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We had plenty of fun at Tennessee and Virginia Tech’s expense for playing in the Battle at Bristol, but in terms of compelling football television, the much-ballyhooed event was a resounding success. Add to it the channel changing back and forth with the Arkansas-TCU matchup last week and last Saturday night’s college football primetime was loads of fun.
On its face, Week 3 appears dead set to deliver even more high drama, with four games featuring both opponents in the top 25. Further, the noon flight already includes appointment viewing, as No. 2 FSU and No. 10 Louisville commence right after College Gameday ends (it’s on ABC, by the way).
We’re following SB Nation’s college football editor Jason Kirk in this week’s watchability quotients, a new weekly feature that’s here to help you decide whether or not you should catch bits of, say, North Dakota State at No. 13 Iowa during lulls in FSU-Louisville (you definitely should -- noon, ESPN2 and WatchESPN).
Here’s what else we’re keeping eyes on during Week 3.
Colorado at No. 4 Michigan
2:30 p.m. CT on BTN
Yes, we know that changing the channel away from CBS during Bama-Ole Miss constitutes a crime against humanity, and yes, anyone who does change the channel should be paraded about the town square and flayed alive, but Colorado could legitimately walk into the Big House and piss off a lot of Michigan Men on Saturday afternoon. All we’re here to tell you is that, whatever the hell happens in Oxford, you always have this little palate cleanser available to you. Or, if you’re a real junky, go ahead and stream this little scuffle at BTN2GO alongside your Uncle Verne and Gary broadcast. We won’t judge.
No. 17 Texas A&M at Auburn
6 p.m. CT on ESPN (streaming at WatchESPN)
Assuming we’re not subjected to TIDE AND REBS IN OVERTIME, GARY, this game could turn into a very close, slapdash affair. A&M’s defense is quite good right now, but Auburn has shown a level of competence thus far that could turn things interesting late in the game. Who knows, really, but I have high hopes for some kind of head-scratchingly stupid game management from Sumlin, Malzahn or both.
Mississippi State at No. 20 LSU
6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 (streaming at WatchESPN)
Sure, why not.
No. 3 Ohio State at No. 14 Oklahoma
6:30 p.m. CT on FOX (streaming at FOX Sports Go)
Check in on this one in the second half, if only so you can arrive at work Monday and answer in the affirmative when that lone Ohio State alum in the office asks if you caught the Buckeyes game. Man those people are insufferable.
No. 12 Michigan State at No. 18 Notre Dame
6:30 p.m. CT on NBC (streaming at NBCSports)
Speaking of insufferable northerners, the Irish in primetime! If I were to wager on one game requiring overtime to decide its not-loser, this’d probably be it. Whatever.
USC at No. 7 Stanford
7 p.m. CT on ABC (streaming at WatchESPN)
Oh hell yes. #Pac12AfterDark.
Complete schedule with TV and streaming options
Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Streaming |
(21) Baylor at Rice | 8:00 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Arkansas State at Utah State | 9:00 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Arizona State at UTSA | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Matchup | Time (ET) | TV / Streaming |
(2) Florida State at (10) Louisville | Noon | ABC / WatchESPN |
Georgia State at (9) Wisconsin | Noon | BTN / BTN2Go |
Ohio at (15) Tennessee | Noon | SECN / WatchESPN |
(25) Miami (FL) at Appalachian State | Noon | ESPN / WatchESPN |
South Carolina State at (5) Clemson | Noon | RSN / WatchESPN |
North Dakota State at (13) Iowa | Noon | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
Iowa State at TCU | Noon | FS1 / FS Go |
Kansas at Memphis | Noon | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
Temple at Penn State | Noon | BTN / BTN2Go |
New Mexico at Rutgers | Noon | ESPNEWS / WatchESPN |
Middle Tennessee at Bowling Green | Noon | ASN / ESPN3 |
Akron at Marshall | Noon | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Vanderbilt at Georgia Tech | 12:30 p.m. | ACCN / ACCNExtra |
Virginia at UConn | 1:30 p.m. | SNY / ESPN3 |
Idaho at Washington State | 2:00 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |
North Carolina A&T at Tulsa | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Florida Atlantic at Kansas State | 2:30 p.m. | FSN / FS Go |
UNLV at Central Michigan | 3:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Fresno State at Toledo | 3:00 p.m. | ESPN Extra / ESPN3 |
Eastern Kentucky at Ball State | 3:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
(1) Alabama at (19) Ole Miss | 3:30 p.m. | CBS / CBSSports.com |
Colorado at (4) Michigan | 3:30 p.m. | BTN / BTN2Go |
(22) Oregon at Nebraska | 3:30 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |
Pittsburgh at Oklahoma State | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Boston College at Virginia Tech | 3:30 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
USF at Syracuse | 3:30 p.m. | ACCNExtra |
James Madison at North Carolina | 3:30 p.m. | RSN / WatchESPN |
San Diego State at Northern Illinois | 3:30 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Western Kentucky at Miami (OH) | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN Extra/BCSN/TWC / ESPN3 |
FIU at UMass | 3:30 p.m. | ASN / ESPN3 |
Monmouth at Kent State | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN3 |
East Carolina at South Carolina | 4:00 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
New Mexico State at Kentucky | 4:00 p.m. | SECN alternate / WatchESPN |
Western Michigan at Illinois | 4:00 p.m. | ESPNEWS / WatchESPN |
Northern Colorado at Colorado State | 4:00 p.m. | ROOT Sports / MWN |
UC Davis at Wyoming | 4:00 p.m. | WyoVision / MWN |
Idaho State at Oregon State | 5:00 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |
Old Dominion at NC State | 6:00 p.m. | ACCNExtra / WatchESPN |
ULM at Georgia Southern | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Eastern Michigan at Charlotte | 6:00 p.m. | CUSA.TV |
Delaware at Wake Forest | 6:30 p.m. | ACCNExtra / WatchESPN |
(17) Texas A&M at Auburn | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Mississippi State at (20) LSU | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
Louisiana Tech at Texas Tech | 7:00 p.m. | FSN / FS Go |
Maryland at UCF | 7:00 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Navy at Tulane | 7:00 p.m. | ASN/NESN / ESPN3 |
Army at UTEP | 7:00 p.m. | ASN |
South Alabama at UL Lafayette | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
Troy at Southern Miss | 7:00 p.m. | beIN SPORTS |
Liberty at SMU | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3 |
(3) Ohio State at (14) Oklahoma | 7:30 p.m. | FOX / FS Go |
(12) Michigan State at (18) Notre Dame | 7:30 p.m. | NBC / NBCSports.com |
(16) Georgia at Missouri | 7:30 p.m. | SECN / WatchESPN |
North Texas at (23) Florida | 7:30 p.m. | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
Texas State at (24) Arkansas | 7:30 p.m. | SECN alternate / WatchESPN |
USC at (7) Stanford | 8:00 p.m. | ABC / WatchESPN |
Portland State at (8) Washington | 8:00 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |
Duke at Northwestern | 8:00 p.m. | BTN / BTN2Go |
Buffalo at Nevada | 9:00 p.m. | MWN |
UCLA at BYU | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
(11) Texas at California | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN / WatchESPN |
Utah at San Jose State | 10:30 p.m. | CBSSN / CBSSports.com |
Hawaii at Arizona | 10:45 p.m. | Pac-12N / Pac-12.com |