College Football Viewing Guide: Week 1

My goodness does it feel good to be back with this particular weekly post! Typically, this isn’t exactly exciting given the brunt of the work is getting together the actual schedule of games, but this is week one. Like, actual week one, not that fake week one stuff we had last week.

No, no, no, this week has more games on Thursday night than last weekend had in its full slate. But it doesn’t stop there. This week, we get welcomed back to college football with games not just on Thursday, not just on Friday, not just on Saturday, not even just on Sunday, but we have games running every day from Thursday through next Monday.

I. Can’t. Wait.

So let’s get down to it. With every team in the country finally back in action, here’s who to watch and when (and how/where).

Note: All times are as the good Lord intended, in the central time zone. For that is where the college football Mecca known as Kinnick Stadium lies.

Thursday Games

Things get kicked off Thursday evening with nearly a dozen games. None of the matchups are truly great, but there’s plenty here to get me excited for football to be back.

First, at 6pm CT it’s defending national champions #21 UCF at UCONN. That one’s on ESPNU. At the same time you can catch the first Big Ten game of the year as the boat rowers from the north host New Mexico State on BTN.

Viewing note for that one: Minnesota will be wearing their new away all white uniforms. For perhaps the first time in recorded history this has nothing to do with PJ Fleck trying to sell something. Rather, New Mexico State’s road uniforms have not yet been delivered by their provider so they’re forced to play in their home uniforms.

At 7pm CT we get a full on Big Ten matchup. That’s right, for those of you who may have forgotten, the Big Ten has decided to take a page out of the SEC’s playbook and strt with some week one conference matchups, allowing teams to play their creampuffs in November and get credit for a “really difficult schedule.” Sigh. Anyway, we actually get to watch what should be a competitive game between Northwestern and Purdue on ESPN. I’ll be tuning in.

Unfortunately for football fans, despite the full slate early in the evening, there’s only one night cap and it’s in the MWC. For some reason, nobody wanted to pick up UC Davis at San Jose State at 9pm CT so feel free to catch up on Hard Knocks.

Here’s Thrusday’s full slate.

Friday Games

Friday’s slate is arguably better than Thursday’s. There’s no Big Ten on Big Ten action, but we get games across a number of time slots and a trio of ranked teams in action.

Things get kicked off at 5pm CT (you weren’t actually sticking around work until 5, were you?) with Syracuse at the former fightin’ boat rowers of Western Michigan. That’s on CBS Sports.

At 6, turn on over to BTN to catch #11 Michigan State hosting Utah State. That one shouldn’t really be in question, but I’m here for Big Ten football when options are limited.

Similarly, as the night progresses I’ll be tuning in to watch #4 Wisconsin pummel Western Kentucky (that may not have looked so bad when they had Jeff Brohm, but this won’t be close). That’s on ESPN at 8 central.

Off Topic: Thank goodness Iowa hasn’t been forced into one of these Thursday or Friday night games yet. They’re great for TV, but can you imagine what attendance would look like for a Friday night matchup against Directional MAC U? Ugh.

If you get bored of watching Jonathan Taylor go all Forrest Gump on the HIlltoppers, check in on FS1 where you can find #13 Stanford hosting San Diego State. I would expect a similar outcome, but I’m interested to see what SDSU has this year after losing all-world running back Rashaad Penny to the NFL. That one is also a 8pm CT kick.

And finally, the night ends with what could be a really solid matchup between Colorado and Colorado State at Mile High Stadium. CSU lost to Hawaii in week 0, but they’re favored by 7.5 in this one. Kick is at 8:30pm CT and you can catch the action on CBS Sports.

Here’s Friday’s full slate.

Saturday Games

And here we are. The meat and potatoes of this glorious return to college football. There is a FULL slate of games on Saturday and while a lot of big names are playing their pay games against nobodies, there are some decent matchups across a number of time slots to check out.

At 11am CT, you have some options. Check out the Urban Meyer-less #5 Ohio State Buckeyes hosting Oregon State on ABC. You can also catch Lane Kiffin, a slew of former Last Chance U stars and the Florida Atlantic Owls at #7 Oklahoma on FOX. The DJ Durkin-less Maryland Terrapins are also hosting #23 Texas over on FS1. If you get really desperate, Illinois and rutger are splitting time on BTN overflow channels against no-name schools who may actually beat them.

The 2:30 CT time slot has some hot trash, but also a couple of REALLY good matchups. Most notably, your Iowa Hawkeyes are hosting Northern Illinois. We’ll get you further details in the how to watch post Saturday morning, but the game is slated for BTN. Check your local guide as we’re splitting BTN with #10 Penn State vs. App State, one of which will be on an overflow.

Once the Hawkeyes get up by a few touchdowns (snort) head on over to ABC for the matchup of the weekend. #6 Washington is taking on #9 Auburn in Atlanta. That one should be great. At the same time, you’ve also got Tennessee at #17 West Virginia on CBS.

As the day rolls on, you’ve got some nondescript matchups at 5 and 6pm CT. Details below. The ones to note include #14 Michigan at #12 Notre Dame on NBC at 6:30, as well as #1 Alabama taking on Louisville from Orlando at 7pm on ABC.

Your #Pac12AfterDark matchup of the week is BYU at Arizona. That one kicks at 9:45 CT on ESPN. Later still you’ve got Navy at Hawaii kicking off at 10pm CT on CBS Sports.

Here’s Saturday’s full schedule.

Sunday Game

Desert! After all those meat and potatoes on Saturday, you need some desert to sweeten your palate. Luckily, there’s a lone, great matchup on Sunday to give you your fill. #8 Miami and #25 LSU face off from Jerry World at 6:30 Sunday evening. That one’s on ABC. Plan accordingly.

Monday Game

MOAR FOOTBALL!

As has become tradition by now, the opening weekend of college football is extended for the holiday weekend. I don’t think you can have enough in the first week, and certainly with when there’s a quality matchup, I’m not complaining.

That’s what we get on Monday as #19 Florida State hosts #20 Virginia Tech. Kick off is set for 7pm and you can catch the action on ESPN.

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That’s it for the week one slate of games. It’s a good one. As for the beverages, this week I’m kicking things off with some Founders All Day IPA. With a 2:30 kick and a very full schedule for the entire weekend, you need something that tastes OK and won’t leave you asleep half way through the action. Check and check.

Image via foundersbrewing.com

Welcome back to college football, ya’ll! Go Hawks!