Week 0 Watching Guide
A quick breakdown of all the games you can watch, and why you should or shouldn' watch them
Tomorrow, there’s football. Is there a lot of it? No. But there is college football being played. Week Zero is upon us.
Each week, you’ll get a Viewing Guide from me breaking down the games on air the weekend coming up and how to watch them. There’ll be a quick blurb to help you decide which of the many games to tune into or dial into your multi-screen setup of choice.
So, without further ado, let’s tackle the Week Zero lineup. All times are Eastern. Rankings are from the AP, with CFB Dawgs’ in parentheses.
Saturday, August 26
2:30 p.m.
Navy vs. 13(15) Notre Dame (Dublin, Ireland) NBC
Navy has a new coach. Notre Dame has a new quarterback and offensive coordinator. I fully expect the Irish to win on home(?) soil in resounding fashion.
5:30 p.m.
UTEP at Jacksonville State (CBS Sports Network)
It’s not the most intriguing matchup, but CUSA starting conference play in Week Zero is kind of fun, right? Also, this is Jacksonville State’s first game as an FBS team, and their Rich Rodriguez-led offense should be a lot of fun.
7:00 p.m.
UMass at New Mexico State (ESPN)
Another not great matchup. If you want to tune in, it’ll be because New Mexico State made a bowl last year, and head coach Jerry Kill and quarterback Diego Pavia have this program trending in the right direction.
Ohio at San Diego State (FS1)
This is the best game in the window, by far. Ohio has a strong offense behind Kurtis Rourke. San Diego State is a good team. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the best game of Week Zero.
7:30 p.m.
Hawaii at Vanderbilt (SEC Network)
Yeah, so this is a game that’s going to be played. Hawaii is not a good football team. Vandy’s stadium is still under construction. Maybe stick to the Ohio-SDSU game.
8:00 p.m.
San Jose State at 6(4) USC (PAC-12 Network)
If you have the PAC-12 Network (nobody does, it’s okay), this will be a decent game to watch. And by decent, I mean beatdown. USC will dominate the Spartan vs. Trojan battle. Maybe we can see if USC has a passable defense?
9:00 p.m.
Florida International at Louisiana Tech (CBS Sports Network)
This is another conference matchup, so there’s that, right? Louisiana Tech is definitely the better team, but I could see some chaos breaking out in Ruston, Louisiana overnight.
And there we have it. Which games are you looking forward to? Will any of the Top 25 teams be upset? And why does the CUSA insist on conference games to open the season?