Games to Watch: Week 3

We're skipping the week 2 wrap up this week due to time.  I was still going on a celebratory high after the Virginia Tech win against Ohio State on Saturday night, so I wouldn't have been able to put together too many coherent thoughts.

No one's had more than 1 conference game, if any, so the conference races haven't even really started.  And since the CFP is brand new, there's no telling if any team has truly been eliminated yet.

In week 3, we start to see some storylines emerge.  We even have one conference give us two divisional games.

Saturday, September 13
Noon
East Carolina at Virginia Tech, ESPN.  VT's back in the rankings, and hopefully the Hokies do better than they did with their two week stint last season.  After a big win in the Horseshoe last week, this game has suddenly become the most important game of the season.  ECU is no foe to be overlooked though.  The Pirates have played the Hokies close several times in this series, and have given fits to other ACC and SEC teams in recent years.

Kent State at Ohio State, ABC/ESPN2. I'm interested to see how Ohio State bounces back after a huge letdown last week.  In some ways, it's the first "normal" game of the season for them, following Navy's triple option offense, and VT's in-your-face-blitz-all-night defense.

12:30 PM
Louisville at UVA, ACC Network.  I'm not sure what to make of UVA this year.  They acted completely inept in week 1, but still played UCLA close.  Then, they just demolished Richmond last weekend.  Louisville is expected to be a major player in the ACC Atlantic.

3:30 PM
Georgia at South Carolina, CBS.  This is where we find out where the power in the SEC East is.

7:30 PM
Kentucky at Florida, SEC Network.  Maybe we can finally figure out if we're getting good Florida or bad Florida this year.  By the end of this game, though, we'll start to see the SEC East picture take shape.

8 PM
Tennessee at Oklahoma, ABC.  Another marquee non-conference game, with probably more on the line for Oklahoma than Tennessee.

USC at Boston College, ESPN.  This just seems kind of random to me, with east meets west.

UCLA vs. Texas, Fox.  Talk about two teams who have underperformed.  While UCLA has at least won both games so far, it's been very unconvincing.