The 10 Most Underrated Games on the 2024 College Football Schedule
I am longing for fall Saturdays a little bit extra today, so I wanted to sit down and take a look at something for the upcoming season. Obviously there are a ton of awesome games, particularly with new-look conferences and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, so let's take a look at some of those that might be flying under the radar a little bit but will be awesome nonetheless.
North Dakota State @ Colorado (Week 1)
We'll find out a lot about the most talked-about team in college football right off the bat when Colorado has to take on the most feared team from the FCS ranks in North Dakota State. If I were an FBS head coach, there would probably be about 30 FBS teams I'd rather play than the Bison. If there is a silver lining, the Buffaloes get extra time to prepare coming out of fall camp rather than having this game in the second or third week of the season.
Penn State @ West Virginia (Week 1)
Penn State opens its season as a 10.5-point favorite on the road at West Virginia, but the Nittany Lions better make sure they take care of business out of the gate if they want to fulfill James Franklin's destiny of being included in the first 12-team College Football Playoff after yet another 10-2 season. PSU gets a break in the schedule this year by only facing one of Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon, but if you assume a loss to the Buckeyes and one other at USC, at Wisconsin or somewhere else along the line, the West Virginia game all of a sudden becomes the most important game of the year.
Tennessee-NC State (Charlotte, Week 2)
In a similar position to Penn State is Tennessee, whose schedule seemingly has bigger games on it than a neutral site meeting with North Carolina State, but this is the most must-win contest for the Vols all season. Obviously navigating the new-look SEC and getting to the end of the season with 10 wins is going to be a challenge for everybody, so Tennessee needs to be ready to go when it takes on Grayson McCall and the Wolfpack, because if you lose that one, you can pretty much kiss any CFP hope goodbye on September 7.
Miami @ South Florida (Week 4)
This is my Power Five vs. Group of Five Game of the Year. People are expecting a lot out of Miami this season after landing Cam Ward, but I'm keeping an eye on USF. The Bulls need their defense to take a major step forward in Alex Golesh's second year, but he will have that offense humming. I am officially putting the Hurricanes on UPSET WATCH at Raymond James Stadium.
Florida State @ SMU (Week 5)
This is actually the tweet I saw this morning that made me think of the most underrated games this season to begin with. It's going to take some getting used to seeing games like Florida State-SMU as conference matchups, but this should be a great one for the Mustangs to open their first-ever ACC slate. Obviously the Seminoles are trying to avenge their exclusion from the Playoff last year and this will be a good road test to see where DJ Uiagalelei and FSU are early in the season.
Michigan @ Washington (Week 6)
I don't know if you can count a rematch of the previous year's National Championship Game as underrated, but it seems like this one qualifies. Nobody is really expecting too much of Washington after losing Kalen DeBoer to Alabama, but this will be Michigan's biggest road test of the year before going to Columbus at the end of the season. And with Texas and Oregon on the schedule in addition to that road game against Ohio State, the Wolverines' trip to Seattle will be a must-win.
There will be plenty of players on both rosters who remember what happened the last time these two teams got together, though.
Ole Miss @ LSU (Week 7)
The winner of this game will compete in the College Football Playoff. The SEC has probably seven teams fighting for four or five spots in the 12-team field and whoever makes it out of Death Valley in this one will almost certainly secure one of them. Ole Miss has a pretty light schedule other than this trip to LSU and a home game against Georgia, so the Rebels could potentially make the Playoff even if they lost both of those. And if Garrett Nussmeier is as good as Tigers fans hope and they are able to take down Ole Miss, I don't see how they lose more than two games, either.
Memphis @ South Florida (Week 7)
I think there's a chance this might be another win-and-in game for the CFP. I already mentioned I am very high on USF this year, but Memphis is the preseason pick to win the AAC. The Tigers shouldn't lose a game other than Florida State leading into this one and if USF can find a way to bet either Miami or Alabama — and I am not ruling out both — this should be the best G5 game of the season.
Kansas @ Kansas State (Week 9)
Neither Kansas nor Kansas State plays preseason conference favorite Utah in its first season in the Big 12, so the Sunflower Showdown might end up being the conference's biggest game of the year. Even with Will Howard moving on to Ohio State, the Wildcats are expected to compete for the Big 12 title and if Jalon Daniels is back at full strength, the Jayhawks could have one of the most exciting offenses in the country that can keep them in any game. If I had to pick a Big 12 Championship Game right now, it would be Utah taking on the winner of this matchup.
Missouri @ Alabama (Week 9)
This is the same story as a lot of the games on this list: Alabama better not fuck this one up. The Crimson Tide will have already played Georgia early in the season and will be coming off a trip to Tennessee the week before this game against a Missouri team that's planning on claiming a Playoff spot, too. If Bama fumbles this one away at home, that's likely it for the Tide's CFP hopes. I think Alabama wins this game, but don't be surprised if you look up in the fourth quarter and it's a dogfight.