With Buffet of CFB Games This Week, Plenty for Hog Fans to Watch
Arkansas will be featured in what is technically the second biggest game of the day when it hosts Cincinnati Saturday afternoon.
With a bit of help from Georgia, which will take on Oregon on ABC at exactly the same time, the Razorbacks-Bearcats showdown might drift into the biggest game.
Should the Bulldogs put together a blowout, casual fans are likely to drift over ESPN for what is expected to be a down to the wire showdown between two teams that have become America's college football darlings over the past two years.
With one game clearly locked in for Hog fans, what other games over this five-day pseudo-opening week will be worth their time?
Here's a list of the most interesting games in each time slot this week.
Thursday
PENN ST. VS. PURDUE, FOX, 7 p.m.
Penn State looks to rebound from a tough finish to last season that saw the Nittany Lions lose three of their last four.
Matt Pendleton/USA TODAY Sports
This one is kind of a gimme. There's not a lot going on Thursday night.
Besides, it gives Arkansas a chance to see where it's last opponent is in comparison to next year while also gauging whether it will be worth the time to watch the Nittany Lions' game against Auburn in mid-September.
Friday
INDIANA VS. ILLINOIS, FS1, 7 p.m.
Here's another chance to see if former Arkansas coach Barry Lunney, Jr. can make Illinois football even mildly interesting to watch.
Rich Barnes / USA TODAY Sports
If you watched the debut of the Barry Lunny, Jr. offense in Illinois last week then you know how hard it was to watch.
Big Ten football from the top tier teams is the most boring of all the Power 5 conferences. Lower level Big Ten football is probably banned by the U.N. as an acceptable way to get necessary information out of a prisoner of war.
How Illinois got to 38 points is mind-boggling. Making that kind of point production feel like watching a 3-3 ground and pound snooze fest is dark magic indeed.
That being said, if Lunney can Voldermort Bret Bielema's team to another win in this one, he will truly be one to watch.
COLORADO VS. TCU, ESPN, 9 p.m.
TCU has big upset potential in the Big 12. This match-up with Colorado will go a long way in showing how much potential.
Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
The Big 12 is going to be wide open this year. The three usual contenders, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Baylor are all susceptible to upset this year.
There's a chance TCU might be the team that causes chaos throughout the league if the Horned Frogs can bounce back this year as expected. This season opener will give Razorback fans a good idea as to whether it's worth their time watching the ticker when TCU plays those teams.
Saturday
APPALACHIAN ST. VS. NORTH CAROLINA, ESPNU, 11 a.m.
Former North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell is no longer with the team, making the Tar Heels ripe for upset in Week 2.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
If there's going to be a big upset this week, this is going to be it. Anyone who caught a glimpse of the Tar Heels against Florida A&M knows this team doesn't look like it has much to it.
Carolina struggled with a team missing 26 players because the Rattlers athletic office apparently had too few workers to get the compliance paperwork done, and those who were there weren't qualified to be doing so.
Still, Florida A&M went out and put up 24 points and hung well for the most part against a team that should have had an insurmountable talent advantage.
Appalachian State is always primed to drop an upset. Hosting this game makes it even more likely.
FLORIDA VS. UTAH, ESPN, 6 p.m.
Can Billy Napier lead Florida back to its glory days of Tim Tebow? A huge upset of Utah will be required to make that happen.
Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports
Newly hired Florida coach Billy Napier wasn't granted any favors by having this be the first game of his tenure. Utah may be the Pac 12's best chance at a legitimate college playoff team in a while.
One way or another, Napier and his team are going to leave a big impression. Fans will have to tune in to see whether it's positive.
OHIO ST. VS. NOTRE DAME, ABC, 6:30 p.m.
Ohio State has a chance to eliminate Notre Dame from playoff contention in Week 1 of the season.
Joshua A. Bickel / USA TODAY Sports
It's always nice to have games like this early on so we can get the pretenders out of the way.
The Irish are traditionally college football's second most overrated team, so having them square off against a team that has a good shot at making the playoffs is always something worth watching.
If they lose again like they did when they took on Cincinnati last season, they can be taken off the table and the sport can move on.
Should they somehow win, it will be one of the rare occasions where the rest of the football world will take them seriously.
Sunday
LSU vs. FLORIDA ST., ABC, 6:30 p.m.
LSU fans will get their first look at new LSU coach Brian Kelly Sunday against Florida State.
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Kelly makes his debut.
That's it. That's the only reason to watch this.
Florida State hasn't deserved a spot like this since Jimbo Fisher stalked the sidelines and LSU was a mess last year. Tune in for a bit, see if Kelly has anything, and move on.
Monday
GEORGIA TECH VS. CLEMSON, ESPN, 7 p.m.
Clemson Tigers quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei will have the chance to prove he is the solid No. 1 quarterback against Georgia Tech.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
It makes sense why Clemson is in this game, but Georgia Tech? This was really the best game for a primetime Monday night slot of all the games this week?
It's not exactly an exclamation point to the opening week, but if you still need football after a long dose of it, swing by and see if D.J. Uiagalelei has progressed enough to hold off young upstarts nipping at his heels for the starting job.
Games to keep an eye on in the crawl
NORTH CAROLINA ST. VS. EAST CAROLINA, ESPN, Saturday, 11 a.m.
East Carolina isn't known for having the most polite fan base, but it's football team is known to pull off upsets over Power 5 schools quite often.
ALABAMA VS. UTAH STATE, SEC NETWORK, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
This is it. This is Alabama's biggest non-conference game of the year.
Not only is Utah State the only non-conference opponent on the Crimson Tide's schedule to finish ranked last year, it's the only team to finish without a losing record.
PITTSBURGH VS. WEST VIRGINIA, ESPN, Thursday, 6 p.m.
West Virginia seems to always be good to pull off an upset and Pittsburgh always seems willing to take one.
The NFL took quarterback Kenny Pickett and USC outbid everyone to purchase wide receiver Jordan Addison in the free agent market. It will be a lot to expect Pitt to duplicate its success last season, so this has high upset potential.
UTSA VS. HOUSTON, CBSSN, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
If former Arkansas assistant Jeff Traylor wants to prove his Roadrunners belong in the conversation alongside the Cincinnatis of the world and also find a way to slip into future expansion discussions, he's going to need to pull off this win against future Big 12 member Houston.
It will be his first venture out as head coach without former Arkansas coach Barry Lunney, Jr. calling plays for him.
VANDERBILT VS. ELON, SEC NETWORK, Saturday, 6 p.m.
Currently the Commodores are the No. 1 team in the SEC after curb stomping Hawaii on the big island. Keep an eye on this one just to see if that momentum keeps up.
HOGS FEED:
HOGS WON'T CATCH CINCINNATI OFF-BALANCE TRYING TO RUN THE BALL SATURDAY
SAM PITTMAN COULD USE SOME OF JIMMY JOHNSON'S PSYCHOLOGY FOR DEALING WITH HOT DAY
WHAT THE HOGS SAID AFTER TUESDAY AFTERNOON'S PRACTICE
QUESTIONS REMAIN ON INTERIOR LINE ON BOTH SIDES FOR BALL FOR RAZORBACKS HEADED INTO OPENER
WILL DEPTH END UP BEING AN ISSUE FOR HOGS THIS YEAR?
SEC SHORTS TAKES THEIR TURN HAVING FUN WITH AUBURN
WATCH SAM PITTMAN'S PRESS CONFERENCE PREVIEWING OPENING AGAINST CINCINNATI
LAST YEAR'S NINE WINS MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THIS WEEK
WHO'S ON THE COACHING HOT SEAT HEADED INTO OPENING WEEK
WEEK 0 CREATES POTENTIAL FOR BIG MOVEMENT IN STATE HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS
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