Welcome back to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG, The THUNDERBLOG’s Weekly College Football Series. If you noticed the emphasis on BLOG, that is because this season we have the podcast tying in as well! If you haven’t checked out this week’s episode, I’ll include the Soundcloud links below. Here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. Most of this week’s episode was our NFL Preview (stay tuned for Matty D’s Cold Hard Locks) but we start the CFB talk at 1:44:45. For those newer readers, the blog version of the Funvee Tailgate looks at the full slate of Top 25 FBS teams along with a few other selections. Week 1 immediately picked up from where last season’s wild ride finished up. I can’t wait to see where Week 2 takes us. LET’S FIRE IT UP!

Last Week’s Record:

5 – 4 ATS – Not bad for Week 1

Wild Week 2 Ahead:

Oklahoma State travels to South Alabama tonight as a 28-point favorite–pretty easy to say the Cowboys will win as SAU isn’t known a defensive powerhouse. We have a very competitive schedule for Saturday with a lot of Top 25 matchups. The Florida schools have canceled their games due to Hurricane Irma. Hopefully, they all stay safe through this storm and hopefully have gotten out of harm’s way. As for the rest of the Top 25, #1 Alabama, #7 Washington, #8 Michigan, #9 Wisconsin, #12 LSU, #18 Virginia Tech, #19 Kansas State, and #25 Tennessee are all MASSIVE favorites and should win. Worth noting VaTech play’s Third and Girl’s Delaware Blue Hens while Tennessee could probably stay at #25 since they’re playing the FCS’s Indiana State. Let’s take a look at the rest of the slate:

• #17 Louisville (-9.5) at North Carolina at noon on ESPN–UNC’s loss to Cal last week was a hot pick as all the off-the-field issues clearly affected them. The line should be bigger but Louisville didn’t throttle Purdue like they should have. Lamar rights that ship here: Louisville wins and covers.
• Pitt (+21.5) at #4 Penn State at 3:30 on ABC–A revenge game here for the Nittany Lions as the Pitt loss is what caused them to miss the CFP. PSU will win, no doubts but the line is what makes this intriguing. Pitt is no Akron but Penn State ran like a fine-oiled machine last weekend–literally. Saquon doesn’t get stopped: PSU wins and covers. (barely)
• #13 Auburn (+5.0) at #3 Clemson at 7:00 on ESPN–An incredibly fun Saturday night battle between two GREAT defenses. I think the Clemson Tigers’ offense is a bit ahead of the Auburn Tigers’ offense. Clemson wins and covers.
• #5 Oklahoma (+7.5) at #2 Ohio State at 7:30 on ABC–The Buckeyes TRASHED the Sooners last year on the road. We now move to Columbus with an Urban Meyer team that played teeerrrrribly in the first half against Indiana. While I’m bullish on Oklahoma, I’m bearish on this game: Ohio State wins and covers.
• #15 Georgia (+6.0) at #24 Notre Dame at 7:30 on NBC–Notre Dame smacked Temple around last week a lot worse than people thought they would. Georgia actually took care of App State. UGA’s defense is a lot tougher than Temple’s so expect ND RB Josh Adams to be slowed down: Georgia wins.
• #14 Stanford (+6.0) at #6 USC at 8:30 on FOX–USC didn’t impress me too much last week and Stanford could capitalize on that. Probably the closest game of the week for me as I’m keying on Cardinal RB Bryce Love vs. the USC defense as a key matchup. USC wins but doesn’t cover.
• Boise State (+10.0) at #20 Washington State at 10:30 on ESPN–Probably the easiest pick of the week. Luke Falk is still FANTASTIC at QB for the Cougars and James Williams is a legit WR talent. WSU wins and covers.

Lehigh (0-1) hits the road looking to avenge their three-point loss to Nova last weekend. The Mountain Hawks pulled within a score multiple times in the second half but put up a goose egg in the first half. They take on a Monmouth team that has caused Lehigh trouble in the past. Should be a close game that you can catch on ESPN3 at 1:00!

Disagree with my picks? Did I miss a matchup you wanted to see here? Let me know in the comments!

(cover photo via)