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How To Watch Week 2 College Football on TV Today - Guide and Open Thread

TV times, Channels and an Upset Pick. For fun.

NCAA Football: Appalachian State at Tennessee
Can Butch Jones avoid another upset bid today against Virigina Tech?
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN is claiming that Week 1 of the 2016 college football season is the best ever. Hyperbolic statements like that usually remind me of the perils of contact in the rough and tumble sport of soccer.

But, hey, UW beat Rutgers and moved into the top 10 of the AP poll for the first time in 179 games. So, ok. I’m down.

BEST WEEKEND EVER!

So, how do we top that? With week 2, of course.

Or not. We don’t have quite the same fire power with marquee matchups that we had a week ago. But we do have college football. And that is enough to get me out of bed, slap my mama and proclaim that all is right in the world. Here is what I’m watching.

A Battle for Post-season Positioning - WSU at Boise (ESPN2, 10:15pm ET)

Believe it or not, WSU’s bowl hopes might be on the line after they coug’d away an easy win against an FCS opponent last week. Nobody from the PAC 12 has gone into Boise and beaten the Broncos since 2001. The team to do it? Yup. The Cougs. In fact, Boise State has never beaten WSU in four tries. That the Broncos are one of just two Group of Five teams (the other being my upset darling a week ago, Houston) to look like a threat to make a playoff run just adds intrigue to this matchup.

The Sinking of the USS(C) Trojan

USC is in a world of hurt. The offense looks like crud. Clay Helton is getting widely and deservedly panned for his weak-ass (non) punishment of Jabari Ruffin’s nut stomp incident a week ago, and two key defenders - LB Osa Masina and DE Don Hill - remain away from the team while being investigated for sexual assualt. They’ve just gotten beaten like a rag doll at the hands of their former head coach while a second former head coach has just signed on as a consultant to that same ‘Bama team that performed said beat down.

To complicate matters comes a disciplined and well-coached Utah State team that, while outmanned, is certainly capable of pulling off a win. Should that happen and USC falls to 0-2, new AD Lynn Swann will have a coaching hot-seat situation on his hands.

Welcome to the big leagues, Lynn.

THE UPSET - Virginia Tech @ Tennessee (Tenn -11.5, ABC, 8pm ET)

I don’t have quite the same conviction here as I did in making my (correct) upset pick of Houston over Oklahoma last week.

But, hey, did I mention that I correctly picked Houston over Oklahoma?

Well, I did.

I just wanted you to know.

Anyhoo, as I was saying, my conviction level isn’t quite as high. Tennessee is obviously more talented than what we saw last week when they needed overtime to put away a fiesty FCS App State team. On the other hand, we have a Viriginia Tech team that is under the leadership of a new coach. Justin Fuente has brought his brash, aggressive, dare I say “swashbuckling” style of football to Frank Beamer’s old hang out and is looking to make a mark in just his second game at the helm. Can he?

The conditions are ripe. Firstly, there will already be a carnival atmosphere to the game as it is being held at the Bristol Motor Speedway - inside the racetrack - in front of a crowd that could end up in the 100k range. Secondly, VT’s strength is its O-Line - always a nice upset tell. Finally, Tennessee just doesn’t come into this with a high level of confidence.

Sometimes an under-performance against a lesser team works in reverse and “opens the eyes” of the favorite. Think WSU a year ago. Who knows? What I can say is that VT is talented enough to have stood toe to toe with Tennessee before the momentum killer that was last week. I’m calling the upset here in a closely fought, low scoring affair.

TV Schedule

Friday, Sept. 9, 2016
Matchup Time (ET) TV / Online
Maryland at FIU 7:30 pm CBSSN / CBSSports.com
(13) Louisville at Syracuse 8:00 pm ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016
Matchup Time (ET) TV / Online
Penn State at Pittsburgh Noon ESPN / WatchESPN
UCF at (5) Michigan Noon ABC / WatchESPN
Central Michigan at (22) Oklahoma State Noon FS1 / FS Go
Lamar at (6) Houston Noon ASN / WatchESPN
Nicholls State at (9) Georgia Noon SECN / WatchESPN
Prairie View A&M at (20) Texas A&M Noon SECN Alt. / WatchESPN
Wyoming at Nebraska Noon ESPN2 / WatchESPN
NC State at East Carolina Noon ESPNU / WatchESPN
Cincinnati at Purdue Noon BTN / BTN2Go
Boston College at UMass Noon ASN/SNY / WatchESPN
Rice at Army Noon CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Howard at Rutgers Noon BTN / BTN2Go
Indiana State at Minnesota Noon ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
Troy at (2) Clemson 12:30 pm ACCN / WatchESPN
Charleston Southern at (3) Florida State 12:30 pm FSN Affiliates / ACC-RSN / WatchESPN
Stony Brook at Temple 1:00 pm WatchESPN
Utah State at USC 2:00 pm Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Youngstown State at West Virginia 2:00 pm ROOT SPORTS
Georgia State at Air Force 2:00 pm MWN
Ohio at Kansas 2:30 pm FSN / FS Go
Mercer at Georgia Tech 3:00 pm ACCNExtra / WatchESPN
Western Kentucky at (1) Alabama 3:30 pm ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Tulsa at (4) Ohio State 3:30 pm ABC / WatchESPN
Akron at (10) Wisconsin 3:30 pm BTN / BTN2Go
Nevada at (18) Notre Dame 3:30 pm NBC / NBCSports.com
SMU at (23) Baylor 3:30 pm FS1 / FS Go
Kentucky at Florida 3:30 pm CBS / CBSSports.com
Wake Forest at Duke 3:30 pm ESPNU / WatchESPN
UConn at Navy 3:30 pm CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Illinois State at Northwestern 3:30 pm BTN / BTN2Go
North Dakota at Bowling Green 3:30 pm ASN/ALT / WatchESPN
Eastern Illinois at Miami (OH) 3:30 pm WatchESPN
Old Dominion at Appalachian State 3:30 pm ASN / WatchESPN
Wofford at (19) Ole Miss 4:00 pm SECN / WatchESPN
Ball State at Indiana 4:00 pm ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
Middle Tennessee at Vanderbilt 4:00 pm SECN Alt. / WatchESPN
UTSA at Colorado State 4:00 pm MWN
Portland State at San Jose State 4:30 pm Not Televised
Idaho at (8) Washington 5:00 pm Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Idaho State at Colorado 5:30 pm Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Elon at Charlotte 6:00 pm C-USA.tv
Florida Atlantic at (25) Miami (FL) 6:00 pm ACCNExtra / WatchESPN
Morgan State at Marshall 6:00 pm beIN SPORTS / Stream
North Carolina A&T at Kent State 6:00 pm WatchESPN
Arkansas at (15) TCU 7:00 pm ESPN / WatchESPN
UTEP at (11) Texas 7:00 pm LHN / WatchESPN
ULM at (14) Oklahoma 7:00 pm PPV
South Carolina at Mississippi State 7:00 pm ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Northern Illinois at USF 7:00 pm CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Bethune Cookman at North Texas 7:00 pm C-USA.tv
Maine at Toledo 7:00 pm WatchESPN
Georgia Southern at South Alabama 7:00 pm ASN / WatchESPN
McNeese State at UL Lafayette 7:00 pm WatchESPN
NC Central at Western Michigan 7:00 pm WatchESPN
Savannah State at Southern Miss 7:00 pm TBA
SC State at Louisiana Tech 7:00 pm C-USA.tv
Iowa State at (16) Iowa 7:30 pm BTN / BTN2Go
Jacksonville State at (21) LSU 7:30 pm ESPNU / WatchESPN
Arkansas State at Auburn 7:30 pm SECN / WatchESPN
BYU at Utah 7:30 pm FOX / FS Go
Eastern Michigan at Missouri 7:30 pm SECN Alt. / WatchESPN
North Carolina at Illinois 7:30 pm BTN / BTN2Go
New Mexico at New Mexico State 8:00 pm AggieVision / WatchESPN
Southern at Tulane 8:00 pm WatchESPN
(17) Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech (at Bristol Motor Speedway) 8:00 pm ABC / WatchESPN
UNLV at UCLA 8:00 pm Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Sacramento State at Fresno State 10:00 pm TBA
Texas Tech at Arizona State 10:00 pm FS1 / FS Go
Washington State at Boise State 10:15 pm ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Virginia at (24) Oregon 10:30 pm ESPN / WatchESPN
California at San Diego State 10:30 pm CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Grambling State at Arizona 10:45 pm Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
UT Martin at Hawaii 12:00 a.m. OceanicPPV