It's hard to follow up the weekend that has been proclaimed as the "greatest weekend in College Football History," but week two has to try and there aren't a lot of great matchups in what is pretty much a sandwich week between an already fantastic week one, and potentially a great week three. Week two features no matchups between ranked teams, so I'd just keep track of the scores and see if any of the ranked teams sleepwalk through their "tune-up games."
9:00 AM Slot
Penn State Nittany Lions @ Pittsburgh Panthers (-4.0) ESPN
Here's a nice little treat to start the day, these teams used to play each other every year from 1935-1992 and reportedly, Penn State fans bought up Pittsburgh football ticket packages just to make sure they could attend this game at Heinz Field. It also happens to be one of the few games that feature a betting line that is under 10 points with Pitt being favored by four. For Penn State, look out for the best running back in Big Ten in Saquon Barkley who runs a 4.38, he's only a true sophomore so he won't be heading to the NFL Draft until 2018 but he should be a fun matchup against the Pitt defense. Pitt themselves have two solid running backs to keep an eye on in James Conner and Quadree Ollison . James Conner's story is especially remarkable for his bout with cancer and how he has been able ot return to the football field. The atmosphere should be a fun one and should be the perfect start to your Saturday.
My Pick: Penn State to win.
Usually, I would put in what would be a good backup plan but it's pretty hard to pick one out for the 9:00 AM slot. If all else fails, check out ESPN2 to see if Wyoming can do something against Nebraska in Lincoln.
12:30 PM Slot
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers @ #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-28.0) ESPN2
Usually, I wouldn't feature a game that where a team is favored by 28 points but this is a pretty tough time slot for this slate of games. I think WKU could give Alabama some problems especially since they can score a lot of points. This will be a possible look ahead game for the Tide as next week they'll head to Oxford to try and get revenge on Ole Miss and we'll see if this the game where Nick Saban decides on a quarterback. Last week, Jalen Hurts torched USC through the air and on the ground proving that the bench has no room for his talent. Then in mop up duty, Blake Barnett came in and continued to torch USC's defense. One's a standard pocket passer, the other is a dual threat and that storyline should be a fun one. No matter who's the QB, they will all get to throw to a ridiculous WR corp that has NFL talent all over in Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart, and Gehrig Dieter. The stacked Alabama secondary will be tested against WKU's passing attack, but Alabama should still take care of business.
My Pick: Alabama covers late.
Backup: Kentucky Wildcats @ Florida Gators (-16.0) CBS
I've been hating on Florida's chances all off-season and it wouldn't shock me if Kentucky pulled off the stunner in The Swamp. Kentucky looked dominant at first in their first game against Southern Miss but then their former offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson, embarrassed his former school with 35 unanswered to give the Golden Eagles a 44-35 win over Kentucky. That result has made this betting line a bit lengthier so I think it should be an interesting one. We'll see how Florida QB Luke Del Rio does against Kentucky's defense that looked like a leaky faucet the week before.
My Pick: Florida wins and fails to cover.
4:00 PM Slot
Arkansas Razorbacks @ #15 TCU Horned Frogs (-7.5) ESPN
After a lackluster start to the day, some of the better games should take fold in the late evening-primetime slot. After Arkansas barely squeaked by Louisiana Tech last week, a great opportunity will be right in front of them as they head to Fort Worth to take on the exploding eye frogs (no seriously, Horned Frogs do that). SEC fans will hope that the Razorbacks can pull off the upset and prove that the SEC is far from meh this year. Like every football game, this one will be one in the trenches as the Razorbacks offensive line will have their hands full with a stacked TCU defensive line. If they can give Austin Allen enough time to throw, Arkansas has a chance to pull of the upset on Gary Patterson's boys.
My Pick: TCU covers.
NO BACKUP. Don't watch Mississippi State/South Carolina, that's going to be a 13-10 garbage game, if anything just bet the under for that game and laugh all the way to the bank.
5:00 PM Slot
Virginia Tech Hokies vs #17 Tennesee Volunteers (-11.5) at Bristol Motor Speedway ABC
It will be the biggest crowd to ever watch a college football game. There will be 150,000 people at this game and just for that alone, this one is a must watch. For a whole year, a large crew has been transforming this NASCAR racetrack into a college football venue and the process has been fun to watch. I would love to see the beer sales for this matchup as it will insane. On the football field, Tennessee will try to make everyone forget about the fact that they nearly lost in OT to Appalachian State last week and getting an impressive win here will be the first step. In order to do that, they'll need their QB Josh Dobbs to play a whole lot better than he did last week as that will be the key to their offense who has a tremendous stable of running backs.
My Pick: Tennessee Covers.
The Pac-12 After Dark Slot 7:00 PM and later.
Three Good Games. Switch between all three to see which one is the most interesting.
Texas Tech Red Raiders @ Arizona State Sun Devils (-1.0) FS1
The Over/Under for this game is listed at 80.5, so that's all you need to know and the game should be played in temperatures approaching 100.
My Pick: ASU wins and covers.
California Golden Bears @ San Diego State Aztecs (-7.0) CBS SportsNetwork
I have no faith in Cal's defense but I love their ability to score points, San Diego State has a more well-rounded team, and I'm going to keep picking against Cal in big games until they prove me otherwise. This game should also blow away the O/U of 61.
My Pick: Aztecs cover and win big.
Virginia Cavaliers @ #24 Oregon Ducks (-24.0) ESPN
I'm not sure if this is anything worth paying attention to, but you never know with these Pac-12 After Dark games. I expect Oregon's running back, Royce Freeman to run all over Virginia but you never know, since Oregon didn't look all that great last week against UC Davis. Should be a fun night cap to end the day with these three games.
My Pick: Oregon covers.
Wrapping it up.
If only they moved one of the evening games to the 12:30 slot, but what can you do? Not every weekend can be like last weekend. If I had to pick a plan for this Saturday, I would get myself to a television at 4:00 PM and watch all the night games, nothing that's a must watch before then.
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