Week 2 college football TV schedule and open thread

The Florida Gators won’t be taking the field today, but there are still plenty of other games remaining throughout the day for you to get your college football fix with.

A certain impending natural disaster may be looming heavy on your mind, and that weather event has impacted the college football landscape already. Florida, Florida State, and South Florida each moved their game times earlier on Saturday before ultimately cancelling them, Miami cancelled their game outright initially, Florida International moved their game to Birmingham, Alabama, and UCF originally moved their meeting up to Friday before cancelling it altogether.

If you’re a Florida resident, or located anywhere in Hurricane Irma’s potential path, hopefully you and yours are already safe and prepared for this dangerous weather event. Irma is a catastrophic storm that has already claimed lives in the double-digits and caused untold damage.

But while the sunshine state is bracing for impact and dealing with Irma’s approach, football and fandom go on around the country.

The morning and afternoon shifts of games aren’t necessarily the most inspiring on paper, but the night shift picks up considerable steam with four match-ups of top-25 teams on deck this evening. Among those four tilts you’ll find a meeting of two top-five teams and two match-ups of top-15 teams.

Feel free to hang out in this thread while watching any of today’s games.

Here are our picks for today’s viewing windows:

Early (12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Eastern)

Iowa at Iowa State (12:00 p.m., ESPN2): One of college football’s early season rivalry games, the battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy commences this weekend, with both teams having earned victories in their openers. The Hawkeyes opened on the road, handing Wyoming a 24-3 loss, while the Cyclones defeated Northern Iowa, 42-24. Like the Gators, Iowa State also picked up a pair of pick-six touchdowns last week.

Louisville at UNC (12:00 p.m., ESPN): Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and the No. 17 Cardinals were nearly upset by Purdue last week, and now face the Tar Heels, who are coming off of a loss to Cal. Both teams had numerous fumbles last week and some penalty issues. This one might not be pretty, but maybe it will be that certain kind of sloppy entertaining that games that don’t involve your team can sometimes be.

Cincinnati at Michigan (12:00 p.m., ABC): I know many may not really want to watch the No. 8 Wolverines again, but the noon game slate isn’t exactly loaded. Michigan seems to be a legitimately good team, and the Bearcats couldn’t score into the second quarter against FCS Austin Peay. This might be a lopsided victory for the maize and blue.

In other games: Also in the noon slot - Will Grier and the Mountaineers are going to light it up at home against East Carolina, who was overwhelmed by, and lost to, FCS James Madison last week (so you can wistfully watch that if you want, I guess!); and Lane Kiffin and FAU travel to No. 9 Wisconsin - the Owls are one of the very few Florida teams playing this week.

Afternoon (3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern)

TCU at Arkansas 3:30 p.m., CBS): These two teams met last season in Fort Worth, and this time it’s the Hogs’ turn to host. Arkansas won last year in a double overtime thriller. The Horned Frogs hosed Jackson State in their opener, 63-0, while the Razorbacks bulldozed Florida A&M, 49-7. We don’t know much about these teams yet, but this game may be fun and feature its fair share of points.

Pittsburgh at Penn State (3:30 p.m., ABC): The No. 4 Nittany Lions rolled over Akron in their opener, 52-0, while the Panthers escaped with a 28-21 win over Youngstown State after blowing a three touchdown lead. Last year, Pitt defeated Penn State and eventual national champion Clemson, but the Panthers have lost several players to the NFL and offensive coordinator Matt Canada to LSU.

Western Michigan at Michigan State (3:30 p.m., BTN): Despite losing head coach P.J. Fleck to Minnesota, the Broncos are still potent and can still entertain. Western Michigan led until the third quarter with USC in their opener, and could certainly put a similar scare into the Spartans - who had to overcome a sloppy start of their own to eventually defeat Bowling Green last week.

In other games: You could also scout the Gators’ next opponent, Tennessee, as they host Indiana State at 4:00 p.m.; or watch Fresno State at No. 1 Alabama at 3:30 p.m., or Nebraska at Oregon at 4:30 p.m.

Evening (7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Eastern)

Auburn at Clemson (7:00 p.m., ESPN): The first of several ranked match-ups this evening is between the No. 13 Tigers from Alabama and the No. 3 Tigers from South Carolina, who met last season in a narrow Clemson victory. The defending national champions should have Death Valley rocking for this rematch.

Oklahoma at Ohio State (7:30 p.m., ABC): In another rematch of an early season bout from last year, the No. 5 Sooners visit the No. 2 Buckeyes. Like the contest between Florida State and Alabama last week, this game is being marketed as having potential CFB Playoff implications given that the two teams are ranked in the top-five.

Georgia at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m., NBC): The No. 15 Bulldogs will again turn to freshman quarterback Jake Fromm while Jacob Eason is sidelined by an injury. Both teams want to run and this game, like so many, will likely be won in the trenches.

Stanford at USC (8:30 p.m., FOX): Could this be a preview of the Pac-12 Championship game? It’s being billed as such! The No. 14 Cardinal visit the No. 6 Trojans. I already mentioned USC’s opener against Western Michigan so I’ll note that Stanford demolished Rice 62-7 in theirs.

In other games: I think the above options should be sufficiently entertaining, but you could also watch an SEC East battle between South Carolina and Missouri at 7:00 p.m., I guess. The late night (post-10:00 p.m.) schedule also features some decent fare, including Utah at BYU, Boise State at No. 20 Washington State, and Houston at Arizona.

And here’s your schedule table for today.