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Weekly Preview For 9/23-9/25 - Conference Action Starts To Heat Up

September 19, 2021 by Staff

Heading in to this weekend's games, Alabama and Georgia remain the consensus No. 1 and 2 teams in the voter polls with Oklahoma and Oregon in either order at Nos. 3 and 4. The Congrove Computer Rankings currently have Iowa at No. 1, followed by Alabama, Texas A&M and Oklahoma with Oregon 8th and Georgia 9th.

The number of teams remaining undefeated is a mere 34 of 130 teams that comprise the FBS.

The shake-out is only just beginning as 87 of the 123 teams that belong to a conference haven't played a single conference game. That starts to change this week with 30 conference games among the 58 FBS vs. FBS contests on the docket. Fifteen of those head-to-head FBS matchups have projected computer margins under 5 points.

Alabama goes outside the conference to host Southern Miss, and Iowa hosts Colorado State. Notre Dame and Wisconsin clash at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Conference Games This Week:

ACC
Wake Forest at Virginia
Clemson at NC State
Louisville at Florida State
North Carolina at Georgia Tech

American
Navy at Houston

Big Ten
Illinois at Purdue
Rutgers at Michigan
Nebraska at Michigan State

Big 12
Iowa State at Baylor
Kansas State at Oklahoma State
West Virginia at Oklahoma
Texas Tech at Texas

CUSA
MTSU at Charlotte
North Texas at Louisiana Tech

MAC
Toledo at Ball State

MWC
UNLV at Fresno State
Boise State at Utah State

PAC-12
Arizona at Oregon
Colorado at Arizona State
California at Washington
Oregon State at USC
UCLA at Stanford
Washington State at Utah

SEC
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M at Arlington
Tennessee at Florida
Georgia at Vanderbilt
Kentucky at South Carolina
LSU at Mississippi State

Sun Belt
Louisiana at Georgia Southern
Louisiana-Monroe at Troy

Also See: This Week's Picks

FCS vs. FBS

2 teams will play 2 FCS teams this fall (UConn and UMass), and 115 teams will play 1 FCS school for a total of 117 such matchups.

96 of those 117 games have already been played and 9 more are on the agenda this week.

FBS schools are 86-10 in such games this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,555-138 (.918).

Last year, 30 FBS teams played a total of just 34 games against FCS schools and the FCS won just 1 game (1-33). That honor also went to Jacksonville State with its 19-10 victory over FIU.

Here are the FCS wins in 2021:
September 2: UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17
September 2: Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (2 OT)
September 3: South Dakota State 42, Colorado State 23
September 4: Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
September 4: Montana 13, Washington 7
September 4: ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3
September 11: Duquesne 28, Ohio 26
September 11: Jacksonville State 20, Florida State 17.
September 18: Incarnate Word 42, Texas State 34.
September 18: Northern Arizona 21, Arizona 19

This was the only FCS win vs. the FBS in 2020:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

In 2019, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games. These were the only FCS wins that season:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

Streaks

ALABAMA - Won 17 straight games overall (FBS longest).
Last: Won 31-29 at Florida on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Hosts Southern Miss on Saturday, Sept. 25.

OHIO STATE - Won 22 straight conference games (FBS longest), and 10 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 41-20 at home over Tulsa on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Hosts Akron on Saturday, Sept. 25.

NOTRE DAME - Won 18 straight regular season games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 27-13 at home over Purdue on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Versus Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 25.

CLEMSON - Won 30 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 14-8 at home over Georgia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits N.C. State on Saturday, Sept. 25.

NEW MEXICO - Lost 14 straight road games (tied with Akron for FBS longest).
Last: Lost 34-0 at Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits UTEP on Saturday, Sept. 25.

AKRON - Lost 13 straight road games (one behind New Mexico for FBS second-longest).
Last: Won 35-14 at home over Bryant (FCS) on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 25.

KANSAS - Lost 15 straight to FBS schools (tied with Arizona for FBS longest).
Last: Lost 45-7 at home to Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits Duke on Saturday, Sept. 25.

ARIZONA - Lost 15 straight over-all (FBS longest), and 14 straight to FBS schools (one behind Kansas for FBS longest).
Last: Lost 21-19 at home to FCS member Northern Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 25.

MASSACHUSETTS - Lost 14 straight over-all (FBS second-longest).
Last: Lost 42-28 at home to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 18.
Next: Visits Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 25.