College Football Week 5 Open Thread

It’s Saturday and it’s the first day of October, which means the college football season is officially in full swing. There is going to be a lot of great action on the college gridiron today, so let’s highlight some of it and give everyone a place to talk about what’s going on across the world of college football.

For the local team, the Minnesota Golden Gophers officially start play in the B1G today, as they will travel to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Gophers enter B1G play sporting a 3-0 mark, and have gotten a bit of schedule luck this season as they manage to avoid Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State this season. Can they really make some noise in the conference? Their opportunity starts today, as this one kicks off at 2:30 PM Central time on the Big Ten Network. Our friends over at The Daily Gopher will have all the info you need about today’s contest.

If you’re interested in the five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time reigning and defending FCS Champions, the North Dakota State University Bison, they’re back on the field today. It’s Homecoming weekend in Fargo, and the Bison will be taking on Tre Roberson’s alma mater, the Illinois State Redbirds. NDSU actually defeated Illinois State in the National Championship Game in January of 2015, as quarterback Carson Wentz led a furious last-minute comeback to lead the Bison to a 29-27 win in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff for this one is scheduled for 1:00 PM Central time, and will be on NBC stations in North Dakota as well as ESPN3.

Looking across the rest of the college football slate, there are two huge matchups that pit top ten teams against one another and could have a pretty marked effect on shaping the National Championship picture. The first one will take place at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That game will see the Wisconsin Badgers, ranked #8 in the country and coming off of a very impressive victory over Michigan State last week, traveling to take on the 4th-ranked Michigan Wolverines. Kickoff for that one is scheduled for 2:30 PM Central time, and it will be the national game on ABC.

The main event of the evening is brought to us by the ACC, and will also be nationally televised on ABC starting at 7:00 PM Central time. That game will pit the Louisville Cardinals, the 3rd-ranked team in America, heading on the road to Death Valley for a battle against the Clemson Tigers, ranked #5 in the nation. This game will also be a matchup of future high NFL draft picks, as current Heisman front-runner Lamar Jackson leads the Cardinals against Clemson and Deshaun Watson, who finished third in the voting for the Heisman last season.

There’s only one other matchup between Top 25 teams today, and it comes from the SEC, where the 11th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers go between the hedges in Athens to take on the 25th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. That one will be shown on CBS, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 PM Central time.

That’s a quick look around the world of college football for this Saturday, folks. If you’re watching the games or particular players, feel free to talk about all the action here with your fellow Minnesota Vikings fans.