College Football's 2018 season begins this weekend with a slate of, well, less than impressing games. Week zero has not been a huge hit since being introduced, simply because of the early start and the hesitance of larger programs to take on the early start date.
That said, week one, one week from Thursday, starts a weekend full of some better than usual tilts that will take up our attention for all of Labor Day weekend. Here is my top viewing guide for both weeks:
Grades and their meanings
A: Must watch TV. Get in front of your TV and stay there.
B: Solid TV watch or match up. Make sure you set the DVR, at the very least.
C: Pay attention, but don't schedule your life around it.
D: Maybe give it a look on a ticker, but don't go out of your way looking for it.
F: If you had to get a root canal, or wash a farm animal, those are better uses of your time.
Zero Week
Duquesne at U Mass: Duquesne has only ever played one FBS opponent, and lost. U Mass gets a rare early win here. Grade: F
Prairie View at Rice: Rice won the last meeting 65-44. Maybe we see the same offensive fireworks? Rice wins. Grade: F
Hawaii at Colorado State: I would stay away from this one at the book, as Mike Bobo is still in the hospital for the Rams. CSU has the talent to win big, however, in the earliest Mountain West start in school history. Grade: D
Wyoming at New Mexico State: The Cowboys are only favored by 4, but that is simply being overly cautious. The Cowboys cruise to the win, as they have a top 10 defense nationally. Grade: D
North Carolina A&T at Jacksonville State: The Aggies of A&T may be the class of the MEAC, but Jacksonville State should be a top 5 team in FCS football. It won't be a run away win, but the Gamecocks should pull it out. Grade: A-
Week One
August 30th
UCF at U Conn: U Conn is not nearly in class with the UCF Knights in this AAC opener. UCF cruises to an easy season opening win. Grade: D
New Mexico State at Minnesota: The Aggies should be coming off of a loss to Wyoming 5 days earlier, and their rebuilt offense is up against a Gophers offense that will be starting a walk-on freshman QB. Grade: F
Central Connecticut State at Ball State: CCSU should be one of the better teams in the FCS Northeast Conference, but even with Ball State being as bad as they currently are, the Cardinals should still roll here. Grade: F
Kennesaw State at Georgia State: GSU lost their season and stadium opener last season to Tennessee State, and Kennesaw State is leaps and bounds better than the Tigers were a year ago. Look for the Owls to put the GSU Panthers on upset watch. Grade: C
SE Louisiana at UL-Monroe: SELU should not be much of a challenge for a ULM team looking to make a push in Sun Belt play. Grade: D
Northwestern at Purdue: This is a huge early game for hierarchy in the Big 10 West. The winner could coast to second place depending on how the rest of the season pans out. Probably one of the most fascinating early games of the season. Grade: A
Wake Forest at Tulane: We are looking to see how far Willie Fritz can push Tulane in 2018, and they could be a team to watch in the AAC West. Wake Forest has some holes to fill, and they don't normally fill those spots quickly. Grade: C
Savannah State at UAB: The Tigers of SSU keep on scheduling beat downs just to stay alive in the football realm a program on a financial level. UAB will be glad to provide said beat down. Grade: F
Missouri State at Oklahoma State: The Cowboys should rack up around 60 in this complete and utter mismatch against the Bears from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Grade: F
Weber State at Utah: The Wildcats of the Big Sky could be tough enough to push Utah, at least for a half. The Utes can be slow starters under Kyle Whittingham. Grade: C
Northwestern State at Texas A&M: Nobody can defend SEC non con scheduling with games like these. The Aggies should be embarrassed with this clunker on their schedule. Grade: F
UC Davis at San Jose State: Make it official, and place the Spartans on FCS upset alert this week, as Dan Hawkins brings his Aggies in with a chance to win. Grade: F
FCS Lineup
Bowie State at Wagner...Grade: D...Bowie State can hang for about a half here, but all Wagner after.
Tennessee Tech at Chattanooga...Grade: C...Interesting OVC/SoCon tilt to start the year.
Morehead State at E. Kentucky...Grade: D...EKU should get early easy win here.
Rhode Island at Delaware...Grade: C...Any Colonial game is strong, but URI is a basement dweller.
New Hampshire at Maine...Grade: A...Early CAA conference game has playoff implications later.
Chowan at Campbell...Grade: F...Campbell cruises against D2 foe in opener.
Quincy at Indiana State...Grade: F...Indiana State may pick up their only win all year in this one.
S. Illinois at Murray State...Grade: B...Both teams trying to climb ladders in MVC, OVC.
Mississippi Valley St. at North Dakota...Grade: D...UND plays as Independent for one season.
Shorter at Samford...Grade: F...Samford should score 70 in this complete dumpster fire game.
W. Illinois at Montana State...Grade: B...Bobcats trying to climb back up in Big Sky, WIU is tough.
August 31st FBS
Syracuse at Western Michigan: Broncos should be improved in year 2 under Tim Lester, and Syracuse cannot afford to lose this opener, or else Dino Babers' seat really starts scorching early. This is not a guaranteed win for the Orange. Grade: B
Monmouth at Eastern Michigan: EMU has to get wins somewhere, I guess, and Chris Creighton needs all he can get. Should be a fairly easy Eagles win over Monmouth. Grade: F
Utah State at Michigan State: The Spartans are a borderline top 10 team to start the season. USU is not close to that. Spartans win walking away. Grade: F
Army at Duke: Duke should show some improvement this season, but Army is as good as they have been in 70 years. Duke may be a home favorite here, but Army will have something to say about that. Grade: B
Western Kentucky at Wisconsin: The success that WKU has had in recent years appears to be over with now. Wisconsin is a popular back room pick to pull an upset and win the Big 10. Do the math.
Grade: C
San Diego State at Stanford: Remember back to last year when SDSU beat the Cardinal? Guess what? It can happen again. The Aztecs are rock solid in this match up, even without Rashaad Penny coming back. Grade: A
Portland State at Nevada: The Vikings will be hard pressed to finish outside of the basement in Big Sky play, so this is one that Nevada can grab for an easy early win at home. Grade: F
Colorado at Colorado State (Denver): These two schools hate each other. That much is clear. Colorado may not be great this season, but they should be able to role up a solid win in this intense rivalry series in the Rockies. Grade: B
FCS Lineup
Western State at Idaho State...Grade: F...The Bengals of the Big Sky get a much needed early win, and wins will be hard to come by in 2018.
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