Friday nights in the fall have always seemed a bit light on televised football. With high schools playing their varsity games on Friday nights, and NFL games dominating Sunday, Monday and Thursday, Friday TV has normally gone to the most unhinged college football games of the season (see: Stanford @ Colorado last year). Most games on Friday are between West Coast teams who get the after dark notice, the most insane of games that we end up fondly remembering at the end of the season.
However, with the Pac-12 merging into the Big Ten and Big 12, we have the potential to get into the most incredulous college football games of the season. Never before have we thought about the idea of USC traveling to Piscataway, New Jersey on a Friday night, have we? Well that box is now wide open, and the potential for wild games is ready to unlock.
Here’s how we rank the Friday night regular season primetime games that’ll be on Fox, the final remnants of #Pac12AfterDark.
11. Purdue @ Michigan State, 8:00 pm EST Nov. 22
Oh, man. This game might get pretty dreary, pretty quickly. We should know what these two teams are at this point of the season, but Michigan State is under a new regime and Purdue is still figuring it out. Good luck.
10. Illinois @ Nebraska, 8:00 pm EST Sept. 20
This game is more than likely going to end 15-12 with more turnovers than touchdowns, and it’s going to rule.
9. Michigan State @ Oregon, 9:00 pm EST Oct. 4
Oregon should be very good this year. Bringing in transfer QB Dillon Gabriel helps keep the RPO-based offense humming, and the Ducks’ talent at every position rivals any school in the country.
Michigan State…does not. Under first-year head coach Jonathan Smith and new QB Aidan Chiles, the Spartans are going to be facing an uphill battle when they go to Eugene. Might want to skip this one.
8. Oregon @ Purdue, 8:00 pm EST Oct. 18
Second verse, same as the first. Purdue’s defense should be intriguing, but offensively they remain a work in progress. An October in West Lafayette should be intriguing, however.
7. UCLA @ Washington, 9:00 pm EST, Nov. 15
The first game on here between two former Pac-12 members, this one should be pretty interesting. Jedd Fisch comes over from Arizona and brings Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers at QB. DeShaun Foster takes the UCLA job, and might be in for more of a rebuild than usual in Los Angeles. However, the defense should remain fairly stingy. Could be a fun one.
6. Iowa @ UCLA, 9:00 pm EST, Nov. 8
Primetime Iowa, folks. Get ready to see a lot of punts and some stingy defense.
5. Northwestern @ Maryland, 8:00 pm EST, Oct. 11
Northwestern in their second year under David Braun should be an interesting team, especially after making a bowl game in the first year. The Wildcats return receiver AJ Henning and a dynamic group of running backs. However, this is the first game after September for Maryland, so the slide will probably begin now.
4. Washington @ Rutgers, 8:00 pm EST, Sep. 27
Rutgers could be sneaky interesting this year. Greg Schiano’s unit has a stingy defense and an offense that gets enough out of RB Kyle Monagai to frustrate opposing defenses. Plus, this is early enough in the season to take on a Washington team that could be still trying to figure itself out. This game is ripe for an upset.
3. Rutgers @ USC, 11:00 pm EST, Oct. 25
This is it, folks. This is why we #Pac12AfterDark. For moments like this one, where a Rutgers team from New Jersey has to travel across the country for an 11:00 pm kick against USC. This is what dreams are made of. Because this game is kicking off at 11:00 pm, expect this one to be one of the best games of the season.
2. Arizona @ Kansas State, 8:00 pm EST Sep. 13
The first game between now Big 12 rivals, this one has a lot of potential for fireworks. Despite losing their head coach in the offseason, Arizona returns QB Noah Fifita and WR Tetairoa McMillan, ensuring that the offense won’t fall apart too much. They’ll be heading to Manhattan, where Kansas State returns intriguing QB Avery Johnson. Lot of potential in this game.
1 . Utah @ UCF, 8:00 pm EST, Nov. 29
A game this late has major Big 12 implications, with the potential to decide who goes to the conference title game. Utah returns almost everyone on an offense that is going to try and beat and batter opponents on the ground. Cam Rising returns for another season under center, and if he can stay healthy, they can be special. UCF brings in former Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson to help juice up the Knights’ offense, and a ground game of he and RJ Davis could be absolutely sick. Make this one priority viewing folks.
