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The football season continues in just a couple days, and once again there will be some conference battles to kick off a team schedule. Looking thru the picks, UCF is the clear favorite against UCONN and I fall into that camp as well. Staying in the AAC, I think Tulane Wake Forest is a compelling game. Its more a step toward bowl eligibility than conf title for both but I think Tulane has a great shot at winning. They lost alot on defense but their QB was really making strides at the end of last season. I can only assume the practice/spring ball helped him feel more comfortable with the playbook.

In the Big 10, well it was only one game but I think Minnesota handles New Mexico State. Just didn't see anything from NMSU esp at home, to suggest they get it turned around in just a few days. Northwestern at Purdue well what can you say about this one, even the spread is less than a FG. I saw a few rankings that had them literally one after the other. This looks to be the game of the night. These two are so even either could win regardless of who lines up at QB but I think Northwestern's Thorson is the difference. All signs point to him playing so I picked Northwestern to win. If he doesn't, I give Purdue the edge.

A handful of other games on Thurs too. And another handful on Friday including ARMY and the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

I can't comment on much outside of the SEC....I mean, does football exist outside the south??

I will say that Tenn fans have been annoying on Facebook and I'm hoping they get stomped by WVU. Forget my usual deference to conference and SOS...I want them trounced. badly. And some of that has to do with my personal dislike of Pruitt. He is a poisonous personality.

As far as the ACC goes, I don't see anybody else giving Clemson a run. Maybe Miami, but I don't have a lot of faith in that statement either.

Yep, it’s College Football Time!!! I’ll offer a rundown of a few games in the BIG XII that may be of interest.

Of course, of most interest to me will be WVU and Tennessee, and if you’ve never listened to call-in talk radio out of Knoxville TN, you are missing a real treat...... it makes that bunch that call into the Paul Finebaum Show sound like mental giants.

The remaining schedule for this week shows some games that might be interesting, such as Texas Tech vs Ole Miss as it’s being rumored that TT has a defense this season, along with Texas vs Maryland and if you can’t stand Lane Kiffin then you may want to watch the Oklahoma vs FAU game.

Appears the remainder of the schedule will be against, simply put, overmatched opponents...... well, maybe except for Kansas.

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So far, this Northwestern/Purdue game has been the best of the night. Going into the 4th, and it's a 7 point Wildcats lead.

Purdue kicked a field goal on the first play of the quarter ... Northwestern's lead is now just 4.

It was 31-17 at the half. The shift in moment is making this outing an interesting one.

UCF & Minnesota both rolled tonight. New Mexico State is now 0-2 in big losses. UConn proved to be no match for the Knights.

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The Northwestern Purdue game was the one with the most interest. The Northwestern offensive line is not that good and missed a lot of assignments, I thought. Neal for Purdue played well, little frustrated at game's end but that is understandable.

Under today's format, it is a big mistake to have the opening game be anything but a powder puff game. Washington and Auburn will eliminate one team for the rest of the season. Certainly, Washington if they lose, Auburn will always get the Southern excuses...(Don't want to disappoint...and it's the truth.)

Of course I didn't watch Purdue...

I watched the Heisman coronation of McKenzie Milton....He will have tremendous stats this year...

Playing against a very weak schedule. No Donovan, that is not your cue. Yet.

Thank Goodness that ‘Over Matched Week’ has arrived....... much of what I watched last night, while flipping between games, took me back to my pre-reincarnated days when I was a Roman Citizen and watched the Lions versus the Christians Game.

I finally settled on the Northwestern vs Perdue and Wake Forest vs Tulane games and Hailed Caesar for including some resemblance of Competitive Football!!!!!

Sorry, on occasion I get this overwhelming urge to beat a dead horse......

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Yeah, I missed the Tulane / Wake Forest game, unfortunately. I saw the highlights and felt as though I truly missed a Thursday night feature.

donovan wrote: Neal for Purdue played well, little frustrated at game's end but that is understandable.

You aren't kidding ... I think last night was better for for Purdue in terms of figuring things out.

Northwestern looked good early, but Purdue mounted a comeback that likely would have ended in victory if either one of two things happened differently:

(1.) Had the replay booth done its job and reviewed the pass that was clearly a fumble which Purdue jumped on, on Northwestern's side of the field --- Purdue already had the moment, and the Northwestern defense was out of gas, and did very little to stop Purdue's offense in the second half. The Boilermakers scoring a TD would have left the Wildcats with under 2 minutes to get into field goal range to tie things up.

(2.) Defensive lineman #9 [Neal] really messed up --- it's 3rs down, you stop the QB behind the line, pushing them even further away from field goal range, and you throw the quarterback onto the ground, forcefully, collecting a 15 yard personal foul penalty with just over 2 minutes on the clock ..? If the Boilermakers stood a chance of scoring, he lost them the game right then and there.

Disappointing end in deed --- Upsetting for Purdue; A Sigh of relief for Northwestern.

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