It’s Officially Game Week in College Football! Yes, we have another week before it’s Texas and Ohio State’s turn to kick things off, but Week 0 will get us started on Saturday, August 23rd, in Dublin, Ireland. Iowa State and Kansas State kick off at 11 am CT, the first of 5 games on the day.
Last year, when I did the Top 20 Most Important Games, the biggest blowback I received was for my ranking of Colorado at Nebraska at No. 4 overall and for Georgia at Texas being No. 6 overall. Listen, I totally get it, but part of the problem with it was that one year ago, right now, the conversation was very much about “Will Texas and Georgia play three times this year?” That devalued it for me. On the Colorado and Nebraska side of the coin, it was Matt Rhule’s second season at Nebraska, and they ended up starting out 5-1 with that singular loss coming in OT against a ranked Illinois. Nebraska outrushed Colorado 149 to 16 in Week 2 and elevated them at the time to get off to that 5-1 start.
Colorado went on to win 7 of the next 8 games, if they hypothetically won that Nebraska game, they would have finished the season 10-2. That only other loss before November was a last-minute loss to Kansas State at home 31-28. Both games were important, but I could argue with anyone that the Nebraska/Colorado game 100% deserved to be top 10 on this list. Was No. 4 overall too high? Sure, probably.
Some notable regular-season games that we haven’t seen in a while.
- August 28th – Nebraska and Cincinnati meet for the second time in school history, the first since 1906. This is a neutral site at Arrowhead in KC.
- August 30th – Texas travels to Ohio State for the first time since 2005.
- August 30th – TCU travels to North Carolina for the first time since 1994. TCU/UNC have played just three times ever, never in the 21st century.
- August 31st – Virginia Tech meets South Carolina on Sunday to battle in the Beamer Bowl. The last time they met was 1991, in Frank Beamer’s 5th season at Virginia Tech. Current South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer was 14 years old when his dad’s team played SC.
- September 6th – Kansas travels to Missouri for the first time since 2006, and the “Border War” will reconvene for the first time since 2011.
- September 27th – Alabama travels to Georgia for the first time since 2015; they have played 7 times since. 1 in Indianapolis, 2 in Tuscaloosa, and 4 in Atlanta. The last time Alabama played at Georgia in Athens.. Kirby Smart was the Crimson Tide Defensive Coordinator.
Tier 1
1) Penn State at Ohio State (November 1st)
– The clear-cut leaders on FanDuel for the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State (+190) and Penn State (+210)
– The defending National Champs and current No. 3 in America have two tough ranked games before this one, hosting Texas and traveling to Champaign.
– Penn State is pre-ranked No. 2 in America with America’s sweetheart Drew Aller at Quarterback.. They enter this game undefeated if they can get through Oregon at Home in September (White Out).
– The Biggest Question: Winner to Indianapolis?
2) Texas at Georgia (November 15th)
– Here y’all go. Texas at Georgia in the Top 2.
– The Biggest Question: Winner to Atlanta?
3) LSU vs Texas A&M (October 25th)
– If A&M makes it through Notre Dame/Florida with one loss, this will be a massive swing game in the SEC Title Game race – LSU plays Alabama next week and will have already played Florida, Ole Miss, and South Carolina.
– The Biggest Question: If A&M leaves this game 7-1, Is Marcel Reed is in the Heisman conversation?
Tier 2
4) Missouri vs. South Carolina (Sep. 20th)
– The September SEC Sleeper Game of the Year. South Carolina is everyone’s darling right now, but Missouri has a softer schedule and can establish the run and play on the LOS, a place that the Gamecocks lost a ton of talent to the NFL this spring. It’s also a night game in Columbia… Missouri.
– The Biggest Question: Can the Tigers shock the Cocks?
