The first week came and went with no shortage of intrigue even if most if center on whether anyone can beat Alabama and if we're all just biding time until the inevitable happens. Week 1 gave us several fantastic upsets, most at the expense of the state of Texas, and many marquee matchups that piqued our interest in the offseason.
Week 2 may be even better than Week 1. Pittsburgh travels to Penn State and Nebraska travels to Oregon for the return-leg of those series that started last year. Clemson is hosting Auburn and Notre Dame takes on Georgia for the start of that home-and-home series. And don't forget: Ohio State is hosting Oklahoma on the 40-year anniversary of "The Kick."
There is a lot to watch this weekend. Here's your viewing guide to help you channel-surf this weekend.
Friday
Oklahoma State at South Alabama (ESPN2, 8 p.m.). I'm going to address this with Miami later in the guide, but I'm torn whether I should be celebrating games like this or scolding major programs that schedule these road games in the middle of nowhere against teams from lesser conferences. On the one hand, I'm a sucker for games that look like random exhibition contests you would play on an old copy of EA Sports NCAA Football. On the other, I mean, come on. Come on.
At best, games like these seem like a missed opportunity for home-game revenue for no television payoff. No one cares to watch a football game in Mobile. At its worst, this seems like a forced way to signal to playoff selectors and AP voters that you're challenging yourself on the road... against a Sun Belt team.
Ohio at Purdue (FS1, 8 p.m.). I'm on the record as thinking Jeff Brohm is by a country mile the best hire Purdue made since at least Joe Tiller and could conceivably have made with its resources and, more importantly, its reputation for its unwillingness to use its resources as an investment in a better product.
He might even be a better hire than Tiller. I'd take Brohm's Western Kentucky record over Tiller's Wyoming record even if we know ex post the legacy that Tiller had in West Lafayette.
Alas, Purdue came within striking distance of a major upset in Indianapolis last week. It's on the right track. A win over Ohio should help.
Saturday
Cincinnati at Michigan (ABC, 12 p.m.). A lot of Buckeye fans saw this game and circled it as a hopeful upset of a rebuilding Michigan team in Luke Fickell's first year at Cincinnati. But let's be real. Cincinnati struggled to beat an FCS team in the opener that won three games in the past five years. Michigan mauled the two-time defending SEC East champions.
Florida Atlantic at Wisconsin (BTN, 12 p.m.). Lane Kiffin travels to Madison in search of his first win at Florida Atlantic.
Louisville at North Carolina (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Lamar Jackson was brilliant in the opener against Purdue. Louisville as a whole was not. The Cardinals will look for a better effort against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
It should hope to find that better effort soon. Clemson is next week for Louisville.
South Florida at Connecticut (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). South Florida might be a curious team to unpack as it eyes a Group of Five invite in Charlie Strong's first year. The Bulls struggled to put away FCS Stony Brook last week in Tampa.
Northwestern at Duke (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). It's a nerd fight in Durham as prestigious private schools duke it out in a slide rule measuring contest.
The 2015 contest between the two was deceptively fun to watch.
UT Martin at Ole Miss (SEC Network, 12 p.m.).
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky (SEC Network 12 p.m.). Continuing a theme from last week, seven SEC teams are playing FCS schools this week. I'm not saying the conference is full of chickenshits eager to ride Alabama's coattails, but I'm definitely thinking it very loudly.
Buffalo at Army (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). Army is next week for Ohio State. Might as well start scouting.
Iowa at Iowa State (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Iowa is about a field goal favorite in Ames. A win would give Kirk Ferentz greater than a .500 record against Iowa State for the first time in his tenure with the Hawkeyes.
Fresno State at Alabama (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Alabama is a 44-point favorite, so the only intrigue here is whether Nick Saban cares to put forward an effort to cover.
Pittsburgh at Penn State (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). Penn State fans generally consider Ohio State to be their main rival. Pittsburgh used to have that distinction over the course of Penn State's football history.
Several things changed that. Chief among them: Penn State started Big Ten football in 1993, leaving a moribund (at the time) Pittsburgh program as an afterthought. Penn State fans were happy to reduce Pittsburgh to something similar to how Michigan fans view Michigan State. Perhaps Pittsburgh wasn't "little brother." Maybe "little distant cousin" works better.
You can imagine then how well it sat with Penn State fans to watch Pittsburgh beat the Nittany Lions last year in Heinz Field.
Penn State fans will want major retribution and will likely get it on Saturday.
Miami at Arkansas State (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). I feel we should point out that Miami has road games scheduled for Arkansas State and Toledo. It just played a road game last year at Appalachian State. Does that seem weird to anyone? I know Miami used to schedule road games at places like Cincinnati and San Diego State at the height of its dominance in the 1980s and before those programs used to be anything noteworthy. But at least those are major metro areas.
TCU at Arkansas (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Last year's game was the first meeting between the two programs since 1991, back when they were both in the former Southwest Conference. It was also an instant classic in which the Razorbacks rallied to beat No. 15 TCU in double overtime.
Tulane at Navy (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). Navy had little difficulty dispatching Florida Atlantic last week. It'll try to continue its road to a Group of Five invite on Saturday against Tulane.
Indiana at Virginia (ACC Network, 3:30 p.m.). Please make us look good, Indiana.
Western Michigan at Michigan State (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Michigan State is a touchdown favorite against a Western Michigan team that gave USC everything it could handle last week in the Coliseum.
San Jose State at Texas (Longhorn Network, 3:30 p.m.). Last week was not the debut Tom Herman wanted. He hopes to have things figured out by this week because next week is a trip to USC to play the Trojans.
Nebraska at Oregon (FOX, 4:30 p.m.). This is the return leg of a home-and-home series first played last year. Therein, Mike Riley coached the Cornhuskers to what was his first win over Oregon since 2007. Riley was previously the coach of Oregon's "Civil War" rival, Oregon State.
Auburn at Clemson (ESPN, 7 p.m.). This is the first of four games this weekend featuring two ranked teams.
These two teams play each other so often that it's difficult to find anything new to say about them. Both are Tigers. Clemson owes that nickname to Auburn's Walter Merritt Riggs, an Auburn player and grad who coached Clemson's nascent football program at the turn of the 20th century. Both were stops for John Heisman on his illustrious coaching trajectory. Both are orange. Clemson is "Auburn with a lake," which, having lived in one and spent time in the other, is an absolutely true statement as far as these tongue-in-cheek assessments go.
The only thing to add here is I wish these two would stop playing each other. Consider that Auburn has played South Carolina, within its own damn conference, just six times this century (including the 2010 SEC Championship Game). By comparison, this will be the sixth time Auburn has played Clemson, all in the last ten years.
This matchup bores me on paper even if both teams are ranked high this go-around. Clemson: schedule Michigan or Penn State. Clemson-Texas sounds interesting too. Auburn: get Miami on the horn if you need a new ACC friend-with-benefits. Just, both of you, try something new.
South Carolina at Missouri (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). It's the first SEC conference game of the year. Both are coming off impressive-in-their-own-way wins last week. South Carolina beat NC State in Charlotte while Missouri hung a ton of yards on Missouri State.
Nicholls at Texas A&M (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). Bless your heart, Texas A&M.
Oklahoma at Ohio State (ABC, 7:30 p.m.). This is the second of four games this weekend featuring two ranked teams. It's also your game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this contest.
Chattanooga at LSU (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Yeah, okay.
Georgia at Notre Dame (NBC, 7:30 p.m.). This is the third of four games this weekend featuring two ranked teams. Also, here's a hot take: from a neutral football spectator standpoint, this might pique my interest more than Ohio State-Oklahoma.
Don't mistake that Ohio State and Oklahoma are individually better than Georgia or Notre Dame. I just like the thought of this matchup and the television presentation at least as much as the 40-year anniversary of "The Kick" game between Oklahoma and Ohio State. Plus, I'll take NBC's college football presentation any day over ABC/ESPN.
It's unclear if Georgia can credibly challenge Florida for the SEC East this year, especially if Jacob Eason is going to miss extended time during the conference schedule. We'll see if this is ultimately Brian Kelly's last year in South Bend. Still, Notre Dame-Georgia is the start of a fun series that calls back to the 1981 Sugar Bowl. Georgia's 19-10 win secured a consenus national championship for the Bulldogs, its last national championship to date.
Montana at Washington (Pac-12 Network, 8 p.m.). It's an FCS snack for No. 7 Washington before it plays whatever Alabama didn't cannibalize from Fresno State next week.
Western Kentucky at Illinois (BTN, 8 p.m.). Lovie Smith's Illini struggled with Ball State before ultimately securing the win late in the contest. "We Will Win" is Illinois' mantra under its new athletic director. Who's to say if/when that'll happen, but that kind of confidence on display against MAC teams would go a long way toward it eventually happening in the Big Ten.
Stanford at USC (FOX, 8:30 p.m.). I mentioned last week that if USC gets into the playoff, it will have bloody earned it. The Trojans have no full bye this week and begin the schedule with 1) a Cotton Bowl team that it struggled to beat, 2) No. 14 Stanford, and 3) Texas next week.
Minnesota at Oregon State (FS1, 10 p.m.). This is the return leg of a home-and-home started last year. Minnesota won what was last year's season-opener, 30-23. Minnesota hasn't defeated Wisconsin since 2005, so defeating a former Wisconsin coach (Gary Andersen) will have to do.
Utah at BYU (ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.). I've mentioned in past viewing guides that this might be my favorite rivalry game in college football that isn't Ohio State vs. Michigan. This one can get ferocious among the fan base notwithstanding the state of Utah's peculiar reputation in the United States.
Do yourself a favor and give this a look if you find time between a commercial break or when Ohio State's game against Oklahom ends.
Boise State at Washington State (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Boise State will again challenge for the Group of Five invite. A win at No. 20 Washington State in Pullman would go a long way toward that end.
Houston at Arizona (ESPNU, 10:30 p.m.). This will be the start of the Major Applewhite era in Houston. Houston's season-opener last week was postponed because of Hurricane Harvey.
San Diego State at Arizona State (Pac-12 Network, 11 p.m.). Todd Graham might have the quietest "hot seat" in college football. Struggling to beat New Mexico State last week won't help his case.
