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NCAA Football Week 3 Game Times and TV Schedule

Week 3 is here and while the overall slate of games isn’t good, the primetime special should be one for the ages as #3 Clemson travels to #14 Louisville.

NCAA Football: Louisville at North Carolina
Lamar Jackson has been putting up video game numbers thus far this season. Can he lead Louisville to a victory over #3 Clemson?
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Week 2 in the college football world did not disappoint. Between one of the more thrilling El Assicos in recent memory, Baker Mayfield laying claim to Ohio Stadium and Georgia commandeering Notre Dame Stadium in preparation for one of the most Brian Kelly moments of Brian Kelly’s career. So week 3 was bound to be a little bit of a let down regardless of the slate. But a quick look tells us this week is going to be a giant disappointment barring some really unforeseen events. There isn’t much, but here’s a look at what to watch this weekend in college football.

Thursday

This week brings us the return of college football on Thursday night. Don’t get your hopes up too much, there’s only one game and it isn’t exactly a thrilling matchup. It’s at 7pm CT on ESPN and it features 1-1 New Mexico at 1-1 Boise State. Hooray for that.

Friday

We get a trio of games on Friday, all on the ESPN family of networks. At 6, Illinois makes the trip to #22 USF on ESPN. At the same time, UMASS is at Temple on ESPNU. When those wrap up, you can get an early start on #Pac12AfterDark with Arizona at UTEP (LOL) on ESPN at 9:15.

Saturday

Saturday is typically when we get into the meat of the week’s games and that’s true again in week 3. But this week the meat is much more like a slice of bologna than a steak. There are three games involving Florida teams originally scheduled for Sturday which have been cancelled or postponed due to Hurricane Irma.

Indiana was slated to host FIU. That one is officially cancelled with Indiana managing to schedule a game against Charleston Southern on October 7th as a replacement. Georgia Tech at UCF is also cancelled. And the annual matchup with Miami and Florida State is postponed until October 7th.

That leaves some holes in the Saturday slate. Things kick off at their normal time (despite the cancellations, there are no early starts like last week) of 11am CT. BTN has Air Force at #7 Michigan. You can catch Northern Illinois at Nebraska on FS1. ESPN brings you #9 Oklahoma State (fresh off their trip TO South Alabama) at Pitt. You can catch Kansas at Ohio on ESPNU if you’re so inclined (at some point we need to have a discussion about the Big 12 and traveling to Group of 5 opponents). ESPN2 has UCONN at Virgina. If you are one who likes to root for other Iowa teams not playing the Hawkeyes (or follow their misery), Iowa State is at Akron on CBSSN. And ABC has #25 UCLA at Memphis.

NCAA Football: Iowa at Iowa State
Expect a heavy dose of Akrum Wadley early for the Hawkeyes on Saturday.
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

The afternoon slot at 2:30pm CT a handful of games. Of course, your Iowa Hawkeyes are hosting the North Texas Mean Green at this time. Set your DVRs to ESPN2 again. Also at 2:30, SMU is at #20 TCU on ESPNU. ESPN has Notre Dame at Boston College. The BTN has a split of Morgan State at Rutgers (ew) or Middle Tennessee at Minnesota. You can catch #10 Wisconsin at BYU on ABC. And CBS has #23 Tennessee at somehow-still-ranked-but-still-with-9-guys-suspended #24 Florida.

In the later afternoon, #8 Ohio State will look to rebound from the loss to Oklahoma as they play host to Army at 3:30 on FOX. Speaking of Oklahoma, the second ranked Sooners’ game against Tulane kicks off at 5 and is not televised because Big 12.

The evening action kicks off at 6 with #1 Alabama hosting Colorado State on ESPN2. Over on ESPN, #12 LSU is at Mississippi State. Oregon is at Wyoming on CBSSN.

At 6:30, the BTN has a split between #5 Penn State hosting Georgia State and Bowling Green at Northwestern. #18 Kansas State is at Vanderbilt over on ESPNU.

The 7pm game on ABC is the one we’ll all be watching. #3 Clemson is at #14 Louisville, who will look to avenge their loss from a season ago. FOX has Texas at #4 USC at 7:30. That sounds really good until you remember Texas has been pretty terrible for nearly a decade now.

Pac 12 after dark gets started at 9pm CT with San Jose State at Utah on ESPN2. At 9:30 you can watch #19 Stanford as they travel to San Diego State if you get CBSSN. Otherwise you’re looking at Ole Miss at Cal on ESPN.

Here’s a listing of all the games on deck for Friday & Saturday. Friday times are EASTERN, and Saturday times are PACIFIC, for some reason:

Friday Games!

Matchup Time (ET) TV Streaming
Matchup Time (ET) TV Streaming
Illinois at #22 South Florida 7:00 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com
UMass at Temple 7:00 PM ESPNU WatchESPN.com
Arizona at UTEP 10:15 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com

Saturday Games!

Matchup Time (PT) TV Streaming
Matchup Time (PT) TV Streaming
Air Force at #7 Michigan 9:00 AM BTN BTN2Go.com
#9 Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh 9:00 AM ESPN WatchESPN.com
#25 UCLA at Memphis 9:00 AM ABC WatchESPN.com
Northern Illinois at Nebraska 9:00 AM FS1 FoxSportsGo.com
Louisiana at Texas A&M 9:00 AM SEC Network WatchESPN.com
Kansas at Ohio 9:00 AM ESPN WatchESPN.com
Delaware State at West Virginia 9:00 AM AT&T SportsNet None
Iowa State at Akron 9:00 AM CBSSN CBSSports.com
Connecticut at Virginia 9:00 AM ESPN2 WatchESPN.com
Furman at NC State 9:20 AM ACC Network WatchESPN.com
Baylor at Duke 9:30 AM ACC Network WatchESPN.com
Coastal Carolina at UAB 10:00 AM Raycom CUSA.tv
Northern Colorado at Colorado 11:00 AM Pac-12 Networks Pac-12.com
Utah State at Wake Forest 12:00 PM ACC Network WatchESPN.com
Tennessee Tech at Ball State 12:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
#10 Wisconsin at BYU 12:30 PM ABC WatchESPN.com
#16 Virginia Tech at East Carolina 12:30 PM CBSSN CBSSports.com
SMU at #20 TCU 12:30 PM ESPNU WatchESPN.com
#23 Tennessee at #24 Florida 12:30 PM CBS CBSSports.com
Central Michigan at Syracuse 12:30 PM ACC Network WatchESPN.com
North Carolina at Old Dominion 12:30 PM None WatchStadium.com
Notre Dame at Boston College 12:30 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com
Morgan State at Rutgers 12:30 PM BTN BTN2Go.com
Middle Tennessee at Minnesota 12:30 PM BTN BTN2Go.com
North Texas at Iowa 12:30 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com
Mercer at #15 Auburn 1:00 PM SEC Network WatchESPN.com
Purdue at Missouri 1:00 PM SEC Network WatchESPN.com
Army at #8 Ohio State 1:30 PM FOX FoxSportsGo.com
Oregon State at #21 Washington State 2:30 PM Pac-12 Networks Pac-12.com
Tulane at #2 Oklahoma 3:00 PM PPV SoonerSports.tv
North Carolina A&T at Charlotte 3:00 PM WCCB CUSA.tv
Colgate at Buffalo 3:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Bethune-Cookman at Florida Atlantic 3:30 PM beIN None
Kent State at Marshall 3:30 PM None CUSA.tv
Colorado State at #1 Alabama 4:00 PM ESPN2 WatchESPN.com
#12 LSU at Mississippi State 4:00 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com
Southern Mississippi at Louisiana Monroe 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Southern at UT San Antonio 4:00 PM KCWX CUSA.tv
Louisiana Tech at Western Kentucky 4:00 PM None WatchStadium.com
Oregon at Wyoming 4:00 PM CBSSN CBSSports.com
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Arkansas State 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Idaho at Western Michigan 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Alabama A&M at South Alabama 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Tulsa at Toledo 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Appalachian State at Texas State 4:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Idaho State at Nevada 4:00 PM AT&T SportsNet None
Georgia State at #5 Penn State 4:30 PM BTN BTN2Go.com
Samford at #13 Georgia 4:30 PM SEC Network WatchESPN.com
#18 Kansas State at Vanderbilt 4:30 PM ESPNU WatchESPN.com
Kentucky at South Carolina 4:30 PM SEC Network WatchESPN.com
Bowling Green at Northwestern 4:30 PM BTN BTN2Go.com
#3 Clemson at #14 Louisville 5:00 PM ABC WatchESPN.com
Rice at Houston 5:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Troy at New Mexico State 5:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Cincinnati at Miami (OH) 5:00 PM None WatchESPN.com
Arizona State at Texas Tech 5:00 PM FSN FoxSportsGo.com
Texas at #4 USC 5:30 PM FOX FoxSportsGo.com
Fresno State at #6 Washington 6:30 PM Pac-12 Networks Pac-12.com
San José State at Utah 7:00 PM ESPN2 WatchESPN.com
#19 Stanford at San Diego State 7:30 PM CBSSN CBSSports.com
Ole Miss at California 7:30 PM ESPN WatchESPN.com

This weekend, I’m drinking some Rolling Rock. It’s light (it’s basically water) kind of like Iowa’s opponent, the bottle is green in honor of the North Texas Mean Green and the name is exactly what I hope to see Iowa do - just keep rollin’ with the rock, baby! Pound them on the ground, help Wadley boost some of those stats for post-season awards, and get the backups in there early.

It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to get the job done.
Image via pikfly.com