I consider this a weak slate of games for the week. There is only one "must-watch" game this week (outside of ND of course) and only a handful of mediocre games. Some of these are a stretch to be considered "games to watch." There are bunch of teams playing nobodies this week.

* All Times are Central Time Zone

Thursday
6:30 - Murray State @ Louisville - ACCN - I felt obligated to mention this one because it is the only game Thursday and it is a future opponent.

Friday
6:30pm - Illinois @ Kansas - ESPN2 - should be a competitive game if you want to watch some football

Morning Games - Saturday
11:00 - #10 Notre Dame @ NC State - ABC - Go Irish!!!
11:00 - Nebraska @ #22 Colorado - FOX - It's Nebraska, so expect a close finish. It's Colorado, expect something crazy
11:00 - #12 Utah @ Baylor - ESPN - I debated putting this on here; Baylor looked awful last week, Utah looked great, this could easily be a blowout.

Afternoon Games - Saturday
2:30 - #20 Ole Miss @ #24 Tulane - ESPN2 - Can the Group of 5 underdog win again?
2:30 - #23 Texas A&M @ Miami - ABC - Both teams are the NIL kings, lots of bling-bling here, who wins?
2:30 - Iowa @ Iowa State - FOX - Always a tough game, Iowa actually dropped out of the top25 after a win
5:00 - SMU @ #18 Oklahoma - ESPN+ - I wish this was on a bigger channel, some of you may not be able to watch this, but I think it will be a fun watch. SMU killed their first opponent as well.

Evening Games - Saturday
6:00 - #11 Texas @ #3 Alabama - ESPN - Biggest game of the week by far
6:00 - #13 Oregon @ Texas Tech - FOX - Could be a fun game to pay attention to during breaks in the big game
6:30 - UCLA @ San Diego State - CBS - I could see this being a close game

Late Night Games - Saturday
9:30 - Stanford @ #6 USC - FOX - Two future opponents, Is Stanford as good as they showed last week? USC's defense going to get any better?
9:30 - Auburn @ California - ESPN - Would like to see the SEC struggles continue out of conference.

11 ranked teams mentioned this week...

Agreed - not really a great start to the season in terms of big time matchups. 

Two seasons ago, I would have laughed at the thought of sitting through Kansas/Illinois, but I think that will be a good start to the weekend.

I'm interested in Colorado/Nebraska to see how Colorado fares against what should be a much better defense, but also to see how Nebraska ends up losing this game in the Fourth Quarter - they're on a quite a run. Would love to see Nebraska win this one, as I'm already sick of Deion (his presser was obnoxious).

I hope Ole Miss/Tulane is a good game, but I think Ole Miss could wind up being really good this season. Ole Miss is a 7.5 favorite, but I could see them winning by 2-3 TDs. Too much firepower on offense.

Not much needs to be said about Texas/Alabama. Curious to see if Milroe looks as good as he did last week. Rooting for Texas, but I really hate both teams.

I think Oregon/Texas Tech will be a sneaky good game. Oregon obliterated their FCS opponent (when is the last time a team put up 80+ points in a game?), and Tech looked awful at Wyoming in their OT loss. But I think TT is better than that, and I expect a much better game for them in Lubbock. 

No love for future ACC opponents SMU, Cal, and Stanford?  I can't wait to play SMU in their 32,000 seat stadium in a couple years.

I'll have to watch Texas A&M v Miami.  Two teams that should be pretty good.  Bling-alicious.

I've never bought in to Tulane.  If they beat Ole Miss, maybe I'll start paying more attention.

Isn't Colorado "must see" TV now?  Admit it everyone, you'll be following the score and might even tune in for a while if it weren't being played at the same time as ND's game.  And if ND is faltering down the stretch, I'll probably switch over to that game just to maintain my sanity.

Texas v 'Bama.  Could have a Buchner sighting.  That is, if you don't have Charter/Spectrum, 'cause ESPN won't be on if you do.

 

Thanks for doing these weekly game updates.  Helps me plan my weekends!

Edited September 5, 20231 yr by AnTostal

31 minutes ago, AnTostal said:

Isn't Colorado "must see" TV now?  Admit it everyone, you'll be following the score and might even tune in for a while if it weren't being played at the same time as ND's game.  And if ND is faltering down the stretch, I'll probably switch over to that game just to maintain my sanity.

I think Deion has done a fantastic job and generating hype for a program that was considered dead and unable to be revived. However, I agree with tneun89, his presser was aggravating and rubbed me the wrong way.

You are welcome, it helps me organize my weekend as well as I watch college football all day long when I can. The Thursday/Fridays games are awful, but they could be something to have on in the background.

Thanks for doing this NDHoosier!

A better slate of games compared to last week, but not by much.

Yeah Colorado/Nebraska. Hoping for Nebraska here, also interested to see how CU does against some better D's. Deion is, well, Deion, for better or for worse.

Illini and Kansas - probably a close game but also not an exiting one either.

Texas A&M/Miami - hard to root for either of these two. Hope they both fall flat. Could be a pretty good game though.

Texas/Alabama - I think Texas really hasn't done that much under Sark, outside of beating bama last season. I question their early season #11 ranking. Don't think they will win this one, but they could make it interesting. 

My guess is UCLA over San Diego St and USC over Stanford, and neither game is close.

And ND will have a fairly easy time against NC St, unless there's a hurricane on the way. Oh wait, we don't have that coach anymore.

Hook em Horns! 🤘

I friging love that Brian Kelly pulled a Brian Kelly and said that LSU was going to roll into Tallahassee and "Beat the heck out of Florida State" and then flat out denies saying it 🤣.  Please don't ever change chump Kel I mean coach Kelly.
https://www.si.com/college/2023/09/02/lsu-brian-kelly-florida-state-brash-prediction-week-1

Quote

“There are still areas that are going to need to be improved. We’re going to take 15 freshmen on this trip and 14 transfers so nearly 40% of this travel roster are going to go overnight for the first time with LSU. And that’s not a disclaimer of any kind, we’re going to beat the heck out of Florida State,” 

https://www.si.com/college/fsu/football/brian-kelly-attempts-to-walk-back-comments-he-made-prior-to-blowout-loss-against-florida-state

Quote

"I think you all know me. I'm pretty careful with what I say and how I say it. Never have I been cavalier or disrespectful to an opponent in my 33 years," Kelly said on Tuesday. "So if somebody wants to prop up a comment like that and inflate it into something that it is not, that's what social media is about today but I have nothing but the utmost respect for coach Norvell. I know who the opponent was. It's just not in my background or nature to make those kinds of comments."

"The position of head coach or any leadership position, you're going to get things thrown out there that are absolutely untrue and you have no way to combat them," Kelly continued. "You can just sometimes throw stuff out there and hope it sticks but that's not something that I would ever say."

Baylor/Utah game is much better than I thought it would be

Colorado game is interesting. Nebraska needs another QB. The QB has caused massive issues on every drive.

I'm looking forward to watching Rees and Bama have not seen them yet.

Hard to admit I’m on the bama side tonight. Won’t use the word “rooting” for them. Texas has become a major disliked school for me. Had to deal with Card’s father (I know, he transferred) for my job when we cut them out due to nonstop price hikes that did not match market conditions. He was the epitome of complete and utter dbag

10 minutes ago, mcgov12 said:

Hard to admit I’m on the bama side tonight. Won’t use the word “rooting” for them. Texas has become a major disliked school for me. Had to deal with Card’s father (I know, he transferred) for my job when we cut them out due to nonstop price hikes that did not match market conditions. He was the epitome of complete and utter dbag

Honestly, I think Ewers is probably a dbag as well, but I will never root for Bama. Ill be cheering hard for Texas tonight. The SEC has done terrible these last two weeks out of conference against power5 schools, I want it to continue.

3-0 Texas after 1. But man are Rees and Bama run heavy this year,

Yeah hard to choose between the 2, bama and Texas, both bad choices!
Same with Miami & Texas a&m, or so I thought. It turns out I’m glad Miami is kicking a&m butt. 

In Austin with Spectrum, can’t watch Texas/Bama because Spectrum and Disney are feuding 

10-3 Texas on deep post pass.

13-3 Texas. I get this kid is fast, but could Buchner struggled this much in practice?