Last weekend's slate of college football games turned out to be better than it looked on paper. Don't judge a book by its cover.
This week's slate of games appears to be much better. Time will tell if it plays out that way, but no question, there are some intriguing matchups.
Cats Illustrated publisher surveys the SEC and NCAA landscapes and offers thoughts on the upcoming action, with a slant toward what it means for Kentucky whenever possible...
... Alabama-Florida is a huge name matchup two weeks after another for the Tide, against Miami, but it would still be a major upset if the Gators were to knock off the Tide in Gainesville. Anthony Richardson will have to make a lot of big plays and the Gators will have to force at least a couple of turnovers to have a chance, or Alabama will grind down and suffocate the Gators. Still, while I consider Alabama the team to beat nationally, I'm not yet convinced that the offense is going to be so good that this team is above and beyond an upset.
... Penn State-Auburn is obviously a great game. It's going to be a whiteout in Happy Valley and the Lions tend to play well in that setting. Bryan Harsin has emphasized the run game so far against bad competition. Penn State, with a win at Wisconsin, is a different challenge altogether. If Auburn were to go on the road with a new coach and without a lot of key pieces from last season it wouldn't be a great look for the Big Ten, which needs Penn State to be a top-10 to 15 caliber team.
... I don't see any way Nebraska goes into Norman and beats Oklahoma but I'm old enough to remember when this was a great conference rivalry game. Not the best years of it, but into the 1990s and 2000s. OU looked more like itself last week after opening the season with that scare against Tulane. With Iowa State not looking so hot (although the Cyclones tend to heat up as the season goes on), OU may not be able to afford any missteps in the regular season if they want a playoff opportunity.
... Terry Wilson leads New Mexico into College Station as a 30-point underdog. This will be his second time starting at quarterback on the road at Texas A&M. Of course, Kentucky took the Aggies to overtime before losing 20-14 back in 2018. For the season Wilson is 48/65 for 560 yards and six touchdowns.
... No. 8 Cincinnati is a 3.5-point favorite on the road against Indiana, which lost by four touchdowns on the road to Iowa. I'm not sure why we're talking about Cincinnati as a real College Football Playoff contender if there's a line like that. It's not failproof logic but hopefully you get the point. Maybe Indiana had a bad day against Iowa earlier this year in losing by four touchdowns but the line tells me there's not actually that much confidence in the Bearcats.
... Former UK player and OC Neal Brown has a chance for a big "old Big East" rivalry win when Virginia Tech takes on his Mountaineers in Morgantown. I think WVU will get it done. They probably should have beaten Maryland, and I don't think Virginia Tech is as good as you might be led to believe by their victory against then-No. 10 UNC in the season opener.
... Miami-Michigan State is a game that I could see going either way. The Hurricanes were beaten by Alabama 44-13, and ordinarily you'd write off that loss and that margin against a Nick Saban team, but I'm not sure how good the Hurricanes are going to be this year. Time will tell. Michigan State looks like one of the most improved teams in the country but assuming Northwestern isn't very good this is going to be easily their toughest test.
... Boston College has a sneaky road test against Temple, with QB Phil Jurkovec out and backup Dennis Grosel in. BC could be a dark horse on that side of the ACC, or they could have been until the Jurkovec injury.
... Minnesota-Colorado in Boulder is an interesting game not because either of the teams are especially interesting, but because we might learn something else about the college football landscape. Minnesota gave Ohio State a tough game at home before losing by two touchdowns and CU nearly knocked off A&M at home.
... Watch out for Notre Dame at home against Purdue. The Boilermakers probably aren't a threat to beat out Iowa or Wisconsin in the western side of the Big Ten but they're only a 7-point dog in South Bend. Notre Dame is very fortunate to be 2-0 after games against a bad Florida State team (which lost to Jacksonville State) and Toledo. Purdue receiver David Bell has been excellent this season and the Irish will have to slow him down to avoid the upset.
... Mississippi State had no trouble with Memphis in their last meetings about a decade ago but this looks like bad scheduling. MSU survived the Week 1 bad performance and looked much better against NC State in moving to 2-0. But 2-0 Memphis, on the road? Although QB Brady White has finally moved on Seth Henigan is 41/65 for 682 yards and 6 TD through two games. The Bulldogs are only a 3.5-point favorite.
... There was a time not long ago when Northwestern-Duke would have been one of the real hidden gems of the day. Both programs are on a downtick and it simply lacks appeal. NW is a 3.5-point road favorite but it should be an ugly game between two schools in very similar positions as private, smaller institutions at the P5 level.
... There were plenty of great games between Georgia and South Carolina when the Gamecocks were coached by either Lou Holtz or Steve Spurrier but this rivalry is going to be one-sided for at least a while as Kirby Smart's national title contender takes on a team that was lucky to survive ECU.
... North Carolina is an 8-point favorite against Virginia at home but I wouldn't write the Cavaliers off. I really like that Bronco Mendenhall staff and Brennan Armstrong is playing like one of the top quarterbacks in the country. But again, it's early.
... Tulane-Ole Miss could be interesting. Or Ole Miss could blow them out. I feel like Ole Miss is a bit underrated at No. 17. The Green Wave gave Oklahoma all they wanted in Norman and that's why they're only a two touchdown underdog.
... Oklahoma State is a 3.5-point underdog at Boise State because the Pokes' offense has been pretty abysmal. It's tough to believe Gundy's program has come to struggle on offense, but at least they're playing defense. This could go either way on the blue turf. Boise blew a three touchdown lead against UCF to start the season.
... We get great late night football today with No. 19 Arizona State against No. 23 BYU, which appears to be better than expected. Late last month the NCAA began interviewing ASU players in an investigation into alleged violations, but the Sun Devils do have a team.
