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It's only week 3, but we are already being treated to a solid weekend schedule of interesting games, a lot of which is due to the last round of realignment that was perpetrated by the breakup of the PAC-12.
Thus, we have the Apple Cup and the Civil War this weekend instead of late November or early December. We also Arizona's first conference game as a Big 12 member as the Wildcats head to the Little Apple to face Kansas State in a battle of two teams expected to vie for the conference title.
The Civil War and Apple Cup are traditional season-ending rivalries, but with Oregon and Washington exiting for the B1G while Oregon State and Washington State were left behind in the exodus of PAC-12 schools, the administrations had to move these to the non-conference section of the schedule as it was the only part they could control.
As a result, we have both games being played earlier in the season than they ever have. The Civil War has never been played earlier than October 13. Washington and Washington State last played before November in 1948.
The Ducks have a 68-49-10 lead over the Beavers, while the Huskies are 76-33-6 versus the Cougars.
This year's meetings will be held in Corvallis and Seattle, respectively. The Civil War will be on Oregon State's campus, while the Apple Cup will be played at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks.
Just 10 conference games involving only 20 of the 134 FBS schools have been played, and four of those were in the ACC with two of those involving Florida State. There have been two in the American, and one each in the B1G, CUSA, the MWC and the SEC. The Big 12, MAC and Sun Belt haven't had any.
Conference games this week are still few and far between.
You can add another Big 12 matchup to that list with UCF at TCU. There are three SEC games with Texas A&M at Florida, LSU at South Carolina, and Georgia at Kentucky, while the B1G has Indiana headed west for UCLA's first contest in its new league.
Meanwhile, Liberty hosts UTEP in a clash between the best and worst of CUSA.
Interconference games are still aplenty, featuring the 107th Backyard Brawl with West Virginia at Pittsburgh. Alabama and Wisconsin will hold just their third all-time meeting when they go toe-to-toe in Madison, and Boston College travels to Missouri for the second game between those two schools.
Elsewhere, Oklahoma hosts a dangerous Tulane squad that almost took down Kansas City last weekend while the Sooners struggled to beat Houston 16-12 after the Cougars were crushed 27-7 at home by UNLV.
Notre Dame visits Purdue in a state rivalry that used to be played annually, but this is just the second meeting in the last 10 years. After meeting on a neutral field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2014 (Irish, 30-14), they didn't meet again until the Irish hosted in 2021 and took their eighth straight victory in the series by a 27-13 count.
Toledo at Mississippi State is intriguing as the computer has the visiting Rockets winning outright. It's one of the computer's projected upsets this week in Feature Picks.
Conversely, Ole Miss at Wake Forest looks like a lopsided affair with the Rebels favored by 23.5 and the computer projecting an even wider margin at 26.17 points.
Maryland goes to Virginia as a 'return game' after the schools rekindled their old ACC rivalry in College Park in 2023 with the Terps romping 42-13. They will meet for the 80th time this week with Maryland favored by 2.5 to add to its rivalry lead of 45-32-2. The computer likes the Terrapins by 4.89.
Florida State will be looking for its first win, but it won't be easy. The winless 'Noles (0-2, 0-2 ACC) are just 6.5-point favorites over a visiting Memphis team that's 2-0 and is the highest school among the non-Power conferences at No. 20 in the Congrove Computer Rankings.
FIU will navigate the south Florida 'concrete jungle' and head an hour north from Miami to Boca Raton to face FAU in the annual Shula Bowl. The Owls lead the series 16-5 and are 5.5-point favorites by the oddsmakers to take another one from the Panthers, but the computer has the visitors by 1.98.
Colorado State will try to see if it can rebound from last season's late collapse at Colorado when the Buffaloes rallied for a 43-35 win in double-overtime after trailing nearly the entire game. The teams are meeting on the CSU campus for the first time since 1996.
The Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio) Victory Bell is the oldest between non-conference, having been established in 1888. The computer has the home Redhawks favored in a rout by 22.61 points, but the sportsbooks have the Bearcats by 3.5 in the 128th edition of this game.
The weekend kicks off with Arizona State at Texas State with the oddsmakers booking the Sun Devils as scant 1.5-point favorites, while the computer sez the Bobcats have a shocking 18.01-point edge.
See the complete schedule and picks.
There are just 11 games between FBS and FCS schools this week after 90 were logged in the firs two weeks of the season. Last week, FCS schools were 3-26 as St. Francis (Pa.) downed Kent State, Idaho beat Wyoming, Southern Utah defeated UTEP in overtime.
For the season, FBS programs are 86-4 against the FCS schools. They were 114-4 last year. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,886-156 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
These were the FCS wins in 2023:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23
In 2024, there are 121 scheduled scheduled matchups between FBS and FCS schools with 119 schools playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
This year, 15 schools do not play a FCS opponent and 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, are repeats from last year's list of schools that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
GEORGIA - Won 41 straight regular season games, 26 straight at home, and 15 straight true road wins.
Last: Won 48-3 vs. Tennessee Tech (FCS) on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Kentucky on Saturday, September 14.
MICHIGAN - Had won 16 straight over-all. Still owns a 26-game conference winning streak.
Last: Lost 31-12 at home to Texas on Saturday, September 7
Next: Hosts Arkansas State on Saturday, September 14.
ARIZONA - Won 9 straight over-all.
Last: Won 22-10 at home over FCS member Northern Arizona.
Next: at Big 12 opponent Kansas State on Saturday, September 14 (designated as a non-conference game).
KENT STATE - Lost 11 straight over-all
Last: Lost 23-17 at home to FCS member St. Francis (PA) on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Tennessee on Saturday, September 14.
ULM - Had lost 10 straight over-all. Has still lost 10 straight conference games.
Last: Won 32-6 at home over UAB on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Texas on Saturday, September 21 after a bye week.
STANFORD - Had lost 10 straight home games.
Last: Won 41-7 at home over FCS member Cal Poly on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Syracuse on Friday, September 20.
CHARLOTTE - Lost 6 straight home games.
Last: Lost 38-20 at North Carolina on Saturday, September 7.
Next: Hosts FCS member Gardner-Webb on Saturday, September 14.
UTEP - Lost 6 straight home games.
Last: Lost 27-24 in overtime to FCS member Southern Utah on Saturday, September 7.
Next: Visits Liberty on Saturday, September 14.
TEMPLE - Lost 16 straight true road games.
Last: Lost 38-11 at Navy on Saturday, September 7
Next: Hosts Coastal Carolina on Saturday, September 14.