Viewing guide: What to watch in Week Three

Pitt doesn't play until 7:30 tonight, but there are plenty of games of interest throughout the day. Here's a rundown of what Pitt fans should watch for from the Panthers' 2023 opponents today.

Noon

Louisville (2-0) at Indiana (1-1)
Big Ten Network
The first of a bunch of ACC-Big Ten games this week, Louisville will put its undefeated record on the line against an Indiana team that lost to Ohio State and beat Indiana State. How will the Hoosiers do against a team that doesn’t have “State’ in its name? ESPN thinks they’ll lose; Louisville has a 74.4% chance of winning, which would make for an impressive start for Jeff Brohm.

Wake Forest (2-0) at Old Dominion (1-1)
ESPN2
Wake Forest has been pretty good in the post-Sam Hartman era so far. Mitch Griffith has thrown five touchdown passes and just one interception. Demond Claiborne is averaging more than 100 rushing yards per game. And while the Deacons did give up 400 yards to Vanderbilt last week, they also forced three turnovers. Wake should have little trouble with ODU before it moves on to the ACC schedule.

Florida State (2-0) at Boston College (1-1)
ABC
Florida State should have no problem improving to 3-0 and maintaining its top-five ranking this weekend - provided its game at Boston College doesn’t get canceled due to weather. As long as the game happens, Florida State’s talented crew of running backs should run wild on the Eagles, who have allowed more than 400 rushing yards to Northern Illinois and Holy Cross this season.

2:30 pm

Notre Dame (3-0) vs. Central Michigan (1-1)
Peacock
The gauntlet continues for Notre Dame, who finally faced a Power Five team last week and disposed of N.C. State callously with a 45-24 win. That was the most impressive win of the season for the Irish so far, surpassing Navy and Tennessee State. But once Notre Dame gets done with Central Michigan, the Irish will face a stretch of three ranked teams among their next four opponents, including Ohio State and USC.

3:30 pm

North Carolina (2-0) vs. Minnesota (2-0)
ESPN
UNC has a chance to improve on its No. 20 ranking with a win over an undefeated team from the conference that never loses. Remarkably, Drake Maye has only thrown two touchdown passes through two games this season, but running back Omarion Hampton has picked up the slack with five rushing scores.

Virginia Tech (1-1) at Rutgers (2-0)
Big Ten Network
Another ACC-Big Ten game, and this time the ACC is not favored, as ESPN has Rutgers with a 68.5% chance of beating the Hokies and improving to 3-0. Virginia Tech lost to a Big Ten team last week against Purdue at home; if the Hokies lose to Rutgers, the upcoming stretch of pretty much every game on the schedule between now and mid-November looks daunting.

Duke (2-0) vs. Northwestern (1-1)
ACC Network
They really jammed a bunch of ACC-Big Ten games into the 3:30 window, and two of the three involve ACC teams that are ranked. Duke entered the polls after upsetting Clemson in Week One, and the Blue Devils are holding steady at No. 21 following last week’s 42-7 win over Lafayette. Riley Leonard is the key, of course, but Duke has also gotten a combined five touchdowns from running backs Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore (neither of which should be confused for Jordan Moore, who leads Duke in receiving yards).

6 pm

Wofford (0-2) vs. Presbyterian (1-1)
ESPN+
Chances are, you might be able to find Wofford’s game against Presbyterian buried on the ESPN app or something. Chances are, you probably won’t go looking for it. The Terriers have been outscored 68-13 in two games. Maybe they’ll beat Presbyterian. Maybe they won’t. We’ll recap it next week.

7 pm

Cincinnati (2-0) vs. Miami-Ohio (1-1)
Big12/ESPN+
From one rival to another, Cincinnati will follow the Pitt game with a home showdown with Miami (Oh.) The Bearcats will probably win this one against the RedHawks and quarterback Brett “Don’t Call Me Blaine” Gabbert. The Victory Bell is at stake, and while Cincinnati holds a slim 60-59-7 advantage in the rivalry, the Bearcats have won 16 in a row against the RedHawks dating back to 2006. So unless Ben Roethlisberger is walking through the door, Cincinnati is probably going to get to 3-0.

7:30 pm

Syracuse (2-0) at Purdue (1-1)
NBC
One more ACC-Big Ten game to close out the night, and it’s taking place in West Lafayette where Syracuse will have a chance to improve to 3-0 for the second year in a row. The Orange are averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game this season and they have put up eight passing touchdowns in two games, and while seven of those eight came in the season opener against Colgate, there’s no denying that beating two teams by a combined total of 113-7 is pretty impressive, regardless of who those opponents are.