Ten Least Anticipated 2013 FBS College Football Games

By Andy Coffaro -

With the arrival of August comes the incredible anticipation for a 2013 college football season that simply can’t get here soon enough. To get you pumped up for the new season, we recently previewed the ten most anticipated ACC and SEC games that will be must-see TV this fall.

However, today we’re going to look at the other side of the pigskin by examining the ten least anticipated match-ups of 2013. These are the kinds of snoozers you probably won’t need to set your DVR for unless you’re an alumni or die-hard fan.

Among the criteria used to determine the rankings: Last year’s records and history of success or ineptitude. Also, games against FCS schools are excluded, otherwise Miami and Troy would be ranked #1 and #2 respectively due to home games versus Savannah State.

Disagree or have games of your own you think will set the sport back 100 years? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let the debates begin.

Idaho Vandals at North Texas Mean Green
Saturday, Aug. 31, 6 p.m. ET, TV TBA

What happens when a defense ranked 118 in scoring travels to Denton, TX to face an offense that could fare no better than 103rd in total O? We’ll find out during the first week of the season when Idaho – playing as an independent until they join the Sun Belt Conference next year – takes on a Mean Green squad opening the season at home for the first time since 2001. This one could be a festival of field goal attempts.

Pittsburgh Panthers at Duke Blue Devils
Saturday, Sept. 21, Time/TV TBD

Are there any two schools in the nation that consistently underachieve more than Pittsburgh and Duke? Combined, the two schools have managed to lose games to schools like Richmond, Army, Youngstown State, and Bowling Green since 2008. If college football hadn’t abolished the tie back in 1996, I would bet the money line that this one ends 13-13.

New Mexico State Aggies at New Mexico Lobos
Saturday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m. ET, ROOT SPORTS

One could argue that amongst all in-state rivalries in college football, this one garners the least attention. The Aggies currently hold the claim to the longest bowl drought in college football having not seen the postseason in 51 years. NMSU is also a team without a home in 2013 as they were left behind when the WAC dissolved last season (the Aggies will join fellow ex-WAC member Idaho in the Sun Belt next year).

The Lobos, while showing signs of improvement last season (4-9) under former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie, are still reeling from the disastrous Mike Locksley era (3-28 from 2009-2011). A loss to the Aggies might have Davie yearning for the days of warm ESPN booths where he was an analyst before taking the Lobos job.

Eastern Michigan Eagles at Army Black Knights
Saturday, Oct. 12, Noon ET, CBS Sports Network

The race for 2-10 begins on Oct. 12 when the Eastern Michigan Eagles travel to West Point to take on the Army Black Knights. Both schools are looking to recover from incredibly disappointing 2012 campaigns that began with bowl aspirations and ended with only two victories for each squad.

The season was especially brutal for the Eagles who came off a 6-6 2011 campaign and returned starting QB Alex Gillett who shined that season. But the wheels quickly fell off, culminating in a shocking 31-17 loss at home to FCS foe Illinois State.

Whoever loses this match-up could be staring at a one-win season.

Auburn Tigers at Arkansas Razorbacks
Saturday, Nov. 2, Time/TV TBD

Not even playing in the SEC can save the Tigers and Razorbacks from this list. It’s hard to believe it was only a few years ago these teams played an Arena Football-like 65-43 shootout, especially when compared to last year’s 24-7 snooze-fest.

This game is also a match-up of two new head coaches that will have intense spotlights on them all season. Gus Malzahn returns to Auburn after one season as Arkansas State where he led the Red Wolves to the postseason. He looks to turn around a Tigers team that fumbled their way to a 3-9 season, including 0-8 in the SEC.

Arkansas has one of the more interesting coaching situations this season having brought over Bret Bielema from Wisconsin. While Bielema was incredibly successful with the Badgers (68-24 record, 7 bowl games, 3 Rose Bowl appearances), he’s charged with the task of picking up the pieces still scattered from the Bobby Petrino scandal of 2012.

Illinois Fighting Illini at Indiana Hoosiers
Saturday, Nov. 9, Time/TV TBD

The title of least-best Leader could be at stake as 2012 Big Ten bottom dwellers Illinois and Indiana face off in early November. Last season Illinois subjected its fans to one of the worst offenses in the country (119th in total offense) while Indiana was busy giving up 465 yards per game (103rd in total defense).

Something has to give. Right?

California Golden Bears at Colorado Buffaloes
Saturday, Nov. 16, Time/TV TBD

Talk about two Pac-12 teams that desperately need every win it can find in 2013. The Golden Bears of California are coming off a horribly disappointing season that ended with the firing of longtime coach Jeff Tedford. Newly hired Sonny Dykes brings his aerial attack from Louisiana Tech to Berkeley in hopes of resurrecting an offense that could only muster 23 points per game last season.

Things are even more tricky over in Boulder where first-year coach Mike MacIntyre looks to rebuild a once proud program that would have went 0-12 last season had it not been for a miraculous rally at Wazzu early in the season. If anyone can turn around this program, it’s MacIntyre, who went 1-12 at San Jose State in his first season in 2010, only to lead them to an 11-2 campaign last year and a #21 BCS ranking.

Akron Zips at UMass Minutemen
Saturday, Nov. 16, 1 p.m. ET, TV TBA

If Eastern Michigan at Army is the race for 2-10, then Akron at UMass could be the battle for 1-11.

UMass spent its first year in the MAC averaging an amazingly minuscule 12.7 points per game. They even suffered through a mid-season stretch where they lost by a combined 136-7 to Bowling Green, Vandy, and Northern Illinois.

If you think that’s bad, former Auburn coach Terry Bowden’s Zips were the only ones to suffer a loss to a team that eventually went 1-11 last year.

The team? UMass.

Florida Atlantic Owls at Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
Saturday, Nov. 16, 12:30 p.m., TV TBD

In 2011, Southern Mississippi shocked Houston and its star QB, Case Keenum, in the Conference USA championship game to prevent the Cougars from busting into the BCS party.

In 2012, Southern Mississippi shocked its own fan base by somehow finishing with a 0-12 record, which made it the only FBS program without a win.

New Conference USA member Florida Atlantic arrives fresh off a 3-9 campaign and a half empty stadium built only a few years ago. The Owls barely beat FCS squad Wagner 7-3 in last year’s opener (although shockingly they beat post-season bound Western Kentucky on the road toward the end of the season).

Idaho Vandals at New Mexico State Aggies
Saturday, Nov. 30, Time/TV TBD

The Shoving Match of the Year takes place at the end of November as ex-WAC members Idaho and New Mexico State face off in what could be each school’s only chance at an FBS win. This could be an epic display of screen passes and punting considering each school ranked nearly dead last nationally in total offense last year. At least the winner can ride that momentum into the off-season before joining the Sun Belt.

Or maybe not.

Andy Coffaro is a contributor to FBSchedules.com. Follow him on Twitter @andycoffaro and LinkedIn.

Comments (53)

Great article but too bad you didn’t have room for Kansas @ Iowa St. Stubhub already has tickets for $5.00

Good call Bill. I went through every single game on the schedule and pulled out about 30. Then I whittled it down to 10, but this Jayhawks @ Cyclones “battle” certainly gets honorable mention.

Just call this site BCS schedules as apparently, the NFL minor leagues are the only brand gets exalted while the rest of the schools are made to feel like garbage. I guess we should all feel bad because the BCS schools are offended other schools have the gall to field football teams.

The site is called FBSchedules. FB is short for football. It’s not FBSSchedules.

And if you look, there are four BCS games listed. Not a bad ratio.

It’s an amusing article, don’t take it so seriously.

To be fair, in just the past few months, we’ve written collectively about Air Force adding Abilene Christian, Eastern Michigan adding Old Dominion and Army, and we’ve ranked the non-conference schedules for the MWC, AAC, MAC, Sun Belt and C-USA. We’ve even posted news about Charlotte, a school that hasn’t played a game yet.

Kevin and Andy:

You guys are awesome. Your website is one of six that I check on a daily basis. Don’t listen to the naysayers like the clown above. You’re doing a great job. My only complaint is that I wasn’t the first one to come up with the idea for a website dedicated to college football schedules!

I think FBSchedules are 100% balance when it comes to giving credit/criticize BCS or Non BCS schools, It’s not like most sites what always put down non BCS schools …

Thanks SherryBama, I’m at Work, and Matho. The entire reason I wanted to write for this great website (which I’ve read obsessively for years) is because I have an odd obsession with non-AQ schools. I love rooting for the underdog, which no doubt stems from 30 years of attending Big West and WAC games over at San Jose State. Look, I love when Bama plays Florida. When LSU plays Georgia, I’m glued to the TV. But I also love those Wednesday night games on ESPNU where kids from the Sun Belt are absolutely playing their hearts out.

This guy’s so dumb he said that auburn would be a bad team and that the Pitt Duke game would be very low scoring….nice try dumbass

I’m actually looking forward to the Abilene Christian game against New Mexico State game. It might be the only time New Mexico State should be heavily favored in a match. If this game is close the coach will be gone by the end of the season.(even if they go 12-0)

@Andy
they remembered it was football and not basketball. (still the biggest shock to me that the sun belt only took them for football only) I mean if your taking their horrible football team at least get something out of it and add them for all sports. I think they would be better in a few years.The sun belt is a good conference to rebuild a football team and wait for the eventual big 12 expansion and pray for a MWC invite.

Biggs, I think NMSU and the SBC both agreed that the geography wouldn’t work. Imagine the costs (both time and money) of getting the Water Polo team or the track team from places like Dothan or Boone to Las Cruces

what about having to go to Bakersfield or oreim. (this is not counting the affiliates for swimming or baseball) I figure they could easily fly to Chicago,Seattle or Kansas city. I figure the bump up in basketball and maybe the additional tv exposure might offset the costs.

Never mind I didn’t read the lead in.

I feel like there are too many conference games on this list. For instance I would put Illinois v. Miami of Ohio on here instead of Illinois v. Indiana.

Good call Dude on the Redhawks/Illinois match-up. I couldn’t resist the “least best Leader” angle. Guess that’s my own little stab at how silly that Legends and Leaders thing is. Glad they’re changing it next year.

This list seems very believable. I like how it was done on a weekly basis instead of just a big list of games during the first two weeks of bad matchups!

did anybody notice that out of all those bad games u don’t see 1 team from the new American conference,,,we have to give theAmerican respect there better football is going to be better then people think this ,,,,

Gag me mlb. He didn’t have room to put every one of those games on this list. Or maybe they are even less relevant as a group than Idaho. Its so bad that even SDSU pulled out. Please don’t pretend like that conference is remotely relevant.

How about Boise State vs. 0-12 Southern Mississippi? Boise’s other home non MWC game is against U-Tennessee?Martin. Isn’t that the worst pair of home non league games of the year? Talk about a weak schedule leading up to their MWC games including home games against Wyoming and New Mexico! That should be top five in worst home schedules! Try selling out dumpy Bronco stadium with that list of nobodies!

Bill and PNB cannot accept the truth! Just tell me what is not accurate in my comments. Is it the crappy home schedule? All of Boise decent games are on the road and none of those are top 20 caliber teams, or is it Bronco stadium with the gray painted track surrounding the field and the half built erector set of a stadium where most of the seats are so far away from the field. As good as the team is, Boise deserves a decent place to play at home.

Wrong Nampa.

The only fact I can not accept is the fact that you hijack every thread to make the same point over and over again.

You need to accept the fact that Boise usually plays a decent schedule but it didn’t work out that way in 2013.

You also need to accept the fact that when BSU scheduled USM back in 2011, USM looked like they were going to be decent. You also need to accept the fact that your beloved Vandals were days away from joining FCS until the shotgun marriage with the SunBelt fell in their laps.

You also should accept the fact that for a team with only 30,000 seats the only home game they are going to get against decent teams require 2 or 3 road games per home game. And that almost every FBS teams plays an FCS team each year.

And you might want to accept the fact that according to the Sagarin ratings, UTM was #112, well ahead of #165 Idaho. In fact if UTM traveled to the Kibble Dome instead of Boise they would have been an 8 point favorite over your beloved Vandals.

Wait a minute, Nampa’s a Vandal? ROFLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even Sarah Palin doesn’t talk about her days as a Vandal (which I can see why, but it would explain A LOT). But I digress. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAROFLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So speaking of which, how about the chickfight up on the Palouse which I’m sure the Kitties will pull out a hard-fought four-point win over a team that would get destroyed by most of the FCS top 25?

Auburn vs. Arkansas? really? Did you watch SEC media day? It was all over ESPN. This could be a classic with Malzhan’s hurry up and Bielema’s slow down. The shake at midfield could be a fight. Sad that you didn’t see all the fireworks just a few weeks ago.

If you want honesty… no one is looking forward to it because it could well be a game that will determine how each of these new coaches are doing. I have a feeling on Arkansas because of the Improved D.

BWT, that makes no sense. You gave a reason why people would look forward to the game. I’m as surprised as PNB, because there’s no reason this game should be on the list. It may not be as interesting to non-SEC fans, but it’ll still be plenty interesting. This is just dumb.

I almost disagree completely with this list. I love college football, so I’ll watch almost any game, but I don’t understand how some of these games could have been among the 10 worst games among the hundreds of college football games being played this season.

I saw the first game, Idaho at N Texas, and was getting ready to see more Sun Belt, MAC, and Conference-USA matchups. Instead, I saw some pretty good B1G and SEC games thrown in here. So you’re telling me that a traditionally close game in Arkansas v Auburn is less interesting than, say, Florida International v Troy? Come on.

I’ll first list the games I agree with.

Idaho at N Texas.
Akron at UMass.
Idaho at New Mexico St.
Florida Atlantic at S Miss.

Not much explanation needed for those.

Now, here’s my beef.

Pittsburgh at Duke.
Alright, I guess you haven’t been watching much college football. Last season in September, Pittsburgh looked like the most God-forsaken college football team to put on pads and helmets. However, Dayne Christ seemed to skip Step #1 in building a program in about 4 weeks (losing big), and after a win against VPI, ended up taking his team to a bowl game in his first season. I expect Pittsburgh to be a really tough out in the ACC this season. Now, for the host Bluedevils, I’m very interested to see if they can contend for a bowl berth again after going to their first one in about a quarter century last season. Duke throws the ball about 800 times a game and Pitt runs the ball about 900 times a game. Talk about contrasting styles. I expect a very entertaining game and one that will probably determine Duke’s bowl chances and Pitt’s ability to challenge in the ACC Coastal.

New Mexico St at New Mexico.
I know I will take some flack for this, but even though it features two struggling programs, I believe a heated in-state rivalry should never be on a Top 10 most unwatchable FBS football games list. I put this game on last season on ESPN3 and the players were hitting and generally playing as hard as I’ve seen in any game. I’m also interested to keep tracking Bob Davie’s resurrection project in Albuquerque. Do I clear my schedule for this? No. Do I at least check in on it? Yes. I can’t say that for the first three games I mentioned.

E Michigan at Army.
I’m very biased here, as I have always held a soft spot for the Hurons turned Eagles, and have visited the campus in Ypsilanti and the surrounding area on several occasions. However, I realize that Eastern doesn’t mean much if anything to the rest of the college football world, and there is probably not a tougher FBS job in the country (New Mexico St maybe). I disagree that a service academy is part of the Top 10 most unwatchable games, though. I will never shy away from turning on a game featuring a service academy and future servicemen of our country.

Auburn at Arkansas.
“This game is also a match-up of two new head coaches that will have intense spotlights on them all season. Gus Malzahn returns to Auburn after one season as Arkansas State where he led the Red Wolves to the postseason. He looks to turn around a Tigers team that fumbled their way to a 3-9 season, including 0-8 in the SEC.

Arkansas has one of the more interesting coaching situations this season having brought over Bret Bielema from Wisconsin. While Bielema was incredibly successful with the Badgers (68-24 record, 7 bowl games, 3 Rose Bowl appearances), he’s charged with the task of picking up the pieces still scattered from the Bobby Petrino scandal of 2012.”

^^^That is exactly why I will watch and not vice versa.

Illinois at Indiana.
I agree that on paper this is not very appetizing, but it’s still a B1G game, and you can’t tell me that you would watch a normal Sun Belt or Conference-USA game over a B1G game. Illinois is a traditional underachiever and has been for years, while Indiana showed some life into October last season before again missing out on a bowl game. I’m interested to see if Indiana will continue to rise and if Illinois can be any less of a tire fire than they were last season.

Cal at Colorado.
“Talk about two Pac-12 teams that desperately need every win it can find in 2013. The Golden Bears of California are coming off a horribly disappointing season that ended with the firing of longtime coach Jeff Tedford. Newly hired Sonny Dykes brings his aerial attack from Louisiana Tech to Berkeley in hopes of resurrecting an offense that could only muster 23 points per game last season.

Things are even more tricky over in Boulder where first-year coach Mike MacIntyre looks to rebuild a once proud program that would have went 0-12 last season had it not been for a miraculous rally at Wazzu early in the season. If anyone can turn around this program, it’s MacIntyre, who went 1-12 at San Jose State in his first season in 2010, only to lead them to an 11-2 campaign last year and a #21 BCS ranking.”

^^^Again, this is exactly why I AM watching.

Valid points Josh, thanks for chiming in.

Obviously it’s not a list of the absolute worst games. That would be too easy with all the FCS matchups, etc.

Perhaps a “Top Ten Least Anticipated Games from FBS AQ Conferences” is in order, and maybe also a “Top Ten Most Anticipated Games from FBS Non-AQ Conferences”.

Josh: Thanks for taking the time to send this. You make some really great points that are hard to argue with. Obviously this list was created for fun and no matter who was on it, people would disagree. And just as a disclaimer, I own two Eastern Michigan shirts. I’m a huge fan of the underdog and I always watch the Eagles on ESPN3. I wish they would get more than 4,000 fans each weekend and actually found myself bummed when they didn’t make a bowl game two years ago when they were so very close. I also like your theory on Army. Makes sense.

Really, that’s your reason for EMU vs. Army not to be included on the list? What they do for their day-to-day lives has no relevance on FOOTBALL, and the fact that you will turn on the game and sit through it simply because they are a member of the AF astounds me. EMU is complete garbage. As an alum of CMU, I’ve traveled to Ypsi and been to a game there – the city sucks, the stadium sucks, the team sucks. They should not be FBS.

Eastern’s problem is that they are a commuter school. Somehow they manage to keep their FBS status by generating just enough attendance every year. I don’t know how they do it because every time I put one of their home games on ESPN3 I see about 4,000-5,000 people there.

The game I went to they just opened the gates and let anybody come in for free. It’s pretty depressing to even sit in the seats.

The hate on this thread is incredible. It said “Least Anticipated,” not “I hate every team on this list and all these games will be blowouts.”

Great piece, Andy!

Wow, someone appears to be completely unaware of the drama between Auburn and Arkansas. Malzahn was a candidate to be the Arkansas head coach. Malzahn is from Arkansas and a legend in the Arkansas high school coaching ranks. Malzahn and Bulimia exchanged jabs at SEC media days over the hurry up no huddle offenses.

One of the most anticipated SEC West matchups made this list. That is some hilarious stuff.

My guess is that the author is a Bama fan and figured it would be funny to diss Arkansas and Auburn. Because, it makes absolutely no sense for this game to be on the list.

The Auburn vs. Arkansas game should not be on this list. It is a match up of 2 SEC west teams that could possibly disrupt every ranking in the sec and bcs. Don’t hit the snooze button just yet!

Looks like the Auburn/Arkansas projection turned out to be a major whiff for the author. Now that the game is two days away, it is amazing that such a dud game got ESPN to cover it.

Turns out the Duke-Pittsburgh game was very entertaining with Pitt winning 58-55. Both teams are bowl eligible and Duke is 9-2. Both are on an upward trajectory. Makes of a good game nexy year, also.

With the benefit of these having all ready occurred, it can only be said “what a worthless piece of journalism this was”

Only the cool people come back after the season and bash the list. Like they knew Auburn would make it to the national championship game and Duke would win 10 games.