Week 4 Football: What to watch

NC State fell in the SP+ rankings from 51st to 60th despite winning against Wake Forest. Here’s what Bill Connelly had to say about it from the below linked SP+ Ratings article:

NC State moving down nine spots after a win seems harsh, but SP+ really isn’t a fan of Wake Forest, and as you see above, the teams in that No. 55-64 range are extremely packed together. So they probably didn’t fall as far as it seems.

The fact that State ranks barely ahead of teams like Western Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, and Duke just seems plain wrong. And as someone who has watched all seven games thus far this season involving those four teams, I can definitely say that SP+ has some major adjusting to do.

The big news this weekend is that the SEC kicks off their slate of games, finally joining in on the fun. There could be some fun games there, but I’d bank on more blowouts than close ones.

Oh, and hi there, Eli Drinkwitz! Welcome to the SEC! There’s a Mr. Saban who came by to greet you.

That Friday night game between MTSU and UTSA may seem like horrible football, but could be pretty entertaining in a “horrible football can be entertaining” sort of way. Neither offense is particularly good, but both defenses are atrocious. Give me the over on points.

ECU kicks off their season by hosting an ABC-televised game against a UCF team that just demolished Georgia Tech. Pray for me, y’all.

The Louisville-Pitt game is an interesting match of opposites. Who wins? Louisville’s really good offense against Pitt’s elite defense, or Pitt’s really bad offense against Louisville’s even worse defense? I think I just talked myself into Pitt winning this game, but then again Pitt loses every game you think they’re going to win, so...

Don’t watch GT @ Syracuse. That’s not a joke; it’s legitimately going to be awful football.

LSU kicks off their title defense against Mississippi State as we all get to find out whether Ed Orgeron is going to build a sustainable powerhouse or if he’s just LSU’s Gene Chizik.

Have you ever been less excited for a Florida State vs Miami game? I mean, I’m sure I have, I just can’t think of when. Well, okay, it was last year, but still...

Enjoy the 2nd half of the Troy-BYU game while you try and calm your heart down before bed after the State game.

Most importantly... Go State!

Rankings for SP+ Ratings and Sagarin Ratings listed, respectively, ahead of each team’s name. [Note: SP+ added in the Big 10 teams and is now ranking the 91 teams that are playing whereas Sagarin is ranking all 257 FBS and FCS teams, so there are going to be some significant discrepancies between the two.]

Thursday

56/104 UAB @ 83/120 South Alabama - 7:30pm - ESPN

Friday

89/143 Middle Tennessee @ 86/125 UTSA - 8:00pm - CBSSN

Saturday

14/15 UCF @ 73/111 East Carolina - 12:00pm - ABC

62/55 Kansas State @ 9/5 Oklahoma - 12:00pm - FOX

5/14 Florida @ 31/45 Ole Miss - 12:00pm - ESPN

20/33 Kentucky @ 11/6 Auburn - 12:00pm - SECN

82/98 Georgia Southern @ 43/58 Louisiana-Lafayette - 12:00pm - ESPN2

35/57 Louisville @ 24/34 Pittsburgh - 12:00pm - ACCN

51/75 Georgia Tech @ 75/73 Syracuse - 12:00pm - ESPN3

68/116 Georgia State @ 80/142 Charlotte - 12:00pm - ESPNU

FCS/207 Campbell @ 45/52 Appalachian State - 12:00pm - ESPN+

76/110 Florida International @ 71/107 Liberty - 1:00pm - ESPN3

37/53 Iowa State @ 33/27 TCU - 1:30pm - FS1

39/25 Mississippi State @ 13/7 LSU - 3:30pm - CBS

10/12 Texas @ 61/87 Texas Tech - 3:30pm - FOX

53/71 Army @ 19/39 Cincinnati - 3:30pm - ESPN

42/40 West Virginia @ 32/16 Oklahoma State - 3:30pm - ABC

4/8 Georgia @ 55/82 Arkansas - 4:00pm - SECN

66/60 Duke @ 34/49 Virginia - 4:00pm - ACCN

87/127 Texas State @ 47/42 Boston College - 6:00pm - ESPN3

2/2 Alabama @ 36/46 Missouri - 7:00pm - ESPN

46/54 Florida State @ 21/36 Miami - 7:30pm - ABC

16/32 Tennessee @ 28/41 South Carolina - 7:30pm - SECN

60/61 NC State @ 27/44 Virginia Tech - 8:00pm - ACCN

52/85 Troy @ 29/22 BYU - 10:15pm - ESPN