It’s time for week three in college football. In this weekly series I point out games I feel college football fans should keep an eye on every weekend. At the end I also highlight the games that our regional (Charlotte) college football fans should watch out for. It is a very weak schedule this weekend, without a single matchup between two ranked opponents. There are some matchups however, that are worth taking note of. Let’s take a look:

#19 Iowa at Iowa State

Saturday, 4:00 p.m.

The battle of Iowa should be a pretty good game to watch. Both of these teams were ranked coming into the season, but Iowa State fell out after a first week struggle, and overtime win to Northern Iowa. They were off last week and Iowa enters this game 2-0, so the loser will get their first loss of the season. This is always a fun game with state bragging rights on the line. It will be interesting to see if Iowa State looks a lot better this game than they did the last, and I expect they will.

Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen

#9 Florida at Kentucky

Saturday, 7:00 p.m.

Though not as good as last year’s team, Kentucky has really improved over recent years to make this a matchup worth noting. And the game is at Kentucky where the fans will loud and crazy for a matchup with the Gators. Florida on the other hand is a team I’m still trying to figure out how good they are. Instincts tell me they are overrated at #9, but we’ll see as the season progresses. One week they look good and the next they don’t. I think they win this game, but it won’t be a double-digit victory.

Florida State at #25 Virginia

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

This game would be more interesting if it were a basketball game, but I think it will still be worth keeping an eye on. It’s crazy to see these two programs meet up, but Virginia is the one ranked. Florida State has fallen so quickly from the college football ranks and they desperately need a win here on the road against a ranked opponent. I’m also interested to see Virginia play and see how good of a squad they really have. Not that Florida State is a formidable opponent anymore, but they have enough skilled players to make things interesting.

Regional Games of Interest

North Carolina at Wake Forest

Friday, 6:00 p.m.

Surprising to a lot of people, North Carolina is 2-0 so far this season. They’ve pulled out close wins over South Carolina and Miami before entering play against Wake Forest tonight. I don’t know much about this Wake Forest team, except for the fact they are also 2-0 with victories against Rice and Utah State. So this will be their biggest challenge yet. The game is in Winston-Salem and will be televised on ESPN. A win for either team is pretty big, because it would give them three early wins on the season. The matchup predictor has this game close, with 53% picking UNC and 47% picking Wake.

NC State at West Virginia

Saturday, 12:00 p.m.

NC State comes into this game at 2-0, so a win for them here would be big on their way to capturing a bowl, giving them three early victories. West Virginia has looked pretty awful so far this season, especially by their standards, so they really need a win here at home. They will be in front of one of the best crowds in college football, so maybe that will be enough to do just that, but I have a feeling it won’t be. NC State has a solid program and I think they will keep on rolling in Morgantown on Saturday.

Garett

College Football Games to Keep an Eye On: Week 3