It is just Week Three of the 2024 college football season, and already a lot has happened. It seems like a good time to have a seat on the couch, maybe with some friends (young and old), and talk about the hot topics from the college football season so far. I might even tell a few jokes along the way.

We have already seen a few crazy upsets. "Are you telling me that Florida State lost to Georgia Tech in Ireland and then lost at home to Boston College?" And, "Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois as a 30-point favorite?"

There are a few potentially surprising conference contenders. "Could USC actually win the Big Ten? Is Tennessee a legit SEC contender? Is it possible that UNLV could make the College Football Playoff?"

And there have been a few other teams that have been disappointing. "Wow, Michigan sure looked bad against Texas. I wonder what's changed since last year?"

Well, that last one is only disappointing (or surprising) to some people.

Then there are the Michigan State Spartans. The Green and White didn't look like the same team from Week One to Week Two. The improvement, especially on offense, was stark. It was enough to get Spartan fans talking:

"Can Jonathan Smith actually get this team to a bowl game?" But also: "Will the Spartans actually be healthy enough to field a team to play in a bowl game if they qualify?"

Of course, time will only tell. But I know that from where I sit, things certainly look brighter than they did just a week ago. Football season is fun again in East Lansing. For the first time in a while, Spartan fans have some tangible evidence that the future might be bright.

Unfortunately, fans are unlikely to learn much that is new about the Spartans in Week Three. The opponent is the Prairie View A&M Panthers from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Spartans are 9-0 all time against FCS opponents.

The Panthers represent a historically Black college and university (HBCU) located in the city of Prairie View, Texas, with a total enrollment of around 10,000 students. For the point of view of a Big Ten school, PVAM seems to quality as a little school on the prairie.

As for the football skills of the Panthers, Bill Connelly's SP+ metric ranks them No. 95 out of 129 total schools in the FCS. If I use a little mathematical magic, I can project a point spread of 36 points and an upset probability of just 0.6%.

This week's game for the Spartans should simply be a tune-up in preparation for the much more challenging gauntlet over the next six weeks. Hopefully, it will provide a chance for some of the dinged-up players to rest and for some of the younger players to get some meaningful snaps.

As for my official prediction, my computer spits out a score of 40-4. But those are tricky numbers to get to on a real football field, so I will instead go with Michigan State 41, Prairie View A&M 3.

I am also confident that the Spartans can get by an FCS opponent this year without needing to (effectively) fire the head coach 24 hours later.

Too soon?

Table 1 below gives a full summary of the action in the Big Ten in Week Two, including my projected scores, the opening point spread, and the computers' projected point differentials.