Games to Watch - Week 1

All times central. And I only featured games on Saturday, because Friday, Sunday, and Monday have little to offer.

Penn State vs. UCF (7:30am)

The debut of James Franklin in blue, the first glimpse of Cinderella after midnight, and a college football game in Ireland. College Gameday starts after kickoff, and the Saturdays of watching your kids' cartoons or home improvement show reruns are mercifully behind us.

North Dakota State vs. Iowa State (11:00am)

Can NDSU knock off a Big XII school in their second straight season opener? Can they win a fourth straight title? The lunch time games aren't the best, so the intrigue of a major upset gets the nod here.

West Virginia vs. Alabama (2:30pm)

If you're watching anything else at this time, you're wrong. I'm not even sorry.

Florida State vs. Oklahoma State (7:00pm)

Defending national champions. Neutral site game against a big name school. Expect this to go a lot like our date with Michigan in the Cowboys Classic a few years ago.

Wisconsin vs. LSU (8:00pm)

This should be a great game to end the day, featuring two excellent running games and two good defensive efforts. If you like quarterbacks, this may not be the game for you - neither team has named a starter, and Wisconsin's two guys fighting for the job played different positions last season.

Nods to fun games that may be worth checking in on:

Appalachian State vs. Michigan (11:00am)

Can the Mountaineers repeat one of the most glorious upsets in college football? Probably not. App has gone from lovable giant in FCS (they 3-peated before North Dakota State made it cool) to struggling newcomer to FBS.

Georgia Southern vs. NC State (11:30am)

Georgia Southern runs the triple option. They beat Florida in November. NC State has not been a good football team recently. I like those odds.