I'll play, even though IU doesn't this week. This week's host is Maize-n-Brew.

I’m reasonably satisfied, although we haven’t learned much about IU’s team. After the week 1 win over Western Kentucky, I was content but mildly disappointed with some aspects of the performance. In week 2, IU obliterated Murray State, one of the worst teams in I-AA. The absence of a blowout would have been cause for concern, but the occurrence doesn’t tell us much. Ask me two weeks from now after we play Ball State (never thought I would say that).

I’m pulling for Ohio State. I’m not one to feel obligated to root for a Big Ten team, but I loathe USC and think OSU’s scheduling of this game sets a good example for other programs.

Oregon v. Purdue intrigues me. I don’t have any real sense of how good either team is or who is going to win. A three touchdown blowout in either direction would not surprise me. Michigan State v. FAU is the worst game on paper, even given MSU’s historical penchant for playing to the competition.

I really can’t dodge this one. IU’s non-conference schedule is awful this year, although I don’t necessarily think a program with IU’s recent history should be a leader in schedule strength. I would love to see IU resume the series with Kentucky, which was played sporadically in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s and then every season from 1987 through 2005. While UK’s football program is ahead of IU’s right now, historically, the schools have similar football and basketball histories, geographic proximity, and an already existing basketball rivalry. Neither school will admit canceling the series, but it should resume. While I hate to focus on SEC cellar-dwellers, I also would consider adding Vanderbilt. Vandy has improved in recent years, the two schools are close enough that either might travel moderately well to the other, and Nashville would be a nice road trip destination. I realize that this wouldn’t create a murderer’s row, but I do think that IU needs to ramp up the difficulty of its schedule gradually, not immediately.

My beer of choice for tailgating generally will come from the "not expensive but not Bud/Miller/Coors" category. Beers like Newcastle, Blue Moon, and Killian’s are more substantial than the American piss-brews mentioned above, but they don’t have the price tag or alcohol content that might preclude drinking several.