College football 2020: 5 games with biggest playoff implications in Week 2

The opening week for many teams in the 2020 college football season will be all about starting off well and avoiding a huge letdown.

Last week provided a welcome sight to many football fans across the country and Week 2 of the 2020 season will be another extension of that.

The rest of the country kicks off this week, with the ACC and Big 12 starting their seasons on Thursday when Miami hosts UAB in a primetime showdown. Some teams will have to wait until another date to start there seasons as Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State, Baylor vs. Louisiana Tech and TCU vs. SMU were postponed due to COVID-19 related issues (Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State has been moved to next Saturday).

This weekend will also mark the first-ever conference game for Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish welcome Duke to South Bend on Saturday as a member of the ACC. The games on this list are mostly comprised of teams that are dark-horse contenders for the playoff that need to win against tough opponents to make a statement.

This week will be all about avoiding an early-season letdown and suffering a loss that will be hard to bounce-back from if you are a potential playoff contender. There are no ranked games this weekend, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that none of these games could matter down the line.

Louisiana and Western Kentucky are two teams that you should watch out for to possibly make a run at a New Year’s Six game and they will have opportunities this weekend as the Ragin’ Cajuns travel to No. 23 Iowa State and the Hilltoppers take on Louisville.

UAB looked a little shaky in their opener against Central Arkansas, but they are thought to be one of the best Group of Five teams and will have an opportunity to make a statement on Thursday against Miami.

Plenty of intrigue awaits as the week two gets started this Thursday and here are the five games with the biggest playoff implications this week.