It's the second weekend, which means that we are in for a less than stellar schedule of games. Sandwiched between the return of football of the first weekend and conference play in another week or two are a few weeks like this one where most teams are fully engaged in their non-conference schedules.
One odd tidbit is the reverse Manifest Destiny from Oregon to Michigan. Both Oregon schools (University of and State) are playing their Michigan counterparts, a scheduling rarity. That's about as intriguing as the schedule gets.
With that said, there is still college football to be watched, and here are the 10 games you need to see:
1) No. 7 Oregon at No. 5 Michigan State (-3), 7 p.m., ABC
Here we have the first top-10 matchup of the season. Both teams had suspect starts against smaller directional schools. And Oregon has shown the ability to overcome the Spartans, as they handed them a 25-point, fourth quarter comeback last year in Eugene. However, give me an experienced quarterback, defense and home field advantage to cover the three points.
2) No. 14 LSU (-4) at No. 25 Mississippi State, 8:15 p.m., ESPN
The Bayou Bengals have a tough test right out of the gate for 2015 traveling to #CLANGA. State's pass defense was solid a week ago, but don't expect a lot through the air from LSU when Leonard Fournette is in your backfield. I still like the home dog in a night game with the four points and to squeak out an outright win.
3) Toledo at No. 18 Arkansas (-21) 3 p.m., SEC Network
The Rockets will provide little more of a test than did UTEP a week ago, but Toledo is down a few starters. Most of us want to see whether the air attack was a fluke during the first game and if the run game can step up. The defense continues to mature behind all the confidence in the world of defensive coordinator Rob Smith. Three touchdowns is a tough number for Game 2, but BERT has never been afraid to run up the score. Hogs cover with an extra field goal from the freshman.
4) No. 9 Notre Dame (-11) at Virginia, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Will the Irish look as sharp as they did last week against a putrid Longhorn offense? Malik Zaire had a coming out party as Golden Domers throttled Texas. You can't fault the Cavaliers schedule makers as they return from their own beating at the hands of UCLA, but a rigorous schedule doesn't win games... or cover point spreads.
5) Oklahoma (-1) at Tennesee, 5 p.m., ESPN
Overlooked storyline in this OU-Tennessee game: Real chance it breaks a world record for replaying fight songs in a 4-hour window.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) September 8, 2015
But for real... Oklahoma was a little more pass-happy than expected last week. While the Vols were quite dominant on the ground against a mediocre MAC squad in Nashville. Playing well in September has never been a fault of the Sooners. Take Oklahoma shows off a deep running back corps to win what amounts to a "pick 'em" .
6) No. 21 Missouri (-10.5) at Arkansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN3
Only getting 10.5 points against a Sun Belt team, albeit the defending champions, shows that Vegas doubts the Tigers this season. I'm not the only one. Reputation is the only thing keeping me from taking the Red Wolves.
7) No. 20 Boise State (-2) at BYU, 9:15 p.m., ESPN2
Although it lost starting quarterback Taysom Hill, BYU had a "prayer" answered to beat Nebraska in Lincoln. New Tanner Mangam, will have a "cross to bear" as he starts his first collegiate game. Fans will look to him to be their "savior," but take the Broncos who will succeed in their "mission," winning by at least a field goal.
8) No. 10 Georgia (-20) at Vanderbilt, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Uncle Verne and Gary begin their tour of SEC stadiums this week as they travel to Nashville for what one can only imagine is their only visit of the season. No one should HAVE to watch a complete Commodores game. Except for coach Derek Mason. He did this and should be the sole view of this dumpster fire. Taking this big of a number for a road team in a conference game is a no-no. Except when you play the 2015 Vanderbilt Commodores
9) Oregon State at Michigan (-16), 11 a.m., ABC
Have you heard? Jim Harbaugh is coaching the Wolverines. He makes his home debut tomorrow. It will be as rowdy as an 11 o'clock atmosphere can get. Being that it is a 9 a.m. kickoff for the Beavers does not help their case (See Stanford vs. Northwestern last week). The Fightin' Pleated Khakis cover after a slow start during an emotional day.
10) Georgia State at New Mexico State (-6), 7 p.m., ESPN3 7 of 48, 14%
This has potential to be the worst football game of all time. Unless you are the ultimate "glass half full" guy, hoping that two negatives make a positive. These teams have combined for seven wins over their last 48 games. That's a bleak 14% win percentage. To be honest, I haven't done a lot of film study for this game, but I'll still take the Aggies.
Last week's record: 5-4
Because Oregon-Eastern Washington didn't have a line set, here is one more pick to get to an even 20 games on the season: Temple at Cincinnati (-6). I like the Bearcats in a classic letdown game for the Owls.