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Pac-12 Television Breakdown: Week 3

The Pac-12 gets its first conference game of the year with a matchup between USC and Stanford this week.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In the second week of non-conference play, the Pac-12 fared decidedly well. Excluding any team from the state of Oregon, the Pac-12 went undefeated. The only game that the non-Oregon Pac-12 was in true danger of losing was the Washington State-Rutgers tilt, which Wazzu ended up winning, 37-34. Yep, that’s the Rutgers team whose head coach, Kyle Flood, just got suspended three games for having "inappropriate communications" with a professor. I’m sure it was all just a misunderstan-

Oh. Well, that doesn’t seem too bad, as long as he isn’t doing anything shady or knowingly against the rul-

Uhm. ANYWAYS,

Oregon and Oregon State were the only losers this week in the Pac-12. Luckily, the losses came at the hands of two solid programs in Michigan and Michigan State, and both games provided UO and OSU with plenty to build off of. The Pac-12 still has five teams in the top 25, with USC and UCLA moving into the top 10 and Oregon moving down to #12.

The first game of the week will be a Friday matchup between Arizona State (1-1) and New Mexico (1-1) at 7:00 pm PT on the Pac-12 network. The Lobos will be traveling from one hot place (Albequerque) to another hot place (Tempe) so don’t expect either teams to have an advantage in terms of temperature acclimation. I would say, however, that Arizona State has the overwhelming skill advantage. They’re currently listed as 27-point favorites. Sure, last weeks’ 35-21 win over Cal Poly may have been a little close for comfort, but this is the Lobos we're talking about. Fun fact: the Lobos are 15-60 since 2009!

A Saturday full of Pac-12 goodness will begin in Eugene with a totally fair matchup between Georgia State (1-1) and #12 Oregon (1-1). Fun fact: Georgia State is a combined 1-23 in their last two seasons! If there’s one reason to watch this game, it’s because starting QB Vernon Adams may not play with a broken finger. The broken finger is on Adams’ throwing hand, which leads me to believe he will probably sit this one out. If backup Jeff Lockie ends up getting the start, it’s likely he’ll shred the hapless Panthers and perhaps start a quarterback controversy. Tune into the Pac-12 network at 11:00 am PDT to see who ends up playing.

Utah State (1-1), fresh off a 24-14 loss to Utah, heads up to Seattle to take on another Pac-12 foe, Washington (1-1). Utah St. kept things fairly close with Utah, so don’t expect to see a blowout on the Huskies side. The game starts at 2:00 pm PDT on the Pac-12 network.

Colorado (1-1) will battle for the right to reclaim ownership of the Rocky Mountains against Colorado State (1-1) down at Sports Authority Field in Denver, the home of the NFL Broncos, in what is sure to be a titan-esque throw-down of epic proportions. It won’t actually be that exciting, but in-state rivalries are always an entertaining watch, especially with Colorado looking to avenge last year’s 34-17 loss. It will kickoff at 5:00 pm CDT (4:00 pm PDT) on CBS Sports Network.

Cal-Berkeley (2-0) will be traveling to Austin to take on the really not so good football team formerly known as Texas (1-1). Cal has been cruising with Jared Goff under center, while Texas has been pretty bad with noodle-armed Tyrone Swoopes manning the offense. Texas' AD Steve Patterson just got fired, too. Don’t mess with Texas, Steve. Expect Cal to run (and pass) all over Texas when they play at 6:30 pm CDT (4:30 pm PDT) on Fox. The Golden Bears will be looking for their first win ever over the Longhorns, and to exact a measure of revenge for the 2004 BCS snub.

In the first Pac-12 conference matchup of the year, Stanford (1-1) will be taking on #6 USC (2-0) at the Memorial Coliseum. Both Stanford and USC started the season in the polls, but Stanford has struggled mightily out of the gate and become unranked. Their season prospects took a huge blow when they lost their season opener against Northwestern. Stanford was a huge favorite for this game, but thanks to shaky play from (seemingly) eighth year starter Kevin Hogan, they lost. Hogan rebounded with 341 yards and three touchdowns in a matchup against UCF, but it remains to be seen if he can string together a few good games and establish any consistency.

Meanwhile, USC has taken a turn in the opposite direction of Stanford and has rocketed up the polls. QB Cody Kessler has been on the money so far, with 650 yards, seven passing touchdowns and no interceptions. USC has made it clear that they have aspirations to win it all this year, and they are going to be a tough team to beat at home. Stanford, and namely Hogan, will really have to get their act together if they want to pose a serious threat to USC. This game will start at 5:00 pm PDT on ABC.

Oregon State (1-1) and San Jose State (1-1) will also take each other on at 5:00 pm PDT on the Pac-12 network in what will hopefully be a rebound game for OSU. Gary Anderson and Co. will look to clean up their act after last week’s mistake-marred nightmare against Michigan. San Jose State will be no cake walk, but it's a game the Beavers need to win. Keep it here for more analysis on this week's game.

Wyoming (0-2) has had a rough start to the season. With early losses to North Dakota and Eastern Michigan, Wyoming only has so much time to gather the pieces and make something out of this season. Luckily, they will be playing at Washington State (1-1) this week. After Wazzu's early loss to Portland State, anything is possible with this Cougars team. However, Wyoming needs to beware of kicker Erik Powell, who was named one of the Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week. I only note this because the game may very well come down to who can make the most field goals. The Cowboys and Cougars will square off at 5:30 pm PDT and it will be viewable on pac-12.com

#21 Utah (2-0) will look to continue its early success with a matchup at Fresno State (1-1). Utah brings much more talent to the table, but the Bulldogs might just make a game out of it. Fresno State has a nice home-field advantage, as the Buldogs are 18-2 at home since their current head coach Tim DeRuyter took over. This game will start at 7:30 pm PDT on CBS Sports Network.

Brigham Young University (2-0) will travel to #10 UCLA (2-0) to try and knock the Bruins out of their lofty ranking, but they may find it difficult with UCLA's true freshman QB Josh Rosen playing so well. BYU probably leads the NCAA in below the belt punches, but that won’t help them much against UCLA. Get on Fox Sports 1 at 7:30 pm PDT to catch kickoff.

Another in-state (albeit less exciting,) game this week will take place in Tucson between Northern Arizona (2-0) and #20 Arizona (2-0). Check it out at 8:00 pm PDT & AST on the Pac-12 network. The Lumberjacks wins have come against another FCS foe and a Division II team, so the 'Cats represent a sizable upgrade in difficulty.

Here's the complete, national schedule, fully adjusted for East Coast Bias time:

Thu, Sept 17, 2015
7:30 PM ET
ESPNWatchESPN
(11) Clemson at Louisville
Fri, Sept 18, 2015
8:00 PM ET
ESPNWatchESPN
(9) Florida State at Boston College
9:00 PM ET
CBSS
Idaho State at Boise State
10:00 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
New Mexico at Arizona State
Sat, Sept 19, 2015
12:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Savannah State at Akron
12:00 PM ET
ESPNUWatchESPN
South Florida at Maryland
12:00 PM ET
BTNBTN2Go
UNLV at Michigan
12:00 PM ET
ABC
Air Force at (4) Michigan State
12:00 PM ET
BTNBTN2Go
Kent State at Minnesota
12:00 PM ET
Buffalo at Florida Atlantic
12:00 PM ET
SECNWatchESPN
Nevada at (17) Texas A&M
12:00 PM ET
ESPN2WatchESPN
Illinois at North Carolina
12:00 PM ET
ESPNWatchESPN
Connecticut at (22) Missouri
12:00 PM ET
CBSS
Wake Forest at Army
12:00 PM ET
FS1 FoxSportsGo
Tulsa at (16) Oklahoma
12:30 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Central Michigan at Syracuse
12:30 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
(23) Northwestern at Duke
2:00 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
Georgia State at (12) Oregon
2:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Southeastern Louisiana at Ohio
2:30 PM ET
Rice at North Texas
3:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Temple at Massachusetts
3:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Ball State at Eastern Michigan
3:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Memphis at Bowling Green
3:00 PM ET
FSNFoxSportsGo
Louisiana Tech at Kansas State
3:30 PM ET
BTNBTN2Go
Troy at (24) Wisconsin
3:30 PM ET
ABC/ESPN2WatchESPN
Northern Illinois at (1) Ohio State
3:30 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Cincinnati at Miami (OH)
3:30 PM ET
CBSS
East Carolina at Navy
3:30 PM ET
Norfolk State at Marshall
3:30 PM ET
FS1FoxSportsGo
Texas-San Antonio at (25) Oklahoma State
3:30 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
William & Mary at Virginia
3:30 PM ET
ESPNUWatchESPN
Virginia Tech at Purdue
3:30 PM ET
NBCNBC Sports Live Extra
(14) Georgia Tech at (8) Notre Dame
3:30 PM ET
ABC/ESPN2WatchESPN
Nebraska at Miami (FL)
3:30 PM ET
CBSSEC Live
(18) Auburn at (13) LSU
4:00 PM ET
Northwestern State at Mississippi State
4:00 PM ET
SECNWatchESPN
Austin Peay at Vanderbilt
4:00 PM ET
ESPNNWatchESPN
Western Kentucky at Indiana
5:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Wofford at Idaho
5:00 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
Utah State at Washington
6:00 PM ET
ESPNWatchESPN
South Carolina at (7) Georgia
6:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
The Citadel at Georgia Southern
6:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Furman at UCF
6:00 PM ET
North Carolina Central at FIU
7:00 PM ET
Charlotte at Middle Tennessee
7:00 PM ET
Southern Miss at Texas State
7:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Murray State at Western Michigan
7:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Missouri State at Arkansas State
7:00 PM ET
ESPN2WatchESPN
Texas Tech at Arkansas
7:00 PM ET
ESPNUWatchESPN
Western Carolina at Tennessee
7:00 PM ET
NC State at Old Dominion
7:00 PM ET
CBSS
Colorado vs.
(Denver, CO)
Colorado State
7:30 PM ET
SECNWatchESPN
Florida at Kentucky
7:30 PM ET
FOXFoxSportsGo
Cal at Texas
8:00 PM ET
BTNBTN2Go
Rutgers at Penn State
8:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
UTEP at New Mexico State
8:00 PM ET
ESPN3WatchESPN
Maine at Tulane
8:00 PM ET
South Alabama at San Diego State
8:00 PM ET
BTNBTN2Go
Pittsburgh at Iowa
8:00 PM ET
ABC
Stanford at (6) USC
8:00 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
San Jose State at Oregon State
8:00 PM ET
FSNFoxSportsGo
SMU at (3) TCU
8:00 PM ET
ESPNNWatchESPN
Iowa State at Toledo
8:30 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
Wyoming at Washington State
9:15 PM ET
ESPNWatchESPN
(15) Mississippi at (2) Alabama
10:30 PM ET
FS1FoxSportsGo
(22) BYU at (10) UCLA
10:30 PM ET
CBSS
(21) Utah at Fresno State
11:00 PM ET
PAC12Pac-12 Live
Northern Arizona at (20) Arizona
11:59 PM ET
UC Davis at Hawaii