It’s week two of the 2022 season and already the top of the rankings is starting to take on a familiar look. However, there is still a long way to go and as history has shown plenty can go wrong. Although most eyes will be on the big games this weekend there are a few non-ranked affairs which are worth your attention including the Iowa State v Iowa clash. The top 25 games are listed below, some of which like last week features all ranked teams.
All The Ranked Games
20 Kentucky @ 12 Florida
9 Baylor @ 21 BYU
24 Tennessee @ 17 Pittsburgh
The all-SEC clash between the Wild Cats & The Gators is probably the most interesting of the three. The Gators were unranked to start the season but knocked off then No. 7 Utah to jump to No 12. Is that a little high? Well, we will find out on Saturday.
If Anthony Richardson can repeat his heroics at QB in this one we might see Florida in the top 10. Just shows how meaningless pre-season rankings can be.
Tennessee was similarly unranked to begin and if they as we expect leave Pennsylvania with a win they too will be pushing for the top 10.
Power Five Clashes
1 Alabama @ Texas
Washington St. @ 19 Wisconsin
23 Wake Forest @ Vanderbilt
10 USC @ Stanford
Arizona St. @ 11 Okla. St.
It’s not easy to see an upset occurring in any of the above and Texas will probably get a hard introduction to what life will be like when they finally jump ship and join the SEC. USC had plenty of pre-season hype and so far looks like the pick of a disappointing PAC12. They should see off Stanford with the minimum of fuss on their way to consolidating their top 10 places. Washington State is difficult to judge this year. We rate them quite highly but are not sure they are good enough to get a win at Wisconsin. However, it could be a lot closer than the line suggests.
All FBS Games
So. Miss @ 15 Miami (Fla.)
South Carolina @ 16 Arkansas
Arkansas St. @ 3 Ohio St.
Marshall @ 8 Notre Dame
App. St. @ 6 Texas A&M
25 Houston @ Texas Tech
Akron @ 14 Michigan St.
Kent St. @ 7 Oklahoma
Hawaii @ 4 Michigan
Another batch of largely early season mismatches but there is usually an upset early on so watch out. South Carolina @ Arkansas should be quite competitive and Houston will need to play better too if they are to escape their trip to Texas Tech with a win. It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame can get their offense moving against a Sun Belt team. Their QB play was not good in week one.
FCS v FBS
Samford @ 2 Georgia
Furman @ 5 Clemson
Charleston So. @ 18 NC State
So. Utah @ 13 Utah
Cent. Ark. @ 22 Ole Miss
A heap of what should be one-sided wins here and the chance for both Utah & NC State to get back on track following disappointing openers.
Other Games Worth Watching
Image: Richard Paul Kane/Shutterstock.com
Ohio @ Penn State
Iowa State @ Iowa
Virginia @ Illinois
Mississippi State @ Arizona
Several fringe top 25 teams here, headed by Penn State who in our opinion should have been Top 25 pre-season. They had a nice win at Purdue last week and although beating Ohio is far from a quality win a good showing should catch the voter’s eye.
Iowa was dire against FCS opposition last week! Iowa State also played an FCS team, but at least they put them to the sword. Neither looks good enough to figure in their respective conferences this year so this one is likely for bragging rights.
As ACC – Big Ten clashes go Virginia v Illinois doesn’t rank amongst the most anticipated. However, a win for the Cavaliers would set them up nicely in their quest for Bowl eligibility. Win this one and who knows they could be 4-0 and ranked by October.
Miss State v Arizona is another interesting clash, with both likely to struggle to reach bowl eligibility. The Bulldogs have games against six currently ranked teams on the schedule post-September so getting to six wins may depend on them winning these inter-conference clashes.
PAC 12 v MW
Oregon State @ Fresno State
Colorado @ Air Force
Oregon State has already knocked off Boise in their opener, and they could make it two from two. However, Fresno looks like stiffer competition. If the Beavers emerge victorious in this one they could be PAC 12 dark horses Airforce is our tip for the MW championship this year and a win over a Power Five team will be a nice confidence booster.
C-USA’s Chance To Shine
UTSA @ Army
UAB @ Liberty
Conference USA has lost a lot of its members this year, however, the likely top two have the chance to shine when they both play good FBS Independent programmes this weekend. Either come out with a win will be a good result.
On A Hiding To Nothing
Eastern Washington @ Oregon
This is not the fixture the Ducks wanted after their opening week drubbing by Georgia. It saw them slide out of the top 25 completely having been No 11 pre-season. This is a no-win situation for them. Beat an FCS team and no one cares, lose to them and their chances of ever seeing the top 25 again are slim to non-existent. The Eagles are a pretty good FCS team and although we don’t see a shock it might not be as easy as the spread would suggest.
High Score Alert
North Carolina @ Georgia State
The Tar Heels’ offense has been on fire in their opening two games, amassing 119 points! Mind you their defense has been a lot less impressive. The over/Under is currently 65 and we wouldn’t be surprised if the over was the way to go.
So that’s our quick look at week’s twos games. Before you go why not check out our week one roundup and check back next week for week three’s Games.
