Friday Night College Football Schedule and Open Thread

Night 2 of the five-day college football opening weekend extravaganza. It’s the sacred night for high school football in most of the country, so that means the schedule is pretty light — there are no NAIA games tonight.

Still, this schedule is interesting for... other reasons.

5:00 PM CT: North Carolina at Virginia Tech (ESPN)

I always like Week 1 conference games. Coaches hate them, of course, but if I have my choice between a conference game, a bland neutral-site game, or a buy game, I’m definitely picking the conference game. Anyway, Virginia Tech is either going to fire Justin Fuente this year or they’re going to be good. North Carolina is ranked in the top 10.

6:00 PM CT: Duke at Charlotte (CBS Sports Network)

Catch David Cutcliffe while you can. Also, Will Healy is still at Charlotte. Will Healy could be Duke’s coach at this time next year, I guess.

6:00 PM CT: Old Dominion at Wake Forest (ACC Network)

Did you guys know that Wake Forest is back on the schedule next year?

7:00 PM CT: South Dakota at Kansas (ESPN+)

The Lance Leipold era at Kansas debuts. Kansas is playing an FCS team. Kansas playing an FCS team is not a gimme.

8:00 PM CT: Michigan State at Northwestern (ESPN)

See above comment about conference games in Week 1, only this might actually be unwatchable.

8:00 PM CT: Northern Colorado at Colorado (Pac-12 Network)

You probably don’t get the Pac-12 Network anyway, but even if you did, why do you want to watch an FCS team against a team coached by Karl Dorrell?

8:00 PM CT: South Dakota State at Colorado State (FS1)

So, Vanderbilt’s Week 2 opponent hosts Anchor of Gold’s favorite FCS team. Jeff Sagarin’s numbers say that South Dakota State should be favored against Colorado State. Do you want to see Vanderbilt’s Week 2 opponent fall flat on its face?

9:00 PM CT: Chapman at Pacific (stream)

The best you’re gonna do for a late game tonight is this West Coast Division III game. I am not recommending you turn away from South Dakota State-Colorado State.