After a glum off-season, full of gloomy predictions, a strong Week 1 performance against FCS Southern Illinois has optimism trending strongly upwards.  This week against a maybe-good, maybe-bad, maybe-somewhere-in-between SMU should tell us a lot about BYU for the upcoming season

Pre-Saturday Games

As mentioned BYU @ SMU (Friday 5 PM, ESPN2) is going to tell us a lot about both BYU and SMU this year. SMU looked mediocre against Nevada and then played the cupcakiest of cupcakes in Houston Christian, so it's tough to say how good they are. That said Sagarin has them at 35, and they're clearly our toughest challenge yet, with SMU favored by 11.5

There's no other pre-Saturday games worth watching unless you want to subject yourself to Duke @ Northwestern (Friday 7PM, FS1) or Western Illinois @ Indiana (Friday 5PM, BTN).

BYU/SMU is really the only game in town and should get decent ratings, going up against the Men's Open on ESPN and then Shark Tank, Let's Make a Deal, WWE Friday Night and America's got Talent on the major OTA channels

Saturday Morning (Up until Noon Mountain)

Week 1 had a lot of snoozers, but Week 2 kicks things off in earnest and has probably the game of the week in this slot. It's tempting to suggest a Big 12 game or something more relevant, but there's just no going against Texas @ Michigan (10 AM, FOX).  Two top ten teams, massive fan bases, SEC vs B1G, relatively close Vegas line (Texas by 7.5), this game is what college football is about and will draw insane ratings

Top alternatives (for a bit more BYU/XII relevance):

• 17 Kansas St @ Tulane (10AM, ESPN) should be a good one and a chance to scout our first conference opponent. Kansas St is obviously favored (by 9), but Tulane isn't a pushover and that game is at Tulane, so this should be be a useful test.

• Arkanas @ #16 Oklahoma St (10 AM, ABC): A P4 v P4 matchup involving a ranked future opponent in a game predicted to be close (Okla St favored by 7.5). Only reason this is the third option is the quality of Texas/Michigan and that we play Kansas St earlier in the season than we do Oklahoma St

• #23 Georgia Tech @ Syracuse (10 AM, ACCN) is really more of an honorable mention and not on par with those above, but Georgia Tech is one of the surprises of the season so far - it'll be interesting to see how long they keep it up

Saturday Afternoon (Noon-3 Mountain)

After a strong morning slate, the afternoon is pretty weak.  There's some very good teams, but they play mostly pushovers. Luckily Baylor @ Utah (1:30 PM, FOX) is both the best game of the window and very relevant, matching up two future BYU opponents. It should also get very good ratings, given the weak competition and the Texas/Michigan lead-in....as long as Baylor can keep it close (Utah is favored by 15).

If that one gets out of hand, other to consider include:

• Iowa St @ #21 Iowa (1:30 PM, CBS): This is a Big 12 team (albeit one we don't play this year) against a ranked opponent, a rivalry game, and expected to be very close (Vegas favors Iowa by 3). It's clearly the #2 option

• Idaho @ Wyoming (1:30 PM, truTV) has the advantage of being a chance to watch Wyoming the week before they play us. And Idaho looked solid against Oregon, so there's a chance it could be meaningful 

Saturday Prime (3-5:59 Mountain)

Normally this slot will have a great game or two...but not this week. Top teams play in this window...but again, it's largely against terrible opponents. If I have to pick one to recommend it's #19 Kansas @ Illinois (5 PM, FS1). It's a ranked future opponent playing a P4 game that Vegas thinks should be close (Kansas favored by 5.5).  That said, this might be the time to channel flip and see if any other game ends up better

If you're looking for one of those alternatives:

• #14 Tennessee @ #24 NC State (5:30 PM, ABC): It's not particularly relevant, but it is a ranked-on-ranked matchup with Tennessee favored by 8.5

• Colorado @ Nebraska (5:30 PM, NBC) is a rivalry game featuring big-name teams, one of whom is in the Big 12. It's not a lot, but it's what we have. Nebraska is favored by 7.5

• Sam Houston St @ UCF (4:30 PM, ESPN+) has UCF and BYU will travel to Orlando to play them later this season. This game probably won't tell us much about UCF (they're favored by 22), but it's still expected to be closer than the Houston @ Oklahoma game where Oklahoma is favored by 28.5

Saturday Evening (6-8:30 Mountain)

Saturday evening is pretty sparse. No big national games and most of our future opponents in this window are playing terrible teams. The one exception is Mississippi St @ Arizona St (8:30 PM, ESPN).  Arizona St was expected to be one of the dregs of the Big 12...but blew the doors off Wyoming in Week 1. Mississippi St isn't great, but this will give us an idea if Arizona St is actually good or if Wyoming is just that bad. For what it's worth, Arizona St is favored by 6.

Other games to keep an eye on:

• Boise St @ #7 Oregon (8 PM, Peacock) - No direct BYU relevance, but lots of our fans have feelings (positive, negative or otherwise) about Boise St and it'll be interesting to see if Oregon can rebound from a poor week 1 showing.  Vegas thinks they will, favoring Oregon by 19.5

• Texas Tech @ Washington St (8 PM, FOX) - BYU doesn't play Texas Tech this season, but it's a Big 13 opponent playing a quality team in a game that should be close. Washington St is favored by 2.5