College Football Cheat Sheet: SEC Showdowns

Week 2 looked underwhelming on paper. It did not turn out that way. This sport somehow finds a way to deliver the goods on pretty much about every Saturday. The card looks much improved for Week 3. Does that mean some more shenanigans? Probably.

We had big upsets, major rivalry wins, incredible blowouts, and howling home underdogs last week. Now we shift into more conference matchups while some marquee non-conference games are still being played. This weekend could be a fun one.

KSR’s College Football Cheat Sheet has returned for the 2025 season to set the table on Fridays for the football weekend all season long. This is the Saturday for you if you like some big name matchups that include some real stakes. I would go ahead and clear your 7:00 p.m. window if you’re planning to be at home. It’s a multi-screen night.

The Slate

Indiana State at No. 22 Indiana	6:30pm (Friday)	Big Ten Network
Colgate at Syracuse	7:00pm (Friday)	ACC Network
Colorado at Houston	7:30pm (Friday)	ESPN
Kansas State at Arizona	9:00pm (Friday)	FOX
New Mexico at UCLA	10:00pm (Friday)	Big Ten Network
Wisconsin at No. 19 Alabama	Noon	ABC
No. 12 Clemson at Georgia Tech	Noon	ESPN
No. 13 Oklahoma at Temple	Noon	ESPN2
Memphis at Troy	Noon	ESPNU
Central Michigan at Michigan	Noon	Big Ten Network
Towson at Maryland	Noon	Peacock
William & Mary at Virginia	Noon	ACC Network
Houston Christian at Nebraska	Noon	FS1
No. 4 Oregon at Northwestern	Noon	FOX
Buffalo at Kent State	Noon	CBS Sports Network
South Alabama at No. 24 Auburn	12:45pm	SEC Network
Louisiana at No. 25 Missouri	1:00pm	ESPN+
UConn at Delaware	3:00pm	ESPN+
No. 6 Georgia at No. 15 Tennessee	3:30pm	ABC
Oregon State at No. 21 Texas Tech	3:30pm	FOX
Pittsburgh at West Virginia	3:30pm	ESPN
Youngstown State at Michigan State	3:30pm	Big Ten Network
Norfolk State at Rutgers	3:30pm	Big Ten Network
USC at Purdue	3:30pm	CBS
Villanova at No. 2 Penn State	3:30pm	FS1
SMU at Missouri State	3:30pm	CBS Sports Network
Washington State at North Texas	3:30pm	ESPNU
Richmond at North Carolina	3:30pm	ACC Network
No. 14 Iowa State at Arkansas State	4:00pm	ESPN2
UTEP at No. 7 Texas	4:15pm	SEC Network
No. 18 South Florida at No. 5 Miami	4:30pm	The CW
Liberty at Bowling Green	5:00pm	ESPN+
Florida Atlantic at FIU	6:00pm	ESPN+
App State at Southern Miss	7:00pm	ESPN+
Arkansas at No. 17 Ole Miss	7:00pm	ESPN
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech	7:00pm	ACC Network
Western Michigan at No. 9 Illinois	7:00pm	FS1
Ohio at No. 1 Ohio State	7:00pm	Peacock
Jacksonville State at Georgia Southern	7:00pm	ESPN+
UMass at Iowa	7:30pm	Big Ten Network
No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 8 Notre Dame	7:30pm	NBC
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky	7:30pm	ESPNU
Florida at No. 3 LSU	7:30pm	ABC
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech	7:30pm	ESPN+
East Carolina at Coastal Carolina	7:30pm	ESPN+
Vanderbilt at No. 11 South Carolina	7:45pm	SEC Network
Navy at Tulsa	8:00pm	ESPN+
Duke at Tulane	8:00pm	ESPN2
No. 20 Utah at Wyoming	8:00pm	CBS Sports Network
Akron at Wyoming	8:30pm	ESPN+
Air Force at Utah State	9:45pm	FS1
Texas State at Arizona State	10:30pm	TNT
Boston College at Stanford	10:30pm	ACC Network
Minnesota at California	10:30pm	ESPN
Portland State at Hawaii	Midnight	Mountain West Network

Gambling Corner

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Kirby Smart owns Tennessee

They love to show the highlights of Kirby Smart intercepting Peyton Manning in the Peach State this week. Since his return to his alma mater, it took a Tennessee hail mary to beat Smart. Since that loss in 2016, this series has been all red and black.

• 2017: Georgia 41, Tennessee 0 (Knoxville)
• 2018: Georgia 38, Tennessee 12 (Athens)
• 2019: Georgia 43, Tennessee 14 (Knoxville)
• 2020: Georgia 44, Tennessee 21 (Athens)
• 2021: Georgia 41, Tennessee 17 (Knoxville)
• 2022: Georgia 27, Tennessee 13 (Athens)
• 2023: Georgia 38, Tennessee 10 (Knoxville)
• 2024: Georgia 31, Tennessee 17 (Athens)

The Dawgs blowout the Vols. That’s how this series goes. UGA typically gets right on offense, and Josh Heupel‘s offense has one of their worst performances of the season in this series. The spread has shrunk this year but UGA still has the defense that can give Tennessee problems.

Will Heupel finally get this monkey off his back or will the dominance continue?

This 7:00 p.m. window absolutely rocks

I will be up in the press box covering Kentucky-Eastern Michigan on Saturday night. Many of you reading will be at Kroger Field. Nothing beats college football live but the best viewership window of the season will arrive on Saturday night. The day doesn’t start off great but it picks up steam later. You will need multiple television screens if you are at home.

— Arkansas at No. 17 Ole Miss (7 p.m. | ESPN): The chaos series in the SEC moves to Oxford this year. You can always expect points and shenanigans when these two meet. Austin Simmons and Taylen Green could be the best two quarterbacks in the SEC. This one will be a track meet.

— No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 8 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. | NBC): A rematch of last year’s Week 1 slugfest moves to South Bend. Both teams have something to prove in Week 3. Marcus Freeman has had a lot of success against the SEC and A&M has lost four consecutive games to power conference foes.

— Florida at No. 3 LSU (7:30 p.m. | ABC): Billy Napier is on the hot seat again. A win in Death Valley could fix that. The unranked team is only a touchdown road underdog against a top-five team? Well, that’s interesting. LSU has the win over Clemson but the offense has struggled. This is the other chaos series in the SEC where the dog always seems to reign supreme. This one will not be boring.

— Vanderbilt at No. 11 South Carolina (7:45 p.m. | SEC Network): South Carolina owns Vanderbilt. Diego Pavia is an outstanding road underdog and will attempt to end another ugly streak for the Commodores. A loss for the Gamecocks could create a tough situation even with a first-round quarterback on the roster. Expected a spirited game in Columbia.

— Duke at Tulane (8 p.m. | ESPN2): It’s the Darian Mensah Bowl in New Orleans as the quarterback returns to Yulman Stadium to face his old team. That should create a fun atmosphere as Jon Sumrall looks to record a second win over a power conference foe to start the 2025 season.

What’s going on with Clemson?

The Clemson offense is really struggling. That has caught many by surprise. If it struggles on Saturday, Dabo Swinney‘s team could be in trouble. We are still unsure if Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King will start, but if he does, the Tigers could be on upset alert.

Brent Key has been a great dog against ranked foes (9-5 ATS, 6 outright wins) during his time in Atlanta. If King is healthy, the Yellow Jackets can play and beat anyone. This is a game worth paying attention to in the noon window between two ACC contenders.

South Florida gets another swing

Alex Golesh‘s third team has knocked off Boise State and Florida to start the season. Now South Florida will get a third consecutive upset opportunity this Saturday will the Bulls travel to Hard Rock Stadium. Can this team do it again?

Miami’s passing game appears to be bringing more to the table than Florida. That’s a concern entering this game but the Bulls could matchup well everywhere else. They will need to turn the contest into another slugfest but Golesh’s squad is quickly becoming one you must be paying attention.

It’s a look ahead spot for Miami with Florida rolling into Miami Gardens next weekend. Don’t sleep on the Bulls playing in front of what could be a very sleepy home crowd for this mid-afternoon kickoff.

The rest of the college football card

— We’ve got a Big 12 double-dip on Friday with Houston hosting Colorado and Kansas State traveling to Arizona. The latter is what you need to pay attention to. The Wildcats are off to an ugly start and the Wildcats look better than expected under second-year head coach Brent Brennan. A 1-3 start for K-State would be a disaster in Manhattan.

— Wisconsin travels to Alabama in the other big noon window game. The Badgers will likely be without starting quarterback Billy Edwards. This one is mostly about the Tide in game that they should roll in. A huge game with Georgia looms at the end of the month. Bama will be looking to gain some momentum but a close game could possibly upset the home crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

— The Backyard Brawl lost some luster with West Virginia’s loss to Ohio last week but the atmosphere will still be crazy in Morgantown. The Mountaineers likely can’t keep up with Pitt if this turns into a shootout. Can Rich Rodriguez pull off his mini-version of what Pitt did in 2007 by making the Panthers play in the mud?

— USC was awful on the road last season. Their first cross-country trip in 2025 arrives in Week 3. It’s the first big game at Ross-Ade Stadium for new Purdue head coach Barry Odom. The Trojans are 20-plus point favorite. Can the Boilermakers make this one close or has USC figured out their road woes?

— Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has looked excellent at quarterback in his first two starts for California. Minnesota has looked very good through two games and currently has the best passing defense in college football. That creates a very fun after dark window matchup in this ACC vs. Big Ten contest. I think this one could get weird.

— Texas State took Arizona State to the wire last year in San Marcos. The Bobcats just beat UTSA on the road and have an electric offense. Head coach G.J. Kinne will be a power conference head coach soon. Arizona State has struggled through the first two games. Are the Sun Devils on upset alert again?