Over the next few weeks I’ll be previewing some of the best scheduled games for the up coming season. We’re only six weeks away from kickoff of what should be a pretty exciting season of college football. We start with the best weeknight games.

Gone are the days where teams like ECU, Southern Miss, and Toldeo ruled most Thursday nights (with the occasional ACC or Big East match up thrown in), back then the big boys only showed up when they made the rare visit to one of those mid-majors. Times have changed and Thursday nights have become so popular that even the Big East has been pushed to Fridays, allowing the Big 12 and ACC to occupy a few more spots in the lineup.

Just a few ground rules, games on holidays don’t count, so no Labor Day or Thanksgiving weekend. The games listed here were obtained from CollegeFootballNews.com’s TV Listings, if I missed a game because it wasn’t there, I’m sorry. I know the MWC has played some Thursday night games on Versus, but I did not see any this year, likely as a result of everyone just tuning into ESPN. So MWC fans, no calling me biased on this one.

1. North Carolina v. Virginia Tech- 10/29 – 7:30 – ESPN – On paper this looks to be the best match up of the plethora of weeknight games ESPNs. Virginia Tech has the potential to be a top 10 team if Tyrod Taylor plays as well as he did to end the season. What would a Thursday night in the fall be without an epic Virginia Tech game anyway? Remember when Corso’s car was hit by lightning?

2. Ole Miss v. South Carolina- 9/24 – 7:30pm – ESPN – Ole Miss is getting a lot of hype coming into this season. Not only do they potentially have one of the most underrated QBs in the country (Jevan Snead), but their defense returns a lot  of a core that  stopped Florida and Texas Tech.  On the other hand, South Carolina will probably struggle. Inevitably there will be a Spurrier interview somewhere in the broadcast talking about it. “well…well. ya know, I told our players that we just got to keep playing and put points up…that’s why they invented a scoreboard.” Plus, SEC = Great Football. No matter who is playing.

3. Oregon v. Boise State-  9/3 – 10:15pm – ESPN – Opening night gives us this doozy! While many might focus on the 7pm game (SC v. NC State) this is not only one of the best weeknight games, it is also one of the best BCS v. Non-BCS match ups of the season (for another day though). Boise State is awfully tough on that Smurf Turf.

4. FSU v. North Carolina - 10/22 – 8pm – ESPN - FSU is another staple that made Thursday night games so popular in the 1990s, and while they’ve stopped scheduling them at Doak, they usually play at least one on the road each season. I expect this FSU team to have a better season than most believe, especially since it is potentially Bowden’s last year. North Carolina lost some talented receivers, but Butch Davis has recruited very well and has some weapons who can step in.

5. Nebraska v. Missouri- 10/8 – 9pm – ESPN - Don’t let Missouri fool ya, they aren’t the Missouri we’ve come to respect the last few seasons. With a lot of the great players that helped them earn national rankings gone they will struggle while rebuilding this season. Nebraska on the other hand, is looking for a breakout season…AGAIN. 

6. Oregon State v. Oregon – 12/3 – 9pm – ESPN – One of the best rivalries college football has to offer is on a Thursday night! I dig it. Oregon State should be ranked, while Oregon will be in purgatory, neither great nor terrible…always a fun one, regardless of the records.

7. West Virginia v. USF – 10/30 (Friday) – 8pm – ESPN2  – I don’t think there is a single college football expert that really knows what will happen with WVU now that Pat White is gone. Even with White under center the Mountaineers looked lost at times without Rich Rodriguez on the sidelines. As for USF, this is about the time in the season where they fall apart and go from top ranked team to playing in the St. Pete Bowl…Regardless the last three games between these two have been decided by one score.

8. Colorado v. Oklahoma State – 11/19 - 7:30pm – ESPN – Colorado isn’t going to wow anyone this year, but should be a bowl team. Oklahoma State is a top 20 team. Nice to see a little more Big 12 occupying the Thursday night slot.

9.  USF v. Rutgers- 11/12 – 7:30pm – ESPN - Rutgers lost their quarterback and top two wide receivers, but the Big East is going to be so down this year they should be able to recover.  This game could determine the Big East champ… or it could be a dud. Still not a bad match up, as the Big East always gives us the memorable ones.

10.  Bowling Green v. Buffalo- 11/3 (Tuesday) - 7pm – ESPN2  – Turner Gill has Buffalo winning and could make some noise in the polls this year. All eyes will be on Gill, who could be the next coach at Miami, Louisville, Colorado, or Virginia. If Bowling Green can keep it straight in the MAC, this could be a game that decides the MAC East…Sure, I could have easily put Miami v. Georgia Tech here, but I have to pay some homage to the teams that got the weeknight games rolling.

There are several other good matchups, Missouri v. Nevada; Miami v. Georgia Tech; Boise State v. Tulsa; Tulsa v. UTEP; East Carolina v. Tulsa. Interestingly, ESPN has set some up so they have an option on select Tuesday games. They have two games scheduled at the same time, one to go on ESPN2, the other on ESPNU. This will give them a chance to show the best matchup on the bigger station…Pretty exciting…if you’re a HARDCORE college football guy like myself.

Next Week: Best BCS v. Non-BCS matchups.

Trey is a contributor at SpartyandFriend.com, to reach him contact GatorTrey (at) spartyandfriends .com.

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