Week 2 College Football Saturday Viewing Guide & Open Thread

There were some nice matchups in week one but there were also a lot of warm-up games. This week has a lot more intriguing contests, especially for the undefeated Pac-12. I couldn’t fit all of them into the viewing guide below but Pac-12 teams this week play:

• Baylor (road)
• Nebraska
• Texas Tech (road)
• Wisconsin
• Mississippi State (road)
• San Diego State (road)
• Auburn
• Oklahoma State

If the Pac-12 is anything close to undefeated this week then they deserve to claim to be the top conference in the nation. Washington of course is one of only two conference teams (Oregon State vs. UC Davis) to be playing a relatively minor opponent today.

SUGGESTED VIEWING GUIDE (all times PT)

9:00 AM: Nebraska (0-1) at #22 Colorado (1-0), FOX

DraftKings Betting Line: Colorado -3.5

Both teams made headlines in their first games. Nebraska under new head coach Matt Rhule showed off more of the ability to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. Bill Connelly had Minnesota with the lowest postgame win expectancy of any victor from week one when they stunned Nebraska with a late comeback.

Meanwhile, Colorado showed off an incredibly dynamic offense in an upset over defending national runner-up TCU. The Horned Frogs defense looked extremely inept and we’ll see how much of that was because of their own deficiencies versus Colorado’s excellence. It will also be interesting to see if Travis Hunter can continue to play almost every snap on both offense and defense at such a high level.

Alternate Option

9:00 AM: #12 Utah (1-0) at Baylor (0-1), ESPN

DraftKings Betting Line: Utah -7

This matchup got a little less intriguing on Saturday night when Baylor suffered a major upset at home versus Texas State. It also didn’t help when their starting QB Blake Shapen suffered an injury and will miss the next several games. That might even things up in the QB room as Utah starter Cam Rising missed their win over Florida and it’s uncertain when he’ll return as he continues to recover from an ACL injury suffered late last season. Still, replacements Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson looked pretty good against the Gators and Utah has a chance to start 2-0 without their starting QB against a pair of power conference teams.

12:30 PM: #22 Ole Miss (1-0) at #24 Tulane (1-0), ESPN2

DraftKings Betting Line: Ole Miss -7

Last year Tulane was the best team in the G5 and managed to upset USC once they got into a NY6 bowl. They lost a lot of talent including stud RB Tyjae Spears but have a great shot to assert themselves in that role once again if they can win this one. One thing to watch for here is that former Husky Victor Curne started at left tackle for the Rebels in week one while shifting to RT later in the game.

Alternate Option

12:30 PM: #23 Texas A&M (1-0) at Miami (1-0), ABC

DraftKings Betting Line: Texas A&M -3

It’s the battle of the perennial underachievers. Both of these programs spend money like it’s going out of style and almost never get results that match. The Aggies were terrible last year despite having the #1 recruiting class in the country. Meanwhile, Mario Cristobal was supposed to turn things around at his alma mater and flopped in year one. Whichever team wins this game will be able to stave off criticism at least a little longer.

2:00 PM: Tulsa (1-0) at #8 Washington (1-0), Pac-12 Network

DraftKings Betting Line: Washington -32.5

Duh.

4:00 PM: #11 Texas (1-0) at #4 Alabama, ESPN

DraftKings Betting Line: Alabama -7

This is the game of the week with 2 of the biggest brands in the sport facing off against one another for the 2nd part of their home-and-home series. And the last before both are in the same conference. Texas has a lot of hype behind it and will be looking to show that they are finally ready to compete on the national stage yet again. Last year they almost won this game despite Quinn Ewers getting hurt partway through.

This Alabama team has a ton of talent all over the field as always but the quarterback position is still a question mark after a lackluster competition without a clear winner. They only won this game in Austin last year because of Bryce Young’s heroics and they have no one close to that level this time around.

Alternate Option

4:00 PM: #13 Oregon (1-0) at Texas Tech (0-1)

DraftKings Betting Line: Oregon -6.5

This game looked like a potentially dangerous one for the Ducks before Texas Tech went and lost on the road to Wyoming in 2OT. We’ll see if the Red Raiders get inspired and try to come back with a vengeance to make up for that slip up. Oregon absolutely ground FCS Portland State into a fine powder in week one. Whether they can do that against a power conference opponent on the road remains to be seen and this should be a good test to see if their offense really has improved under new OC Will Stein (replacing new Arizona St HC Kenny Dillingham).

7:30 PM: Auburn (1-0) at California (1-0), ESPN

DraftKings Betting Line: Auburn -6

It just looks weird to see these two teams playing one another, doesn’t it? Cal put up 58 points on the road in week one even if it was against North Texas. They did a really nice job in the portal this offseason and it looks like Wilcox may have finally gotten an OC hire right. This should be a really nice test for them hosting Auburn and first year coach Hugh Freeze. If Cal is able to pull off this upset then they suddenly look like a dangerous opponent for the Huskies in a few weeks.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.