It’s week three of the college football season and we’ve already had. a crazy season so far. Close games, unexpected upsets. Just how we wanted to start the new era of college football. This week gets a little more interesting. There are a few early rivalry games due to the conference realignment. Several ranked teams also go on the road to face tricky opponents. Here are five games you need to know about.
No. 20 Arizona Wildcats @ No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats | Friday @ 7:00 p.m. CT on FOX
You could easily argue that this is the game of weekend and it’s not even on Saturday! These two teams collide for the first time as BIG 12 conference opponents. Kansas State is coming off an emotional road win at Tulane where they needed a late touchdown to win the game. Arizona looks to build momentum in new conference with a high powered offense that will be hard to stop. I think this game will have lots of points, but I think the home field advantage of Kansas State is going to prevail in this one.
Kansas State 38 | Arizona 35.
Memphis Tigers @ Florida State Seminoles | Saturday @ 11:00 a.m. CT on ESPN
I am so looking forward to this game. These are two teams who have started in complete opposite directions. Florida State is winless after losing to Georgia Tech and Boston College. Meanwhile Memphis comes in 2-0 after commanding wins over North Alabama and Troy. An 0-3 record would be absolutely demoralizing for FSU, after falling just outside of a playoff spot in 2023. According to ESPN, the Noles have a 72% to win the game. I am going for the upset in this one.
Memphis 27 | Florida State 20
No. 9 Oregon Ducks @ Oregon State Beavers | Saturday @ 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX
Most college football fans think of the Civil War taking place on the final Saturday of November, but with Oregon’s move to the BIG 10, the game was moved to earlier in the season. Oregon comes into this game looking to prove themselves in a hostile environment. The Ducks have not put up the video game numbers we expected this year; winning their first two games by only ten points or less.
Oregon State is coming off a shutout win at San Diego State where they had 420 total yards of offense and only allowed 179 total yards to the Aztecs. Based off the slow start from Oregon, I’m going with the Beavers to pull off the upset over their rivals.
Oregon State 34 Oregon 27
Washington State Cougars vs Washington Huskies | Saturday @ 2:30 p.m. CT on Peacock
It’s another traditional rivalry game in September. This time it’s the Apple Cup. Washington comes into this game undefeated in their first season since Kalen Deboer left to coach Alabama. The Huskies are still talented and have former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers running the offense. The Cougars are coming into this game off a home win over Texas Tech and a week one victory that saw them put up 70 points on Portland State. This will be a neutral site game at Lumen Field in Seattle and I expect each team’s defense to have their hands full, but I see the Huskies winning in a very close game.
Washington 45 | Washington State 40
No. 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Purdue Boliermakers | 2:30 p.m CT on CBS/Paramount Plus
A tricky week three matchup for a ranked opponent. Notre Dame heads to Purdue trying to bounce back from a shocking loss to unranked Northern Illinois. The loss makes things tricky for Notre Dame to get to the playoff. They will most likely have to win out to give themselves a chance. We haven’t seen much from Purdue this year. The Boilermakers are coming off an unusually early bye week following a week one win over Indiana State. Purdue has a history of playing the upset role at home. Many might remember the time they beat Ohio State 49-20 in 2018. I don’t expect the same kind of result on Saturday. I think the Irish win a close game.
Notre Dame 24 | Purdue 17
