Week 3 will be the last of the non-conference schedule for most of the country. The Big Ten starts league play, barring the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers who opened the conference schedule in the first week. It's the last week of the non-conference schedule for the bulk of the Pac-12, excluding Stanford and USC that both played last week because each have Notre Dame on the schedule later in the season. This is certainly true for the Big XII, which will be locked in conference play next week until the regular season ends.
As such, the non-conference marquee matches that dot the early season mostly end this weekend. It's a little disappointing that the non-conference clashes of note center on BYU-Wisconsin and USC-Texas. The centerpiece for the weekend will be Louisville's home game against the national champion Clemson Tigers. LSU at Mississippi State should pique some interest as well.
Keep your eye on a curious pattern in this week's schedule: a lot of Power Five teams are on the road at Group of Five venues. Some games—like Illinois at South Florida or Stanford at San Diego State—make some sense from an outsider's perspective. Still others—like Oregon at Wyoming or the two Big XII teams on the road at MAC programs—are head-scratchers.
Here's your viewing guide for this weekend.
Thursday
New Mexico at Boise State (ESPN, 8 p.m.). Boise State will command most of the attention on Thursday night as a viable "Group of Five" option to crash the New Year's Six despite last week's loss at Washington State. However, keep an eye on New Mexico if you're an Xs-and-Os junkie.
The best way I can describe Bob Davie's Lobos offense is as a triple option team on Molly. The template resembles what you'd see from Army and Navy; indeed, Bob Davie confessed in the broadcasting booth he would go full triple option if he ever returned to the coaching ranks. He never missed an opportunity to mention that when he was in the booth for games involving service academies. The offense even features some flexbone staples. However, there are far more wrinkles New Mexico adds to the familiar triple option that makes the offense fun to watch.
Friday
Illinois at South Florida (ESPN, 7 p.m.). Friday night football includes two Power Five squads playing curious road games.
Illinois scheduled a two-game series with South Florida with the first leg starting this year. The goal here is recruiting. The Illini want a better footprint in the Sunshine State to fill out the roster. The Illini also want a better footprint in Chicago, the site of next year's game between these two.
It's just a coincidence that Illinois hired Lovie Smith to coach the Illini. His last coaching stop prior to Champaign was as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach.
Massachusetts at Temple (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). UMass is in search of its first win on the season while Temple struggled to beat an FCS team (Villanova) last week. This will be a pillow fight of a game but it's worth watching if you like tight end play. UMass' Adam Breneman is the run-away favorite to win the Mackey Award this year.
Arizona at UTEP (ESPN, 10:15 p.m.). This is the second of the two curious road games for Power Five squads. Illinois' trip to Florida for recruiting exposure makes sense on its own terms. This one is something of a head-scratcher.
Arizona has fallen on some harder times after the 2014 Fiesta Bowl campaign but it's still a huge favorite (-23.5) on the road in El Paso.
Saturday
Air Force at Michigan (BTN, 12 p.m.). It's service academy football for the Big Ten's marquee rivalry. Michigan hosts Air Force four and a half hours before the Buckeyes host the U.S. Military Academy.
Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh (ESPN, 12 p.m.). This is the return leg of a home-and-home started last year. The game was deceptively fun to watch even as it was buried on the broadcasting schedule last year. Both teams traded haymakers before the Cowboys prevailed in Stillwater with a 45-38 win.
UCLA at Memphis (ABC, 12 p.m.). Speaking of Power Five schools playing some curious road games this week, UCLA travels to the Liberty Bowl to clash with Memphis. UCLA is just a three-point favorite on the road, which coincides with Memphis' ability to pull off some big home upsets (e.g. Ole Miss, 2015; Houston, 2016).
This is incidentally the return leg of a home-and-home that started in 2014. UCLA won in the Rose Bowl, 42-35.
Northern Illinois at Nebraska (FS1, 12 p.m.). Nebraska has a few wounds to lick after last week's loss in Eugene. Northern Illinois should help toward that end. The Huskies are no longer the goliath in the MAC they once were.
Louisiana at Texas A&M (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). The best thing I could say about Kevin Sumlin's Aggies program is that no other team could obliterate an objectively terrible opponent like Texas A&M in the past five years.
I say that and I should note that Texas A&M barely beat Nicholls last week, 24-14. The game was even tied in the fourth quarter! Contrast that with recent beatdowns of FCS squads like Lamar in 2014 (73-3) and Prairie View A&M last year (67-0). Something is not right in Aggieland.
Kansas at Ohio (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Two Big XII teams are on the road against MAC schools on Saturday.
Iowa State at Akron (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). This is the other one, if you want to watch it.
Connecticut at Virginia (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). The fact this game has a dedicated slot on ESPN2 should tell you the schedule is wanting a bit this weekend.
Baylor at Duke (ACC Network, 12:30 p.m.). Remember when Baylor was college football's nouveau riche? There was even a time when Ohio State was losing recruiting battles to Baylor as late as last year.
Things aren't going so well in Waco. Baylor is 0-2 with losses to Liberty and UT San Antonio. It just benched its quarterback. It's going to play a Duke team that just pantsed Northwestern last week. Should be fun.
Northern Colorado at Colorado (Pac-12 Network, 2 p.m.). Northern Colorado got an unexpected bye last week when Irma forced the cancellation of its game against Florida. It returns to action against Colorado on the Pac-12 Network.
Wisconsin at BYU (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). God bless BYU for playing the two booziest fan bases in college football this season. It opened the season in the Superdome against LSU and will host Wisconsin in Provo on Saturday afternoon. As far as style clashes go, this is one of the best in college football and BYU has already played a team with fans just like it.
My only misgivings about this game is that it's not at night. LaVell Edwards Stadium is one of the more underrated stadiums under bright lights. The scenery around the stadium is picturesque and the fans do well to bring the venue to life.
Virginia Tech at East Carolina (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). East Carolina is 7-12 all-time in this series that dates to 1987. However, it's won the last two encounters. That's unlikely to sit well with a Virginia Tech fan base that expects to compete for the ACC championship every year.
SMU at TCU (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). It's difficult to describe what TCU did to Arkansas in Little Rock last week other than a pillow-smothering until Bert's Razorbacks stopped breathing. The Horned Frogs held Arkansas scoreless for the last three quarters of the game and pounced on Arkansas' miscues before rolling late to a three-touchdown win.
It should have little problem at home against the Mustangs. TCU is an 18-point favorite.
Tennessee at Florida (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). The Florida-Tennessee rivalry is arguably the SEC's most prestigious mid-season attraction. For my own hot #take, I'd put it as a better attraction than the Iron Bowl despite how lopsided the Florida-Tennessee series has been of late.
That comment would be incomplete without noting Tennessee finally won this game last year, its first in the series since 2004. The defeat of the SEC East champion Gators catapulted the Volunteers into pole position for the SEC East crown before Tennessee promptly wet the bed down the stretch, as is tradition.
Florida later repeated as SEC East champion and a sacrifice to the altar of Alabama in the SEC East Championship Game.
With the curse broken, Tennessee will enter Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with a bit more swagger. It even came within a missed field goal of winning the last time in Gainesville.
Florida is still a 4.5-point favorite at home.
Notre Dame at Boston College (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). Boston College is Notre Dame's favorite opponent in the ACC. It's treated no different than any other ACC program that cycles on Notre Dame's schedule since the Irish became affiliated with the conference in 2012. However, there's a real legacy to this series that was first played in 1975.
The Irish have won five-straight in this series (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015) following a six-game win-streak for Boston College from 2001 to 2008. Expect the Irish to match that six-game streak with a win in Chestnut Hill. The Irish are two-touchdown favorites.
Morgan State at Rutgers (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Rutgers couldn't possibly lose to an FCS team, could it...
Middle Tennessee at Minnesota (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). This is the third installment in the series that started with the Gophers curiously paying Middle Tennessee a visit in 2010. Both the 2010 and 2014 games were close contests, but ultimately wins for the Gophers.
North Texas at Iowa (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). I'll wager $5 this game appears on Iowa's schedule as a Hayden Fry tribute and for no other reason. Fry coached North Texas for six seasons in the 1970s before moving to Iowa City to become Iowa's most celebrated coach.
Mercer at Auburn (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Auburn may find it easier to score on Mercer than Clemson.
Purdue at Missouri (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). To the best of my knowledge, this is the second time a Big Ten team has played on the SEC Network. That game also featured Missouri, and, importantly, featured Missouri—the eventual SEC East champion in 2014—losing to an Indiana team that finished that season 4-8.
Expect Purdue to do some damage in this game. I'm bullish on the Jeff Brohm hire for Purdue and we saw almost immediate dividends to that in the first two games (including the close loss to Louisville). Missouri just fired its defensive coordinator after a disastrous two-game outing against Missouri State and South Carolina.
Missouri is inexplicably a touchdown favorite in this game. Honestly? Take Purdue. I like the Boilermakers in this one and for the Big Ten to advance to 2-0 in games played on the SEC Network.
Army at Ohio State (FOX, 4:30 p.m.). Your game of the week is a FOX banger at 4:30 p.m., an unusual regular season time slot for the Buckeyes. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this game.
Oregon State at Washington State (Pac-12 Network, 5:30 p.m.). Washington State took down arguably the best Group of Five team in Pullman. It should have no problem with Oregon State (+21), unquestionably the worst team in the Pac-12.
Colorado State at Alabama (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). I'm fairly sure Alabama scheduled this game shortly after Jim McElwain, Alabama's offensive coordinator from 2008 to 2011, left Tuscaloosa for his first head-coaching job in Fort Collins. McElwain later left Colorado State for Florida. Mike Bobo, previously Georgia's much-maligned offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2014, will lead the Rams to the slaughter on Saturday night.
LSU at Mississippi State (ESPN, 7 p.m.). The SEC opener for LSU will be a banger—or, I suppose, a "clanger"—in Starkville.
It's tough to evaluate both teams to this point. The stats favor the Bulldogs this early into the season but those came against the likes of Charleston Southern (W, 49-0) and at Louisiana Tech (W, 57-21). LSU might have the more informative game when it smashed BYU, 27-0, in the Superdome.
Vegas likes LSU by a touchdown. I can't say I disagree as all eyes in the SEC West look to that Nov. 4 trip from LSU to Tuscaloosa.
Oregon at Wyoming (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). Continuing a bizarre theme this weekend, Oregon is on the road at a Group of Five team's venue. Perhaps Oregon's trying to get in on the ground floor of recruiting Wyoming?
Georgia State at Penn State (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). I'd blast Penn State for turning a game against Georgia State, which had been playing football since 2010 and at the FBS level since 2013, into a night game. But you know what? You do you. I'd probably be interested to see Ohio State devour a cupcake in a night game like this for the sheer spectacle.
You may see Bowling Green at Northwestern at the same time slot on an overflow BTN channel, if you have one.
Samford at Georgia (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). The only intrigue here is that one of Kirby Smart's most important advances in the coaching career ranks came when Chris Hatcher hired Smart to be his defensive backs coach at Valdosta State. Smart embarked on a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks since, well exceeding the trajectory of the guy who hired him. Hatcher is at Samford right now and will reunite with Smart between the hedges.
Clemson at Louisville (ABC, 8 p.m.). This is ABC's game of the week and the host for ESPN's College GameDay on Saturday morning.
Louisville lost a nail-biter to Clemson even if the game looked like it would be a walk early for the Tigers. However, Louisville clawed back. The game came to a 4th-and-12 with 39 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Louisville vying for a game-tying touchdown with an extra point to win.
The first down marker was at Clemson's two-yard line. James Quick made it to just the three-yard line. The ball turned over on downs and Clemson escaped with a win despite being outscored 12 points in the second half.
That game, more than the demolition of Florida State or any of the other deceptively subpar games for Jackson, secured his Heisman last year. He was bad early and brilliant late. Voters kept that in mind even as Louisville started to stagnate later in the season.
This contest in 2017 should be an interesting departure from how last season unfolded. Clemson is still trying to figure out how good it is on offense. However, that defense knows it's brilliant this year and largely proved that against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. It knows the team will lean on it, and especially its nasty defensive line, more this year than last year. Judging from last week's win against Auburn, the defense is more than happy to oblige.
Clemson is a three-point favorite. This sounds about right but expect it to cover. I like Clemson big in this game.
Texas at USC (FOX, 8:30 p.m.). The call-back here is obvious. This will be the first encounter between the Longhorns and the Trojans since the 2006 Rose Bowl, one of the best college football games ever contested.
That game doesn't count, according to USC's record books. USC is weirdly too happy to parlay those damaging sanctions from five years ago, and the forfeit of much of the glory from 2004 and 2005, into saying it is now undefeated against Texas. Vacating games obviously doesn't work that way, USC...
Fresno State at Washington (Pac-12 Network, 9:30 p.m.). Fresno State hits the road again after last week's trip to No. 1 Alabama. This week: a trip to No. 6 Washington.
San José State at Utah (ESPN2, 10 p.m.). Your late-night viewing options on Saturday night are deceptively fun. Utah will host a San José State team that isn't any good, but the game should at least include a few fireworks.
Stanford at San Diego State (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.). No. 19 Stanford will continue this weekend's bizarre trend of Power Five teams playing at Group of Five school.
Stanford will be a 10-point favorite on the road in Qualcomm Stadium and should have no difficulty beating the Aztecs. I say it's worth a watch because Qualcomm Stadium is deceptively a fun venue for college football, despite what the now L.A. Chargers would have you believe. It presents well on TV even if you may miss that because college games there are not as well attended.
Ole Miss at California (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Your night cap includes the start of this home-and-home to be completed in 2019 with a California trip to Oxford.
This game should excite the casual fan as one of my favorite non-conference attractions: an interregional style clash of two programs representing two flagship universities.
Beyond that, I'd watch this if it included a simulcast of a camera crew following a group of your typical Ole Miss fans around Berkeley and interacting with NorCal folk.
