For those of you that read (and especially those that done't) Stewart Mandel's weekly college football mailbag on FoxSports.com:
Hi Stewart: It's game week! Looking back to last year, one of the most influential results of the entire season turned out to be a fairly un-hyped, early-starting intersectional Week 1 matchup between Stanford and Northwestern. Stanford likely makes the playoff last year if it hadn’t lost in Evanston. Which lower-profile game this week could potentially have just as much impact as the headliners?
-- James, Asheville, North Carolina
Other than the fact it’s at home, not 2,000 miles away, Stanford’s opener this year fits much the same bill. It’s easy to overlook Kansas State coming off a 6-7 season, but this is still a Bill Snyder-coached team. The Wildcats could be much-improved, especially with a clear, healthy first-string quarterback in Jesse Ertz. The Cardinal, conversely, will be breaking in a new starter, Ryan Burns, for the first time in four years.
If, like me, you believe Stanford is capable of winning the Pac-12, then a K-State upset Friday night could impact its playoff chances just like last year’s.
If you’re looking for a more shocking prospect, though, how about Thursday night’s Appalachian State-Tennessee game? Expectations have not been this high for the Vols in nearly a decade, and a lot of people are already looking ahead to their Week 2 game against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway. But don’t overlook the Mountaineers, who won 11 games last season while producing a defense that ranked 11th nationally. That’d upset the apple cart.
And finally, you know we’re going to have a couple of FCS over Power 5 upsets. There were three last year (The Citadel over South Carolina, Portland State over Washington State and South Dakota over Kansas). My leading contender this weekend: Richmond over Virginia.
Hi Stewart: It's game week! Looking back to last year, one of the most influential results of the entire season turned out to be a fairly un-hyped, early-starting intersectional Week 1 matchup between Stanford and Northwestern. Stanford likely makes the playoff last year if it hadn’t lost in Evanston. Which lower-profile game this week could potentially have just as much impact as the headliners?
-- James, Asheville, North Carolina
Other than the fact it’s at home, not 2,000 miles away, Stanford’s opener this year fits much the same bill. It’s easy to overlook Kansas State coming off a 6-7 season, but this is still a Bill Snyder-coached team. The Wildcats could be much-improved, especially with a clear, healthy first-string quarterback in Jesse Ertz. The Cardinal, conversely, will be breaking in a new starter, Ryan Burns, for the first time in four years.
If, like me, you believe Stanford is capable of winning the Pac-12, then a K-State upset Friday night could impact its playoff chances just like last year’s.
If you’re looking for a more shocking prospect, though, how about Thursday night’s Appalachian State-Tennessee game? Expectations have not been this high for the Vols in nearly a decade, and a lot of people are already looking ahead to their Week 2 game against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway. But don’t overlook the Mountaineers, who won 11 games last season while producing a defense that ranked 11th nationally. That’d upset the apple cart.
And finally, you know we’re going to have a couple of FCS over Power 5 upsets. There were three last year (The Citadel over South Carolina, Portland State over Washington State and South Dakota over Kansas). My leading contender this weekend: Richmond over Virginia.
