As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Central Florida @ Oklahoma (ABC): Most of the new arrivals in the Big 12 have struggled a bit, and UCF has had their share for sure, but they rate pretty highly in several objective categories. Will that help them with the Sooners? Well, probably not.
• Air Force @ Navy (CBS): The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy action starts here. It’s useful to remember that while Army-Navy is the headliner, the team that they both dislike more are the Johnyy-come-lately desk jockeys out in Colorado. Unfortunately for the traditional arms of the armed services, Air Force is just plain good this year and should capture the CiC.
• Pennsylvania State @ Ohio State (FOX): It’s the game of the day, and it’ll probably be over before I get out of bed. That said, for the first time that I can remember in the current Big Ten alignment, I don’t know how this is going to go? Penn State is just good, and I think they’ve got the talent and the beef to go toe-to-toe with the Buckeyes. But the game is in the Shoe, and the scarlet-and-gray have a human cheat code in Marvin Harrison, Jr. I actually slightly like the Nittany Lions here, but this game could go either way.
• Mississippi State @ Arkansas (ESPN): This is definitely also a game happening in this time slot. Uh, Arkansas I guess?
• Memphis @ Alabama-Birmingham (“Battle for the Bones”; ESPN2): Let’s recall that this game is a rivalry, and that it has the GREATEST TROPHY OF ALL TIME.
  

  Ok, we can finally say it…

  The Battle of the Bones is COMING BACK!

  (And so is the best trophy…ever). pic.twitter.com/wk8vG18J5G

  — UAB Football (@UAB_FB) October 21, 2021

  
  So yeah, the game itself, it’s hard to say. Is UAB, as much as I’m loathe to admit it with their current coach, kind of good? And what’s the deal with Memphis? It’s hard to say, but I’m taking the Blazers.

• Rutgers @ Indiana (BTN): Rutgers is probably going to win? They definitely need to, ’cause the schedule after this gets grim real quick.
• Boston College @ Georgia Tech (ACCN): Okay, so we’ve been laughing about what happened at the end of the Miami game for two weeks, so it’s back to the games. What this team currently shows is that they’re young and somewhat reckless. They self-admittedly did not take the Bowling Green game seriously, but they punched above their weight and took advantage of some completely asinine end-game coaching by Miami to steal a win in south Florida. It might already be safe to say that Haynes King is the best passing quarterback GT has had since I matriculated in 2003. That said, the main thing for this game is focus. This is a game we’re supposed to win. So was Bowling Green. Can we come out focused this time?
• Western Michigan @ Ohio (CBSS): Bobcats?
• Baylor @ Cincinnati (ESPN+)

2:00:

• Louisiana-Monroe @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)
• Charlotte @ East Carolina (ESPN+)
• Akron @ Bowling Green (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Tennessee @ Alabama (“Third Saturday in October”; CBS): Alabama is still a really, really good team they’re just not… Alabama. You know what I mean. Tennessee is still really good, but they’re not the team they were last year when they knocked off the Tide in legendary fashion in Knoxville last year. Bama’s found something with their quarterback, and even if it looks a bit retrograde, I think they’ll just be able to keep the Vols off-kilter and see this thing out.
• Washington State @ Oregon (ABC): We love the Cougs here, but as long as Oregon isn’t too down about their game from last week they’ll be okay.
• Minnesota @ Iowa (NBC): The Drive for 25 is basically dead at this point. That said, I’m not sure that I really want to know anything about this game. The final score is going to be 13-3 Iowa or some such (with the 13 definitely not scored in anything approaching conventional fashion).
• Oklahoma State @ West Virginia (ESPN): Okay, we’re doing this pretty late on a Friday and we’ve got a pretty action packed weekend at this point, so if something doesn’t catch our interest it’s going to be…. LIGHTNING ROUND! ‘Neers!
• North Texas @ Tulane (ESPN2): Green Wave!
• Wisconsin @ Illinois (FS1): Badgers?
• Northwestern @ Nebraska (BTN): Somehow this game is more dreadful-seeming then UMN-Iowa, because, I mean, at least someone at the end of that one is going to get to hoist a 90-pound pig statue. Huskers?!?
• South Carolina @ Missouri (SEC): South Carolina isn’t bad, and I’m still not sure I believe Mizzou, but the Tigers handled Kentucky last week, so…
• South Florida @ Connecticut (CBSS): Bulls.
• Pittsburgh @ Wake Forest (ACCN): The Pitt Superweapon fired, and so the week after means a baffling, inexplicable loss to a bad Wake Forest team.
• Central Michigan @ Ball State (ESPN+)
• Buffalo @ Kent State (ESPN+)
• Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Texas @ Houston (FOX): It’s finally here. For the better part of three decades, Houston was left behind – the infuriating Baptists of Waco got into the Big 12 and they didn’t, and that was so unfair. The avatar of the ridiculousness of the Big 12 arrangement was always the big bad Longhorns. So they’ve been waiting for this one for a while. The only problem is… Houston is kind of bad this year. The ‘Horns aren’t.
• Toledo @ Miami (ESPNU): Saturday MACtion! And between the two best teams in the conference, at that! I hope there’s actually some folks in the stands for this one. I’ll take the Rockets, but picking Toledo in the MAC is a bit of the wrong kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.

6:00:

• Hawaii @ New Mexico (Team1Sports)
• Texas-San Antonio @ Florida Atlantic (ESPN+)

6:30: Virginia @ North Carolina (“The South’s Oldest Rivalry”; The CW): Tar Heels!

7:00:

• Mississippi @ Auburn (ESPN): Rebels!
• Texas Christian @ Kansas State (ESPN2): Wildcats!
• Texas Tech @ Brigham Young (FS1): Red Raiders!
• Appalachian State @ Old Dominion (NFLN): Monarchs?
• Utah State @ San Jose State (CBSS): Aggies?
• Colorado State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (MWN)
• Coastal Carolina @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Duke @ Florida State (ABC): So the line on this game the other day was FSU by 13.5, which, like, what? This Duke team is by all indications legit, and FSU has some injury questions. I mean, I’m still picking the Noles here, but come one.
• Michigan @ Michigan State (NBC): So the biggest news in college football this week is that Michigan football is under investigation for stealing signs. To give you an idea of how spiteful this rivalry is, someone got a quote into the Athletic article about the investigation that Michigan State considered cancelling the game out of concern for, and I quote, “the health and safety of our players”. That cannot possibly be a real quote. It just cannot. The fact that the multi-decade game of flag football between the two schools’ student newspapers was canceled was already ridiculous enough. And, of course, there was the fight at least year’s game that resulted in actual charges. This is going to be dumb. And Michigan is going to win by like 50.
• Army @ Louisiana State (SEC): LSU is going to win this like 35-34 because Army will go for two and not get it at the end. Book it.

8:00:

• Utah @ Southern California (FOX): Okay, so USC finally “found out”, so to speak. Now what? The Utes of course play defense like no one’s business, but their offense is bad bad. USC’s defense remains a joke, an obvious liability that seems to rest on the reigning Heisman winner “just figuring it out” that doesn’t work so well when he doesn’t. We saw this game last year, of course, and I don’t think it’ll be much different – USC will probably gut this one out, but it won’t make anyone happy.
• Georgia State @ Louisiana (ESPNU): Panthers?
• Clemson @ Miami (ACCN): Tigers.

9:00: Nevada @ San Diego State (FS2): Aztecs.

10:30:

• California-Los Angeles @ Stanford (ESPN): Bruins!
• Arizona State @ Washington (FS1): Huskies!

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)