College Football Week 2 Viewing Guide

We’ve got a full week of college football in the books and frankly, it was a mixture of sadness and joy. Having college football to distract us from the rest of life has always been a good thing around these parts and any sort of normalcy is welcome. But with the “normalcy” we got last weekend came the stark reminder that Iowa fans don’t have a team to root for this fall. It was simultaneously joyous and somber to watch football on a Saturday afternoon and know it could be months before we see the Hawkeyes on the gridiron.

Now, in week two, we’ll see if those emotions run similar when other big time programs are on our TV sets. While games to this point have been exclusively FCS or mid-major programs, we’ll have Power Five football this weekend in a slate that includes a total of 18 FBS matchups.

Thursday Matchup

Things kick off in week two this evening and they do so with some brand recognition. While the U is no longer THE U, they still bring a name brand to your TV on a Thursday night. Miami plays host to UAB at 7pm CT tonight. The only hitch is you’re going to need the ACC Network to watch this one because we wouldn’t want people to actually watch the return of football. Foiled again by the US Open!

Saturday Morning Matchups

There shall be no such issues on Saturday (morning) as we get big boy football on big boy channels throughout (most of) the day. Things kick off at 11am, which is how you know things are getting back to normal. There’s a pair of games featuring top 25 teams in the early slot, including #18 North Carolina hosting Syracuse on **checks notes** the ACC Network again (@#$*&^%, I mean seriously, ABC isn’t showing a game and ESPN2 has an FCS matchup, WTF are these people doing?). The other notable early game features #23 (puke) Iowa State hosting your Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. That’s on ESPN and the Cyclones are 11.5 point favorites.

If you’re looking for something, anything, to watch besides t h o s e g u y s i n A m e s, there are two other Big 12 matchups on actual TV. Kansas State is hosting Arkansas State on FOX and West Virginia is hosting Eastern Kentucky on FS1. Football.

Saturday Afternoon Matchups

After the early slot, we’re blessed with some staggered starts, which ensure we’re not really left without football at any point in the afternoon. At 12:30, CBS Sports Network brings us Louisiana Monroe at Army. Not super compelling, but it’s better than watching the ESPN recap for 30 minutes.

Then at 1:30, we’ve got #10 Notre Dame hosting Duke in their first ACC conference game of all time. That is, of course, on NBC.

In the 2:30 window, there are three games, two of which nobody cares about and one of which is Georgia Tech at Florida State. That’s the ABC headliner in the early afternoon window.

At 3pm CT, we’re back on the ACC Network for Pitt playing host to the turnover top hat toting Austin Peay Governors.

Saturday Evening Matchups

As with the afternoon, the evening slate has some staggered starts to keep the fun rolling along through all the halftime breaks. Things get started at 6pm CT with #5 Oklahoma hosting Missouri State. Unfortunately, there is no TV listing for that one because 1. the Big 12 and 2. it’s #5 Oklahoma against an FCS opponent.

At 6:30, ABC gives us an ACC showdown likely to be just as lopsided as the Missouri State slaughter. #1 Clemson is at Wake Forest.

The 7pm time lot if a laugh-fest of mismanagement by the TV and conference folks. Because it’s largely Big 12 football, it’s largely not going to be seen by anyone. Not because there aren’t eyeballs starved for football, but because the Big 12 is hot trash when it comes to their TV contracts. You’ve got #14 Texas hosting UTEP on the Longhorn Network, which you (likely) don’t get. Texas Tech is hosting Houston Baptist on ESPN+, which isn’t even on TV. And then there’s an ACC matchup featuring Western Kentucky at Louisville on...... the ACC Network.

I can only assume this was the Big 12 and ACC when the TV networks came calling after the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed their seasons.

Fortunately, the 9pm time slot is here to save us in the nightcap. And by save us, I mean there is simply something that is supposed to resemble football on TV. That is, Kansas is hosting Coastal Carolina on FS1. Hey, it’s football. Sort of.

And that’s it for week 2. Here’s the full channel listing, which is sadly about a third the size of last year’s week 2 listing. But it’s got football on it and that’s a good thing.

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