AGS Game Of The Week, 2024 Week 2

[Chalupa Batman]

Late getting it out this week but better late than never. What is your pick for the FCS game of the week?


#15 Incarnate Word @ #1 South Dakota State The first of 2 road games against MVFC playoff contenders for the Cardinals. Should they stumble in the Southland, they’ll likely need to win one of these games.

#30 Elon @ #31 North Carolina Central Playoff resume builder for whoever wins this game (in NC Central’s case, should they not win the MEAC again).

New Hampshire @ #40 Holy Cross Another resume builder for two teams with playoff aspirations

#9 Southern Illinois @ #37 Austin Peay Nonconference game between playoff contenders

#22 UT Martin @ #36 Southeast Missouri State Potentially seeing the Big South-OVC championship game in week 2.

#3 Montana @ #20 North Dakota Big early season road test for one of the national championship favorites, UND has been a very tough team to beat in the Alerus Center

[MSUBobcat]

One clear winner, IMO. 2 games between top 20 teams (if UIW is indeed top-20), and the only one of the 2 where the higher ranked team plays AT the lower ranked team. One is a toss up, while I expect the other to be a blowout. Process of elimination says... #3 UM @ #20 UND.

[Outsider1]

Honestly all of the 3 above are going to be good games, with implications for later in the season. I think the early test for Montana will be one to watch and evaluate closely though.

[JALMOND]

I'm going with a homer pick and taking Portland State at Weber State. Two teams just on the outside looking in and both want to make some noise this year in the Big Sky. Conference games this early can be tricky and the winner will have an early step on the rest, but conference wins will determine who makes it and who doesn't. Portland State has a daunting schedule this year that they will have to navigate and this is one of their easier games, so they need a win. Weber State certainly does not want to lose their conference home opener if they want a shot, so they need a win as well. Must win for both teams in Week 2? Better believe it.

[crusader11]

Montana at UND.

The only correct answer.

[POD Knows]

Montana at UND.

The only correct answer.
Yep and UND wins this one at home. BOOKIT.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Yep and UND wins this one at home. BOOKIT.

Aren't they on a 37 year home opener heater? I thought I saw something ridiculous like that....

[Pards Rule]

Lafayette at Monmouth

[POD Knows]

Aren't they on a 37 year home opener heater? I thought I saw something ridiculous like that....Yea, I don't know, I just know that it is a tough place for visiting teams to win.

[JacksFan40]

Went Montana @ UND, and I picked UND in the pick’em. Hawks gave Iowa State a good scare and Montana struggled with Missouri State. UND is a much better team when in Grand Forks as well.

Wanted to go UIW @ SDSU as a homer pick but I don’t think that’ll be particularly close. Unless Calzada plays like he did against Bama in 2021, in which case we’re screwed.

[GRIZ1948]

This game will show the character of the teams

[GRIZ1948]

Their 37 game winning streak end on saturday

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

UT-Martin at SEMO should be a late October, early November match up. Whoever put together the OVC-Big South schedule failed imo by having this game so early in the season.

[caribbeanhen]

the game of the week is The Bison at VMI

No joke

[wcugrad95]

I will say good on Montana for making the trip (and for several schools who are playing tough OOC games against FCS competition). WCU plays at the Griz in a couple of weeks in what could be another ranked showdown. The more of these kind of crossover games we have the better it is to help understand who the top teams/conferences are especially since some conferences don't play a true round-robin in league play. Now if more and more of this happens and we start having lots more 7-4 teams at year's end it will make playoff bids even harder to figure out, but it will make seeding easier by recognizing teams who played tough OOC schedules that tested them.

[KPSUL]

One clear winner, IMO. 2 games between top 20 teams (if UIW is indeed top-20), and the only one of the 2 where the higher ranked team plays AT the lower ranked team. One is a toss up, while I expect the other to be a blowout. Process of elimination says... #3 UM @ #20 UND.

Assuming there is no divine intervention, UIW will fold up like a cheap cot in Brookings.

[Redbird 4th & short]

Went Montana @ UND, and I picked UND in the pick’em. Hawks gave Iowa State a good scare and Montana struggled with Missouri State. UND is a much better team when in Grand Forks as well.

Wanted to go UIW @ SDSU as a homer pick but I don’t think that’ll be particularly close. Unless Calzada plays like he did against Bama in 2021, in which case we’re screwed.

i wrestled with same 2 games, but went with IW at SDSU as I want the polls to get a dose of reality on IW. That said, "any given saturday" !!!

But Montana at UND is a result I really want to see. I would have guessed UND would fall off a bit from last year .. so far, they look pretty good. We play them at home this year .. and we owe them a payback as we lost on last minute drive which kicked us from playoff consideration.