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The long wait is over. Today we get a small taste of honest to goodness college football. Because the NCAA allows teams that play a game at Hawaii (this includes Hawaii) an extra 13th game to make up for the travel expenses, some of those teams choose to play in what is essentially week 0, so they get a bye week during the season. Because of this, the schedule is mostly Mountain West Conference teams. None of the games are incredibly compelling, as none involved a Power Five team, and only one game (Wyoming at New Mexico State) has a point spread less than three scores. But it is still football, so sit back and enjoy. Here is your guide on how to watch the four games taking place today.
UMass Minutemen vs Duquesne Dukes - 3:30 p.m. MT - Eleven Sports Network
Ok, you are probably wondering, what is Eleven Sports Network, well I’ve got you covered, here’s a link to their website, just put in your zip code and television provider, and you can see if you have the channel. Our colleagues over at Underdog Dynasty did a nice preview of this game. Outside of UMass beating BYU in Provo last year, they are not a team I have thought about. UMass is almost a three-touchdown favorite over their FCS opponent.
Rice Owls vs Prairie View A&M Panthers - 5:00 p.m. MT - ESPN+
Again, a weird channel, so here’s the info on it. Looks like there is a 7-day free trial if you want to give it a try or just watch this game. This is another FBS-FCS matchup between two programs I do not really think about. Here’s another preview from Underdog Dynasty.
Colorado State Rams vs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors - 5:30 p.m. MT - CBS Sports Network
The first of two Mountain West Conference games on the slate this evening. Colorado State plays the rival Colorado Buffaloes next week, so this is a good preview of a future Pac-12 opponent. CBS Sports Network is available on many cable packages and streaming services like Apple TV and Roku. Colorado State is the heavy favorite in this one. It will be interesting to see how the Hawaii team comes out after such a long trip and having to deal with the effects of Hurricane Lane back at home.
New Mexico St. Aggies vs Wyoming Cowboys - 8:00 p.m. MT - ESPN2
The final game of the night. Again, another Mountain West Conference game with a week one Pac-12 opponent. Wyoming hosts the Washington State Cougars next week. This is expected to be the most competitive game of the day, with Wyoming being the slight favorite. They begin life in the post Josh Allen era. I will be curious to see how the Cowboys look in this game. It will be good to get a sense of where they are this year because their game against Washington State could be quite telling about a Cougars team that has a lot of question marks.