If you don't remember my Week 1 and Week 2 viewing guides, it's because I didn't post any. Like many of you, while I love watching ISU, I'm a big college football fan in general, and like to take in entertaining games when not watching my team. These past two weekends have had some good games (but not a ton) and I haven't had a chance to see much college football other than ISU.
This weekend is different in that I will be in town and with an ISU road game, I will be at home. Below is my guide on the college football action for Week 3.
Keep in mind that I live in Ames, IA, the games are listed in Central Time and have Mediacom without any additional packages. If you have the sports package or a dish, you probably have more options than below, and if you live outside of Des Moines, your options on Saturday may be different so check your local listings.
Anyhow, here we go:
Thursday, September 17, 6:30pm: Georgia Tech vs. Miami (FL) - ESPN
I heard Miami vs. Florida State week 1 was very entertaining, and the highlights looked that way. I got to watch a majority of Clemson vs. Georgia Tech which was indeed very entertaining. With two exciting teams playing each other in a conference game on National TV, I am expecting a fun game!
Friday, September 18, 8pm: Boise State vs. Fresno State - ESPN
Boise is good, but in some ways untested. They did knock off an ranked Oregon, but I thought Oregon was very overrated and left them off my preseason blogpoll ballot. Fresno State is a solid program. They barley lost to Wisconsin (again), and have put together some good teams.
Boise is favored, and I'd expect them to win, but I will be interested to see how they fare on the road. I think whoever wins this game will win likely win the WAC. With this being a night game on National TV, Fresno will be fired up. On the flip side, even if Boise rolls, it will be a fun first half to watch I would think.
Saturday, September 19: I list the options for each time slot and bold the game I would watch if I had to choose one.
11am:
- Cal vs. Minnesota - ESPN
- East Carolina vs. North Carolina - ESPN2
- Eastern Michigan vs. Michigan - Big 10 Network
- Duke vs. Kansas - Versus
I'd at least watch the first half of this game. First, I am partly on the Cal bandwagon this year, but haven't seen much of them. Secondly, I haven't had a chance to see the new Gophers stadium on TV. I don't expect this to be a great game, but I don't expect any of the games here to be.
East Carolina and North Carolina haven't looked all that great. This will probably be a close game, although I'm not sure how fun it will be to watch. Michigan is a 24 point favorite against Eastern Michigan, so you know that's not going to be a great game either. Duke vs. Kansas? This ain't basketball season!
2:30pm:
- Tennessee vs. Florida - CBS
- Arizona vs. Iowa - ABC
- Michigan State vs. Notre Dame - NBC
- Tulsa vs. Oklahoma - Fox Sports Midwest
- Utah vs. Oregon - ESPN
- Nebraska vs. VA Tech - ESPN2
At first glance, you may look at this list and think there are some awesome games. You've got 3 Rivalry-types of games with the Vols vs. Gators, Spartans vs. Irish, and Trojans vs. Huskies (which we don't get in Iowa). I've already heard on the radio how upset some are that these three games are scheduled at the same time. But guess what? This isn't the early 2000s!
With Tennesse vs. Florida, it's going to be a Gator blowout. Yes, Lane Kiffin talked a lot of smack about the coaches, and I think Meyer is going to want to run up the score on the Vols. So, I'd only watch this if you are a Tebow lover, and enjoy the sight of Florida tearing a team apart. I personally find that boring.
With Michigan State vs. Notre Dame, I think that could be a good game. I'm not sure how Michigan will do after blowing it against Central Michigan, but the Spartans usually get fired up for the Irish, and typically drama ensues. I will be checking in on this game during the Iowa game.
Tulsa vs. Oklahoma has the potential to be similar to the Houston vs. Oklahoma State game (key word = potential). Tulsa is an offense that wants to score in the 40s and 50s if they can; I'm just not sure if they will be able to do so against Oklahoma's defense. I'd expect OU to win, but it really isn't a bad game.
With Oregon vs. Utah I thought both of these teams were overrated to start the season. I would expect it to be a close game, but I'm just not excited about it.
With Nebraska - VA Tech, I will be watching this during timeouts. If the Iowa game somehow is a blow out, or is just too ugly to bear, I would switch to this game. This is a big spot for Nebraska. I'm interested to see how far they have to go before they are nationally relevant. I would expect they are not quite yet, but I'm curious.
I'm watching the Hawks because of a few reasons. First, I'm curious how they will respond after blowing us out. Secondly, an Iowa loss is almost as good to watch as an ISU win. Lastly, even though they are an instate rival, they get a lot of coverage in the state, and I like to know what's going on so I can follow the media and co-workers. Plus, I think it's a pretty even matched game.
6:00pm:
- ISU vs. Kent State - ESPN360.com
- Cincinatti vs. Oregon State - Fox Sports Midwest (5:45 kickoff)
- Florida State vs. BYU - Versus
I think this is a great lineup for the 6pm kickoffs, having 2 games between four Top-25 Caliber teams. Since I just found out I do not get ESPN360.com, I think I will listen to the ISU game on the radio, and watch the FSU vs. BYU game on TV muted. Since I've been big on BYU since before the season started, I'd like to watch them against a quality opponent, especially since I missed the BYU-Oklahoma game.
7:00pm:
- Georgia vs. Arkansas - ESPN (6:45 kick)
- West Virginia vs. Auburn - ESPN2 (6:45 kick)
- Texas Tech vs. Texas - ABC
Since I will be following the 6pm games, I will probably only get to see the 4th quarter and probably part of the 3rd quarter of these games. Georgia vs. Arkansas should be the most competitive, although I'm curious to see how Ol' Gene does against WVU. TTU vs. TX will be a blowout I think, especially since the game is in Austin this year.
Since I will be watching the 6pm games, and none of the above three really get me too fired up, there is another option as well:
9:15pm: Kansas State vs. UCLA - Fox Sports Midwest
If you have children, keep them away from the TV if you're watching this as well. This could be the ugliest game on TV this week. Neither team is good, especially now that UCLA has some starters sitting out. Even with the suspensions, I would think the UCLA backups would be just as good (if not better) as some of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun starters.
I will be watching to see how the Wildcats look to start to get an idea of how the game at Arrowhead might go.
Hopefully the matchups are as good as advertised this week. If you live in Central Iowa and have Medicom like myself, you now know what your options are!
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