Today's Schedule of Games

Fall is upon us and the college football season has arrived.  Sing it with me . . . “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

Here are some of today’s highlights:

At Noon on (Peacock . . . FML): East Carolina at #2 Michigan.  We always do that thing where we eye an overmatched opponent and talk about how we’ll sprint out to a four touchdown lead early in the game and then rest our starters in the second half.  And then we wind up in a tight game into the fourth quarter as we play down to our opposition.  It’s what we do.  So, I won’t go into this game with any expectations.  Except that I really hope we are seeing some second-teamers getting real playing time in this game.  And let JJ throw that ball around while he’s playing.  Don’t wait until November.  Michigan will beat ECU slowly but surely, anaconda-style, because that’s our style.  

Also at Noon on FOX: Colorado at #17 TCU.  No matter what happens this season, good or bad, Coach Prime is going to be a show.  Enjoy it (or hate it) Colorado fans, because he’s not going to be there long.  It will be a race to see who gets tired of who first.  Everybody is ignoring TCU in this game (getting crushed 65-7 in your last game will do that), but they will dominate Colorado.

Also at Noon on ABC: Virginia at #12 Tennessee.  I’ll take a peek at this game from time to time to check in on how Joe Milton is doing.  He always had the arm, and then some, but he never had the accuracy.  Accuracy is something that QB’s usually don’t just pick up if they never had it, but we’ll see.  It won’t matter one way or the other against UVA, Tennessee will win it.

In the Afternoon at 3:30 PM on CBS: #3 Ohio State at Indiana.  I will watch this game the way I observe the Ohio State spring game . . . to hopefully see that several key OSU players suck.  They never do.  But some do occasionally look to be below the Buckeye’s usual standards.  We’ll see if Kyle McCord is one of those.  And maybe Devin Brown too.  But none of this will matter in November.  It never does.  OSU stomps Indiana today.        

In the Evening at 7:30 PM on NBC: West Virginia at #7 Penn State.  This used to be a great college football rivalry before Penn State became the original college realignment team, moving from Independent status to the Big Ten.  Then that was it for realignment for a long time.  How quaint.  Anyway, I will watch this game the same way I watch the Ohio State game . . . to see if Drew Allar is for real or not.  A lot is being assumed about how great he will be based on little actual evidence.  The real evidence starts now.  It won’t matter for this game outcome though, WVU will be no match for a white-out night game in Happy Valley.        

Also at 7:30 PM on ABC: #21 North Carolina “at” South Carolina.  This should be an interesting night game to check out.  These teams don’t like each other, so it would have been more fun for this game to be at one of the team’s home stadiums.  Instead, it’s in Charlotte.  But it’s not like there are a lot of other options for a quality night game matchup this early in the season.  I’ll go with UNC in this one since they are the non-SEC team.  For now at least.   

On Sunday, in the Evening at 7:30 PM on ABC: #5 LSU at #8 Florida State.  A lot of people are suspicious about the way Florida State has really shot up in the rankings, and so quickly.  And by rankings, I don’t mean football rankings, I mean academic rankings.  As the father of a high school Senior, I pay attention to this stuff.  Holy hell, Florida State – the land of the Monday night block party – has really climbed up in the academic rankings: in the Top 20 of national public universities, and just outside the Top 50 of all universities.  Where did THAT come from?  Count me in as one of those suspicious people.  On the football side of things, the story is the same.  Should they really be ranked as high as they are?  We’ll see when they go up against the Fighting Faaamily’s of Brian Kelly and LSU.  LSU will beat FSU in football they way Stanford would beat FSU in math.        

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2023:

AWAY                     HOME           TIME         TV

NOON:

East Carolina  @  2 Michigan   12:00 PM   Peacock

Virginia  @  12 Tennessee   12:00 PM   ABC

Colorado  @  17 TCU   12:00 PM   FOX

Arkansas State  @  20 Oklahoma   12:00 PM   ESPN

Utah State  @  25 Iowa   12:00 PM   FS1

Ball State  @  Kentucky   12:00 PM   SECN

Bowling Green  @  Liberty   12:00 PM   CBSSN

Fresno State  @  Purdue   12:00 PM   BTN

Louisiana Tech  @  SMU   12:00 PM   ESPNU

Northern Illinois  @  Boston College   12:00 PM   ACCN

Long Island University  @  Ohio   12:00 PM   ESPN+

AFTERNOON:

Western Carolina  @  Arkansas   1:00 PM   ESPN+|SECN+

Robert Morris  @  Air Force   1:00 PM    -

Mercer  @  22 Ole Miss   2:00 PM   ESPN+|SECN+

East Tennessee State  @  Jacksonville State   2:00 PM   ESPN+

Northern Iowa  @  Iowa State   2:00 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

Akron  @  Temple   2:00 PM   ESPN+

Portland State  @  15 Oregon   3:00 PM   PAC12

3 Ohio State  @  Indiana   3:30 PM   CBS

Boise State  @  10 Washington   3:30 PM   ABC

Rice  @  11 Texas   3:30 PM   FOX

Tennessee State  @  13 Notre Dame   3:30 PM   NBC

Buffalo  @  19 Wisconsin   3:30 PM   FS1

Massachusetts  @  Auburn   3:30 PM   ESPN

Towson  @  Maryland   3:30 PM   BTN

South Florida  @  Western Kentucky   3:30 PM   CBSSN

Wofford  @  Pittsburgh   3:30 PM   ACCN

Eastern Kentucky  @  Cincinnati   3:30 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

Gardner-Webb  @  Appalachian State   3:30 PM   ESPN+

SE Louisiana  @  Mississippi State   4:00 PM   SECN

California  @  North Texas   4:00 PM   ESPNU

Colgate  @  Syracuse   4:00 PM   ESPN+|ACCNX

Bryant  @  UNLV   4:00 PM    -

EVENING:

UT Martin  @  1 Georgia   6:00 PM   ESPN+|SECN+

South Carolina State  @  Charlotte   6:00 PM   ESPN+

Monmouth  @  Florida Atlantic   6:00 PM   ESPN+

The Citadel  @  Georgia Southern   6:00 PM   ESPN+

Bucknell  @  James Madison   6:00 PM   ESPN+

UAlbany  @  Marshall   6:00 PM   ESPN+

Nevada  @  6 USC   6:30 PM   PAC12

Maine  @  Florida International   6:30 PM   ESPN+

Southeast Missouri State  @  16 Kansas State   7:00 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

New Mexico  @  23 Texas A&M   7:00 PM   ESPN

Army  @  UL Monroe   7:00 PM   NFL NET

Alabama A&M  @  Vanderbilt   7:00 PM   ESPN+|SECN+

Washington State  @  Colorado State   7:00 PM   CBSSN

Texas State  @  Baylor   7:00 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

UTSA  @  Houston   7:00 PM   FS1

Central Arkansas  @  Oklahoma State   7:00 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

Bethune-Cookman  @  Memphis   7:00 PM   ESPN+

Alcorn State  @  Southern Miss   7:00 PM   ESPN+

Stephen F. Austin  @  Troy   7:00 PM   ESPN+

Middle Tennessee  @  4 Alabama   7:30 PM   SECN

West Virginia  @  7 Penn State   7:30 PM   NBC

21 North Carolina  @  South Carolina   7:30 PM   ABC

Toledo  @  Illinois   7:30 PM   BTN

Texas Tech  @  Wyoming   7:30 PM   CBS

South Alabama  @  24 Tulane   8:00 PM   ESPNU

Old Dominion  @  Virginia Tech   8:00 PM   ACCN

Northwestern State  @  Louisiana   8:30 PM   ESPN+

Western Illinois  @  New Mexico State   9:00 PM   ESPN+

Incarnate Word  @  UTEP   9:00 PM   ESPN+

Northern Arizona  @  Arizona   10:00 PM   PAC12

Sam Houston  @  BYU   10:15 PM   FS1

Coastal Carolina  @  UCLA   10:30 PM   ESPN

Idaho State  @  San Diego State   10:30 PM   CBSSN

 

Sunday, September 3, 2023:

Northwestern  @  Rutgers   12:00 PM   CBS

18 Oregon State  @  San José State   3:30 PM   CBS

5 LSU  @  8 Florida State   7:30 PM   ABC

 

Monday, September 4, 2023:

9 Clemson  @  Duke   8:00 PM   ESPN