“It’s not just about winning or losing, but winning is more fun.” -anonymous football fan

Winning is fun. That’s a fact. Losing is not as fun. That’s also understood. Playing the game is always fun. Currently there are twenty teams that haven’t tasted victory and fifty-four that have yet to lose. With 83 percent of the season still left to unfold, this number will surely dwindle to the small single digits by the end, but for now the winless and undefeated teams are listed below.

WINLESS TEAMS

• Notre Dame
  • hosting Texas A&M
• GA Southern
  • vs Jax St
• GA St
  • vs Murray St
• Marshall
  • vs Eastern KY
• Oregon St
  • @Texas Tech
• San Jose St
  • BYE
• Eastern Mich
  • @Kentucky
• West Mich
  • @Illinois
• Ball St
  • vs New Hampshire
• UMASS
  • @Iowa
• Miami (OH)
  • BYE
• Akron
  • @UAB
• Kenn St
  • vs Merrimack
• MTSU
  • @Nevada
• Sam Houston
  • 0-3 BYE
• UCLA
  • vs New Mexico
• Va Tech
  • vs Old Dominion
• Stanford
  • vs BC
• Charlotte
  • vs Monmouth
• UTSA
  • vs Incarnate Word

So who gets their first win this weekend?

• Virginia Tech might have the best chance against Old Dominion, but recent history shows that the Monarchs have what it takes to win in an upset. Two times since 2018 Old Dominion have beaten the Hokies. That said, this won’t be the year. Va Tech will get their first win in Week 3.
• Charlotte beats Monmouth
• UTSA beats Incarnate Word
• Ball St beats New Hampshire
• Georgia St beats Murray
• Kennesaw St beats Merrimack
• Notre Dame will have the toughest challenge hosting Texas A&M. I like the Aggies to keep it close throughout the game and maybe steal a win in South Bend

The rest of the teams will have to continue playing just for the fun of it.

UNDEAFEATED TEAMS

• Penn St
• Ohio St
• UGA
  • @Tenn
• Oregon
• LSU
• Miami
  • vs USF
• Tennessee
  • vs UGA
• Oklahoma
• Washington
• USC
  • @Purdue
• FSU
• USF
  • @Miami
• Mississippi
  • vs ARK
• Texas Tech
• Texas A&M
• Arkansas
  • @Miss
• Utah
  • @Wyoming
• Michigan St
• Wisconsin
• Auburn
• Pitt
• Memphis
• Air Force
• Georgia Tech
• Tulane
• Miss St
• Illinois
• South Carolina
  • vs Vandy
• Iowa St
• Missouri
• Indiana
• Navy
• Norht Texas
• Temple
• Nc St
• Wake
• Cal
  • vs Minn
• Houston
• UCF
• BYU
• Arizona
• TCU
• Maryland
• Nebraska
• Minnesota
  • @Cal
• Purdue
  • vs USC
• Rutgers
• NM St
• UNLV
• Wyoming
  • vs Utah
• Wash St
• Vanderbilt
  • @South Carolina
• App St
• Texas St

This number of undefeated teams will certainly dwindle quickly. Odds are that by the end of week 5 more than half of these will have lost at least one game. Either way, this week multiple teams are sure to lose as there are a few undefeated are meeting on the field.

Either USC or Purdue, Tennessee/ Georgia, Vandy/S. Carolina, Minnesota/ Cal, Utah/ Wyoming, Arkansas/ Mississippi, or Miami/ South Florida loses this weekend. So, seven of the perfect records will be tarnished.

Who else is at risk this weekend?

• New Mexico St is on the road in Ruston this weekend. The Bulldogs of LA Tech will be up for that one Saturday night, and I don’t like the Aggies chances to leave undefeated. That said–NM St is a team full of belief. If they are winning at half and are able to take the home crowd out of the equation, they will have a real shot at leaving Ruston as they entered–perfect. If this were on NM home turf or a true neautral field, I’d pick NM St -3.5 against this LA Tech side. At night and in Ruston, NM St is as likely to win as they are to lose by 30.
• Texas St is on the road in Tempe late on Saturday night. Arizona St will look to get their offense back in gear after losing on the road in Starkville and a win will not come easy for the undefeated visitors. I’d say Texas St is as likely to lose this weekend as anyone.
• Texas Tech host the crafty Beavers from Corvallis. The Red Raiders are playing confident ball. If they take Oregon St seriously, this should be a comfortable double-digit home win.
• Washington St is a slight underdog at North Texas this weekend. I’ve got the Cougars winning on the road and maintaining their perfect record, but it will not be easy.
• LSU host Florida coming off their home loss to South Florida. The Tigers are relatively heavy favorites for this game between these two premier programs, and I don’t expect them to lose, but Florida is Florida. The SEC is the SEC. And College Football Saturdays bring all sorts of wild results. Anything can happen.
• Memphis at Troy is a tougher game than it looks. This is a tricky spot as this game is sandwiched between the Tigers road win at Georgia St last week and their home game against Arkansas next week. Troy is a tricky opponent that will play with toughness and pride. I do believe the Tigers to be the better team, but Troy will not be an easy win by any means.
• The toughest test for any undefeated team is playing Alabama on the road. This is who the Badgers of Wisconsin have to beat if they are to remain on this undefeated list. I’m a Badger lover this season. The team that is facing the #1 strength of schedule this season. However, this is not one that Luke Fickel’s bunch will win. I’ve got Alabama winning but Wisconsin to keep it at least within three scores.
• Friday Night Arizona host 1-2 Kansas St. I’m a big fan of this Arizona team and their Head Coach this season. “Bear Down.” I’m rooting for the undefeated run to continue, but records aside, this is a real test for the home team. One that will require focus during all 60 minutes of action. K St is defeated, they are limping, but they are not dead by any means. Chris Klieman knows that if they win the rest of their games that they will be in the conference title game. 1-2 is a bad start, but 10-2 is still very much on the table, especially in the wide-open Wild West Big12 conference. Arizona is certainly at risk to go down this weekend. That said–I’m backing the home side. Like ‘Button’ said, “tell em, tell em to bear down.”- John Byrd “Button” Salmon in his last moments 1926

So, who wins and who loses their first game of the season this upcoming weekend? That is one of the many answers the results from Week 3’s action will provide. A parlay with Ball St, VA Tech, and UTSA as straight up winners seems like a logical move if one were into that sort of thing. I’m here for the fun.

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.