Tag: 2024 College Football Season

Auburn has 93.5% chance to beat New Mexico on Saturday

Heading into week three of the college football season, ESPN FPI predicts Auburn to have a 93.5% chance to beat New Mexico on Saturday.

Auburn football posted a disappointing performance in week two in a 21-14 loss against California. Despite that, ESPN believes the Tigers will bounce back when they take the field on Saturday to face New Mexico.

According to the ESPN Football Power Index and matchup predictor, Auburn is being given a 93.5% favorability to take down the Lobos and improve its record to 2-1 before conference play gets underway.

After the Tigers scored just two touchdowns last week, the ESPNBet analytics have the Tigers holding a 28-point line with an over/under total set at 60.5 points. Against a team that has one of the worst defenses in the country statistically, there is still optimism that Auburn can put out a quality offensive performance.

New Mexico currently sits at No. 4 in the Mountain West in average offensive production, putting up 397 yards per game. They are averaging 216 passing yards (4th) and 181 rushing yards (5th), while also scoring 35 points (3rd) in each game as well. On the other side, the Lobos rank dead last in the country in total defense, giving up 597 yards per game.

The Tigers take on New Mexico at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CST, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Tyler on Twitter @traley34

Top games to watch in Week 3 headlined by Alabama vs Wisconsin

The top games you should make an effort to check out in Week 3.

Week 3 is upon us with the action kicking off on Thursday night. However, the big action begins on Friday night when the Arizona Wildcats and Kansas State Wildcats face off in a top-25 clash. The winner will have a leg up in the race for the Big 12 title.

That won’t be the only game on the radar in the upcoming week. FOX Big Noon Kickoff will be in Madison, Wisconsin, as the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to take down the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. ESPN’s College Gameday will travel to Columbia for the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks’ SEC opener.

If you are looking for the top games to check out in Week 4 of the 2024 college football season, here are the top ones. Honorable mention goes to the Backyard Brawl featuring the West Virginia Mountaineers and Pitt Panthers. If Pitt was a better team this would have made the list.

As for my top 10, here is the list:

Alabama Crimson Tide (4) at Wisconsin Badgers

The Alabama Crimson Tide makes the rare trip to Madison this week to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The last time the Tide were in Madison was 1928 when they lost to Wiscy, 15-0. Alabama evened the series in 2015 when they won 35-17 in Arlington, Texas. New head coach Kalen DeBoer wants to keep it rolling with another victory. The Badgers are looking to keep their perfect season intact for now. This would be a massive victory if Luke Fickell and company could pull it off. Not an easy task against a top-five team.

Arizona Wildcats (18) at Kansas State Wildcats (15)

This Wildcats showdown features two top 25 teams that are looking to start off on the right foot in their chase for the Big 12 title. Arizona not only faces a top 15 squad in Kansas State this week but the Utah Utes await them in Week 4, a victory could be crucial. Kansas State in the meantime is looking to return to the title game after missing out last season. Is Avery Johnson ready to fill the role of Will Howard by leading them to another title? It all begins against Arizona on Friday night.

Oregon Ducks (6) at Oregon State Beavers

A trade on the schedule with the Texas Tech Red Raiders allowed this game to resume following the Oregon Ducks‘ departure from the Pac-12. Oregon has had a rough start to the year despite being 2-0. The Ducks need some positive momentum before starting Big Ten play against the UCLA Bruins next week. As for the Oregon State Beavers, this is all about retribution after being left in the dust as their bitter rivals moved on to a better conference.

LSU Tigers (17) at South Carolina Gamecocks

It was a bit of an odd choice when College Gameday chose this matchup as their host game. Both teams still have plenty to prove as they jockey for position in the recently expanded SEC. The South Carolina Gamecocks barely survived the opener against Old Dominion before dominating a poor Kentucky team, which one will show up against the LSU Tigers? As for the Bayou Bengals, the team looks to build on last week’s victory but it was a little too close for comfort against Nicholls in the first half. They need to stiffen up on defense.

Washington State Cougars vs Washington Huskies (22) in Seattle

The Apple Cup comes early with both teams sporting identical 2-0 records. Wazzu hopes to get the better of UW, who owns the all-time series 76-33-6. The Cougars have won just twice since 2009 against their bitter rivals. This isn’t the same Washington Huskies team of the last couple of seasons but quarterback Will Rogers looks to keep things rolling.

UNLV Rebels at Kansas Jayhawks

This weekend features a rematch from the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl game between UNLV and Kansas. A pair of 21-point outbursts in the second and fourth quarters put the game out of reach for the Rebels. After a heartbreaking loss to Illinois, the Jayhawks are ready to get back in the win column but it comes against a pretty tough UNLV squad that turned things around in 2023.

Memphis Tigers (25) at Florida State Seminoles

The Memphis Tigers have been a trendy selection to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoffs. This week they have a chance to improve their resume even if the Florida State Seminoles aren’t living up to the expectations they set for the season. After an open week, the Noles need to come out and send a message that they aren’t dead yet despite starting 0-2 in ACC play. This game is massive ahead of their showdown with Clemson in Week 4.

Boston College Eagles at Missouri Tigers (8)

It wasn’t that long ago that a  BC-Mizzou matchup would lull you right to sleep. The Eagles have some juice after knocking off the FSU Seminoles in Week 2. Not a bad way to begin the tenure for new head coach Bill O’Brien. The Tigers are coming off a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State in 2023 and began 2-0 with wins over Buffalo and Murray State. This will be a bigger test but a game they must win if they want to contend for one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoffs.

Texas A&M Aggies at Florida Gators

The Florida Gators turned to freshman stud QB DJ Lagway against Samford. Graham Mertz should be back under center for this game, with some packages for the young quarterback. It will be worth watching to see how they deploy the future starting quarterback. For Texas A&M they got back on the winning side against McNeese, with all of their goals still in front of them, the Aggies need a win in the Swamp.

UCF Knights at TCU Horned Frogs

The UCF Knights and TCU Horned Frogs have gotten off to a good start to the campaign at 2-0. These two squads need a win to keep it rolling after both had disappointing outcomes in 2023. TCU will face the SMU Mustangs and the Kansas Jayhawks in the following weeks, going 2-1 in that stretch will be crucial if they want to compete for a Big 12 title. As far as the Knights go, this is their first actual test after blasting Sam Houston and New Hampshire in the first two games of the year.

A look at where the Big 12 landed in this week’s FBS re-ranking

A look at how the Big 12 looks after Week 2 in the latest re-ranking with Colorado continuing to plummet.

Week 2 was relatively good for the Big 12 Conference. However, some teams didn’t find a way to stay perfect on the season. A total of nine teams are still undefeated on the year with six teams with a 1-1 record and the Houston Cougars still looking for their first win.

The Colorado Buffaloes and Texas Tech Red Raiders played with fire in the openers against FCS opponents. The Buffs were able to squeak by North Dakota State while the Red Raiders needed overtime to take care of Abilene Christian. Both teams lost by double digits the following week.

Following Week 2 action, Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports revealed his re-ranking of all 134 FBS teams. Only the aforementioned Buffaloes fell below the No. 100 spot coming in at No. 102. The Red Raiders fell 28 spots to No. 80 after the 37-16 loss against Washington State.

The positive news is that more than half of the conference ranked among the top 50 with five in the top 20. The conference is led by the Utah Utes at No. 9 with the Kansas State Wildcats right on their heels.

Updated Re-Rank for every Big 12 school

Big 12 Rank Team Record Overall Rank Change
1 Utah 2-0 9 +1
2 Kansas State 2-0 10 +3
3 Iowa State 2-0 14 +15
4 Central Florida 2-0 19 +2
5 Oklahoma State 2-0 20 +6
6 Texas Christian 2-0 29 +1
7 Kansas 1-1 30 -8
8 Arizona State 2-0 44 +12
9 Arizona 2-0 45 -4
10 West Virginia 1-1 52 -4
11 Brigham Young 2-0 55 +7
12 Texas Tech 1-1 80 -28
13 Baylor 1-1 86 0
14 Cincinnati 1-1 88 0
15 Houston 0-2 98 0
16 Colorado 1-1 102 -1

Week 3 Big 12 Football Schedule

Matchup Kickoff Time Channel
Arizona State vs Texas State 6:30 p.m. CT (Thurs) ESPN
UNLV vs Kansas 6 p.m. CT (Fri) ESPN
Arizona vs Kansas State 7 pm CT (Fri) FOX
North Texas vs Texas Tech 11 a.m. CT FS1
Oklahoma State vs Tulsa 11 a.m. CT ESPN2
Cincinnati vs Miami (OH) 11 a.m. CT ESPNU
West Virginia vs Pitt 2:30 p.m. CT ESPN2
Utah vs Utah State 3:30 p.m. CT CBSSN
Air Force vs Baylor 6:30 p.m. CT FS1
Colorado vs Colorado State 6:30 p.m. CT CBS
UCF vs TCU 6:30 p.m. CT FOX
Rice vs Houston 7 p.m. CT ESPN+
BYU vs Wyoming 8 p.m. CT CBSSN

Auburn receives votes for second straight week in AP Poll

Following its first week victory over Alabama A&M, the Auburn Tigers are receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press Poll.

Following the completion of week one of the 2024 college football season, the next edition of the Associated Press Poll has been released to the nation.

The Auburn Tigers are once again receiving votes in the AP Poll with eight after receiving some last week as well. The Tigers also received votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll, gaining great ground after they dominated Alabama A&M last week.

Auburn is currently one of 13 teams in the SEC to be mentioned in this week’s poll. Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Arkansas are all receiving votes. In the Top 25 are Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and LSU. The Bulldogs, Longhorns, and Crimson Tide represent the SEC in the top five while Ole Miss and Missouri round out the top-10. Tennessee (No. 14), Oklahoma (No. 15), and LSU (No. 18) were also listed in the poll.

As it stands, Auburn’s first ranked opponent will be Oklahoma on Sept. 27 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Sooners check in at No. 15 this week after earning a convincing win over Temple last Friday, 51-3, in Norman.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Wisconsin vs. South Dakota: Series history, all-time record

Wisconsin vs. South Dakota: Series history, all-time record

Wisconsin (1-0) welcomes South Dakota (1-0) to Madison on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT for its second contest of the 2024 season. It will be the third all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since 2011.

The Badgers own a 2-0 record against the Coyotes, knocking them off in their last meeting 59-10 in September 2011. They won their only prior matchup 48-7 in 1975.

Wisconsin is coming off a 28-14 win over Western Michigan in Week 1, rallying to win the contest after trailing 14-13 in the fourth quarter. Running Tawee Walker and quarterback Tyler Van Dyke each scored a rushing touchdown as the Badgers scored 15 points unanswered to close the game.

When it comes to South Dakota, the Badgers have never lost to an FCS opponent, posting a 13-0 overall record all-time. The Coyotes are coming off a dominant 45-3 win over Northern State in Week 1, a performance they will look to replicate at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.

Expert score prediction: Nebraska vs. UTEP

Nebraska has not won a season opener in five years.

Nebraska has not won a season opener in five years. Saturday afternoon, the Huskers will try to snap that streak with a showdown against UTEP.

But UTEP won’t be a team to drop the pickaxe and rollover. It’ll battle Nebraska throughout the game, searching for any signs of success it can carry into the rest of the season.

The Miners begin the Scotty Walden era, who takes over at UTEP after going 26-14 at Austin Peay. Walden is bringing a fast-paced offense to El Paso. Last year, the Governors ranked 14th in the FCS in total offense, averaging 426.8 yards per game.

This led to Austin Peay averaging over 34 points per game last season, towering over UTEP’s mark of just under 20. The Miners have announced that redshirt sophomore Skyler Locklear will start the game at quarterback. Locklear transferred to UTEP after spending the last two seasons at Austin Peay.

Trey Goodman should be a primary target in the receiving game. In 2023, he had 34 catches for 721 yards and seven touchdowns at Austin Peay.

The Miners are bringing back multiple veteran players on defense, including edge rusher Maurice Westmoreland, who finished second in Conference USA last season with 7.5 sacks.

They also bring in transfers in the secondary. Kory Chapman of Austin Peay and AJ Odums of New Mexico can cause fits for the Huskers’ passing game. 

However, an upset for UTEP in front of 90,000 people in Lincoln is not likely. This isn’t the 2018-2022 period where Troy and Georgia Southern pulled out the win or where South Alabama, Buffalo, and North Dakota gave Nebraska headaches. 

Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola is entering his first game with an arsenal of talented players, which should translate into success against a Conference-USA defense.

Though there are bound to be mishaps in this opener, the Nebraska offense should be expected to light up the scoreboard throughout the game. 

The same can be said for the Blackshirts. Finishing as one of the top defenses in the country last year brings high expectations for the season. Though it, too, will likely slip up here and there, nothing should happen that will raise alarms. 

Score Prediction: Nebraska 38, UTEP 13

Staff predictions for Week 1 matchup between Duke football vs Elon

With the 2024 Duke football season getting underway on Friday night, check out the Duke Wire staff predictions for the season opener.

At long last, the 2024 college football season is here in Durham.

After the Blue Devils lost their head coach and starting quarterback to the transfer portal this offseason, former Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and Texas transfer Maalik Murphy will lead the team into an expanded ACC.

Diaz at least coached within the conference before, helming the Miami Hurricanes from 2019-21, but Murphy has only started two games at the college level. With so many new names, such as Old Dominion wide receiver Javon Harvey and Youngstown State linebacker Alex Howard, there’s no meaningful way to talk about Duke before the on-field product is revealed.

Has that stopped us from trying? Of course not. But it does mean that, once Friday’s kickoff rolls around, all of the offseason notes about this roster can finally get shredded and replaced with cold hard tape and evidence.

In the meantime, however, here’s one last effort from our staff to predict what team Blue Devils fans will watch this season.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

Manny Diaz praised Elon during his first Monday press conference of the year, a team that made noise in the FCS last season, but the Phoenix are still an FCS team coming off a 6-5 record.

I think the big winner from Friday night will be first-year offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer. The offensive stars said the team wants to push the tempo and attack downfield this season, and while that may lead to a few early misfires, I think the splash plays generated in the second and third quarters make everyone forget about the miscues by the end of the night.

With Eli Pancol healthy again, the wide receiver room is deep, and I think four players could end the year with 30 receptions or more. While Duke returned to national prominence with 17 wins over the last two seasons, this is not last year’s offense and it won’t win the same way as last year’s squad, and the team will establish that early.

With a new offensive line featuring two transfers on the left side, there might be some growing pains early, and some footwork issues on last year’s tape mean Maalik Murphy might whiff on a few layups, but I think the blueprint of aggression and tempo wins out by halftime and gets Bull City excited.

Duke 35, Elon 10

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

We are finally here, and it is time for football. This will be my first season covering Duke football for Duke Wire, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Duke has a lot of interesting storylines to sift through as the Blue Devils begin another era with a new coach. Instead of Mike Elko, it’s Manny Diaz who landed the job over the offseason.

He has already done some incredible things (see: Maalik Murphy and flipping edge rusher Bryce Davis, the highest-rated recruit in program history, from Clemson.)

Now Diaz gets to prove himself on the field. Gone is All-ACC talent Graham Barton, now the starting center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting quarterback Riley Leonard departed for Notre Dame, as did edge rusher RJ Oben.

On Saturday, I expect Duke to start the Diaz era with a bang. Look for Murphy to find Jordan Moore a few times and, ultimately, I see Moore finding the end zone. With Jaquez Moore set to take over starting running back duties after Jordan Waters transferred to NC State, I think Moore will get a score on Saturday, too.

Defensively, Duke will see Diaz’s specialty come to life. I think the secondary is set for a big year, and I think we see an interception from someone in the secondary alongside eight tackles from linebacker Tre Freeman.

All told, Duke should cruise by the third quarter.

Duke 38, Elon 13

The Athletic doesn’t include Duke football in college football bowl projections

The Athletic became the latest national publication to not include Duke football in its 2024 bowl projections on Tuesday.

The Athletic writers Scott Dochterman and Stewart Mandel released their bowl projections for the 2024 college football season on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils once again found themselves on the outside looking in.

Despite filling out the entire bowl schedule, Dochterman and Mandel didn’t include Duke football anywhere on the bowl calendar.

The publication is hardly the first to leave first-year head coach Manny Diaz off the board. CBS Sports and Sporting News both didn’t have the Blue Devils in their postseason projections either, and a CBS Sports panel actually saw some writers debate whether Duke would be the worst team in the ACC.

In The Athletic’s projection, Miami took the No. 4 seed as the conference champion. The Hurricanes have gained more steam as an ACC favorite since Florida State, last year’s victor, lost to Georgia Tech in the first game of the year.

No other team from the conference made the 12-team playoff bracket. The Seminoles, Clemson, Virginia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, and Wake Forest all made a bowl game of some kind, meaning Duke was one of seven ACC teams to miss out.

Duke football reaches Gasparilla Bowl in latest USA TODAY Sports projection

USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith released his latest college football bowl projections on Tuesday, and Duke reached his postseason.

USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith released his updated bowl projections for the 2024 college football season on Tuesday, breaking down which programs he thinks will win six games this fall, and the Blue Devils finally made a projected postseason.

Smith pitted Duke football against the Florida Gators, an SEC powerhouse looking to find a foothold in its third year under head coach Billy Napier, in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Despite winning 17 games over the past two years, the Blue Devils are considered a bubble team for the 2024 bowl schedule. With a new head coach and a first-year starting quarterback, ESPN FPI has Duke’s projected win total at exactly 6.0 games. CBS Sports and Sporting News also released bowl projections over the offseason, neither of which included the Blue Devils, and ESPN Analytics thinks there’s just under a 60% chance that Manny Diaz will finish .500 or better in year one.

Duke begins its march toward bowl season against Elon on Friday.

Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan: Series history, all-time record

Wisconsin vs Western Michigan all-time series record

The Wisconsin Badgers will begin their 2024 season on Friday night, hosting Western Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium. It will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since 2017.

To this point, the Badgers have gone 4-1 in their five previous matchups against the Broncos, most recently defeating them 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, 2017. Western Michigan’s head coach for that contest: current Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.

The last time that Western Michigan came to Camp Randall was on Aug. 31, 2000, a game in which Wisconsin won 19-7. The Broncos had beaten the Badgers in their prior matchup 24-14 in 1988, their only win against Wisconsin all-time.

In general, Wisconsin has posted a 36-1 overall record against the Mid-American Conference (MAC) throughout history.

The Badgers have won their last two season openers, defeating Illinois State in 2022 and Buffalo in 2023, and they’ll look to extend that to three straight victories against Western Michigan on Friday.