College Football, Week 2

Week One ended with no surprises as every team beat a team that was either unranked or ranked lower than it was. This week we have no game with two ranked opponents, so it’s probably safe to say that there shouldn’t be any surprises this week either. But that’s why they play the games.

No ranked teams are playing before Saturday but the Thursday night game is a doozy: Pittsburgh (0-1) at Cincinnati (0-0). With Pitt leaving the Big East next year for the ACC this could be the last of this particular back-yard brawl rivalry. And Friday night there’s Utah (1-0) against Utah State (1-0) in Logan, UT, another strong rivalry. Both games are on ESPN at 8 PM.

The polls themselves are unsurprising--except for the CBSSports rankings which, frankly, look like they were made by a congressional committee. Don’t believe me? Check them out yourself. Teams WIN and get dropped ten slots or more (i.e. Arkansas, South Carolina), or don’t even play and fall at least 9 positions to be completely off the rankings (TCU went from 16 to NR).

(Numbers given are the rankings of: AP/Coaches’/CBSSports. NR = Not Rated Those in parentheses are last week’s rankings.)

1/1/4 (2/2/3) Alabama (1-0) The Crimson Tide will play host to the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

2/2/1 (1/3/2) Southern California (1-0) The Trojans will travel to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ to play the Orange of Syracuse (0-1) Saturday afternoon. (I cannot understand Syracuse playing home games in New Jersey. Sure, it helps recruiting in the New York City area, but their campus is over 200 miles away.)

3/3/2 (3/1/1) LSU (1-0) The Tigers will host the Washington Huskies (1-0) Saturday night.

4/4/7 (5/5/5) Oregon (1-0) The Ducks host the Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0) Saturday night.

5/5/3 (4/4/4) Oklahoma (1-0) The Sooners host the Florida A&M Rattlers (0-0) Saturday night.

6/6/12 (7/7/7) Florida State (1-0) The Seminoles host the Savannah State Tigers (0-0) (an FCS team) Saturday evening.

7/7/17 (6/6/6) Georgia (1-0) The Bulldogs play at the home of the Missouri Tigers (1-0) Saturday night.

8/10/20 (10/10/11) Arkansas (1-0) The Razorbacks will host the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (0-0) Saturday night.

9T/8/25 (11/11/10) West Virginia (1-0) The Mountaineers will host the James Madison Dukes (0-0) (an FCS team) Saturday afternoon.

9T/9/19 (9/9/8) South Carolina (1-0) The Gamecocks will be hosting the East Carolina Pirates (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

11/11/6 (13/13/14) Michigan State (1-0) The Spartans visit the home of the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

12/12/16 (14/14/13) Clemson (1-0) The Tigers host the Ball State Cardinals (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

13/13/8 (12/12/12) Wisconsin (1-0) The Badgers head west to play the Oregon State Beavers (0-0) Saturday afternoon.

14/NR/13 (18/NR/15) Ohio State (1-0) The Buckeyes host the UCF Knights (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

15/18/23 (16/20/18) Virginia Tech (1-0) The Hoakies host the Austen Peay Governors (0-0) (an FCS team) Satruday afternoon.

16/14/15 (17/16/20) Nebraska (1-0) The Cornhuskers head west to play the UCLA Bruins (1-0) Saturday night.

17/15/14 (15/15/17) Texas (1-0) The Longhorns host the New Mexico Lobos (1-0) Saturday night.

18/16/9 (19/19/19) Oklahoma State (1-0) The Cowboys head to Arizona to play the Wildcats (1-0) Saturday night.

19/19/5 (8/8/9) Michigan (0-1) The Wolverines play host to the Air Force Falcons (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

20/17/NR (20/17/16) TCU (0-0) The Horned Frogs host the Grambling Tigers (0-0) (an FCS team) Saturday night.

21/20/NR (22/21/22) Kansas State (1-0) The Wildcats host the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

22/22/21 (NR/24/NR) Notre Dame (1-0) The Fighting Irish play host to the Purdue Boilermakers (1-0) Saturday afternoon.

23/24/10 (25/NR/NR) Louisville (1-0) The Cardinals host the Missouri State Bears (0-1) Saturday afternoon.

24/23/22 (23/23/23) Florida (1-0) The Gators head to Texas A&M to face the Aggies (0-0) Saturday afternoon.

25/21/NR (21/18/21) Stanford (1-0) The Cardinal will host the Duke Blue Devils (1-0) Saturday night.

NR/25/11 (24/22/25) Boise State (0-1) The Broncos will host the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (0-1) Saturday afternoon.

NR/NR/18 (NR/NR/NR) North Carolina (1-0) The Tar Heels play on the road against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-0) Saturday night.

NR/NR/24 (NR/NR/NR) Nevada (1-0) The Wolf Pack will host the South Florida Bulls (1-0) Saturday afternoon.