 team this year, and I’ll say they’ll do it again.
• Kansas @ Nevada (CBSSN): Nevada lost 33-6 to FCS Idaho last weekend and to USC 66-14 the week before. Kansas will be gunning for 66, I think.

10:00: Texas-El Paso @ Arizona (Pac12): We all want to believe UTEP is a fun quirky team, but the magic isn’t there this year, as shown by last week’s 38-7 loss to Northwestern. Arizona will be fine here.