2024 FBS Football Games to Watch and Follow: Week 1

Best Weekday Games

North Dakota State at Colorado:

·         First meeting between the Buffaloes and Bison

·         The game was moved up to Thursday, August 29th in late April

·         North Dakota State has won nine FCS titles since 2011, and will be under new coach Tim Polasek in 2024

·         Meanwhile, Colorado was one of the most improved FBS teams in 2023 – as five of their eight losses were decided by one score

·         The Bison will be paid $700k for this game, which was announced back in 2016

Coastal Carolina at Jacksonville State:

·         Third meeting between the Chanticleers and the Gamecocks – with both teams winning a game

·         Coastal, who won last year’s game 30-16, is coming off an 8-5 season and a victory in the Hawaii Bowl

·         The Gamecocks went 9-4 in 2023 and became the first program in FBS history to win a bowl game in its first season by claiming the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl title

North Carolina at Minnesota:

·         The Tar Heels won last year’s first-ever meeting between the teams 30-13 at Chapel Hill

·         Since arriving in Minnesota back in 2017, P. J Fleck and the Golden Gophers have gone 20-2 against non-conference opponents

·         With Nick Saban retiring, Mack Brown is the current active leader in Division I victories with 282 – 107 of them with UNC

·         These teams could be future conference opponents

Ranked vs. Ranked

#19 Clemson vs. #1 Georgia (Atlanta)

·         In a series that started in 1897, this will be the 66th meeting between the two teams

·         The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight meetings and lead the overall series 43-18-4

·         These programs met 28 times in a span of 34 years from 1962-1995

·         This game will be an excellent opportunity for the Tigers to make a statement and get back on track

·         There are two future home-and-home series scheduled, with the first starting in 2029

#5 Notre Dame at #25 Texas A&M

·         6th meeting between the schools (Irish lead 3-2) – all since 1988

·         The first three matchups (1988, 1993, and 1994) were all in the Cotton Bowl with the Irish winning two of three

·         A&M opened as 1.5-point favorites in this game back in mid-January, but as of late May, the Irish are now a 1-point favorite

·         This will be the first game between the Irish and Aggies since their two-game series back in 2000 and 2001

·         What a way to kick off the Mike Elko era:  College GameDay, Notre Dame coming to Kyle Field, and it’s the ABC prime time game

Trophy and Named Rivalry Games

Florida Cup:  #24 Miami (FL) at Florida

·         Miami leads the all-time series 29-27 after winning seven of the last nine matchups

·         UF and UM played annually for 50 years, from 1938-1988 minus 1943, but have met only seven times in the last 36 years

·         A great rivalry with two storied programs that’s not played nearly enough 

·         The Florida Cup has been awarded to the winner of the round-robin games between UF, MU and FSU since 2002

·         This Cup is unique because it is the only three-wavy rivalry that is between just Power Four conference teams

Most Played Series (if not listed above):

Tennessee Tech at Middle Tennessee:  75 games (Blue Raiders lead 36-32-7)

·         Series started in 1917

·         Were Ohio Valley Conference opponents from 1952 to 1998

·         This will be only the second meeting between these rivals since 1998

·         The Blue Raiders have won 14 of the last 16 meetings dating back to 1984

·         Tennessee Tech will receive $300k for this game

New Mexico at #11 Arizona:  67 games (Wildcats lead 44-20-3)

#8 Penn State at West Virginia:  60 games (Nittany Lions lead 49-9-2)

Idaho at #3 Oregon:  59 games (Ducks lead 52-3-4)

East Tennessee State at Appalachian State:  47 games (Mountaineers lead 33-13-1)

Oldest Series:

Akron at #2 Ohio State:  1891

Richmond at Virginia:  1893

Lehigh at Army:  1893

Bucknell at Navy:  1898

Chattanooga at #16 Tennessee:  1899

Key Conference Games:

 N/A

Former Conference Opponents:

Wyoming at Arizona State:

·         ASU leads the all-time series against the Cowboys 9-6, dating back to 1951

·         The Cowboys and Sun Devils have not played each other since 1977 – the final year that ASU was a member of the WAC.

·         The two schools were charter members of the WAC (along with Arizona, BYU, Utah, and New Mexico) back in 1962

·         No future games currently scheduled after 2024

Eastern Michigan at UMass:

·         6th meeting between former and future conference opponents, as the Minutemen are set to rejoin the Mid-American Conference in 2025

·         Eastern Michigan leads the all-time series 3-2

·         UMass has won the two conference meetings, but have lost all three non-conference games to the Eagles

Lamar at Texas State:

·         23rd meeting between Lamar and Texas State, the first since 2011.

·         The Bobcats lead the overall series 15-6-1, but the teams have split the last six meetings going back to 1985

·         Both teams were a part of the Southland Conference back in the 1950s

·         First met on the gridiron in 1951

Other Games of Interest:

Central Arkansas at Arkansas State:

·         28th meeting between the schools since 1916, but have played only six times since 1947

·         Three years ago, Arkansas State beat UCA in Jonesboro, 40-21

·         The Bears hold a 13-12-2 lead in the series, though the Red Wolves have won nine of the last matchups

·         Butch Jones first win as Red Wolves coach was against UCA

·         No future games currently scheduled after 2024

Georgia State at Georgia Tech:

·         First meeting

·         The proximity of the two campuses (their football stadiums are separated by 3.6 miles) makes this a natural matchup

·         The second game of this home-and-home series will be played on 9/19/26

Miami (Ohio) at Northwestern:

·         Heading into their 11th meeting since 1955, Miami (OH) leads the all-time series 7-3

·         All seven RedHawk wins have occurred in Evanston – and their last win over the Wildcats in 2022 was in addition to the $955k check from Northwestern

·         After a surprisingly successful year in 2023, the Wildcats could use the win to kick off 2024 in a positive manner

Sam Houston at Rice:

·         18th meeting between these Texas schools, but it’s the first game in the series since 1993 and only the third game since 1948

·         The Bearkats only win in the series came in 1939 – when they outlasted the Owls 9-8

·         Approximately 74 miles separate the two schools

·         This game was scheduled five years ago when Sam Houston was still a FCS team

Western Illinois at Northern Illinois:

·         In a series that dates back to 1903, NIU leads the all-time series 21-18-1

·         Though trailing in the series, the Leathernecks have won four of the last five meetings

·         The Huskies, who were in their fifth year of football, were the first known opponent of WIU

·         This will be Western Illinois first year in the Ohio Valley Conference