This Weekend in College Football: Week 4

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Kansas State @ Oklahoma (FOX): All right, it’s been a rough week, but I’m psychin’ myself up to do some picks, do some commentary, and, well, look, this shouldn’t be close, but hey, maybe K-State can limit possessions and keep it close.
  • Central Florida @ East Carolina (ABC): CENTRAL FLORIDA IS THE GREATEST TEAM EVER, AFTER I HAVE WITNESSED THEIR FULL GLORY. (Okay, happy UCF fans? Can you leave me alone now? Thanks.)
  • Florida @ Mississippi (ESPN): Well, fortunately for UF, Tennessee is playing South Carolina later today, so the crazy stuff equilibrium for the SEC should be satisfied by the prime time slot instead. Rest easy, Gators.
  • Georgia Southern @ Louisiana (ESPN2): Pedal to the metal now for the Eagles, but I don’t think there’s quite enough GATA-ness on this team to get after the Cajuns.
  • Kentucky @ Auburn (SEC): Kentucky may be ranked, but I think they’re about to realize exactly how much of their offense depended on one dude who is no longer on the team. (That dude being the incomparable modern-day single-wing quarterback Lynn Bowden.) I have Auburn all day in this game.
  • Louisville @ Pittsburgh (ACCN): I’m a college football fan who is extremely online, but yeah I’m not going to spend a lot of time watching Pitt in this one.
  • Georgia Tech @ Syracuse (ACC/RSN): Well, my primary concerns for this one are: 1) waking up at 9am on a weekend and 2) checking to see if I need to re-subscribe to YouTube TV to this one. We’ll find out both of these things in about 8 hours or so! Seriously, though, the UCF game, yeah, sure, there may have been some iffy officiating, but still, we were thoroughly outclassed by UCF. (See UCF fans, I mean it!)

1:00: Florida International @ Liberty (ESPNU): Georgia State and Charlotte got canceled, so I have to talk about this one. I suppose it’s good that was the only cancellation on this weekend that was, uh, canceled this week? I dunno, I guess we have to take progress where we can get it. In the rudderless ship that is college football, though, it’s somehow even harder than usual make sense of any of this. But hey, at least I can just pick FIU on principle.

1:30: Iowa State @ Texas Christian (FS1): TCU? Probably? Maybe? I don’t got nothin’ on these Big 12 teams right now.

2:30: Tulane @ Southern Mississippi (Stadium)

3:30:

  • West Virginia @ Oklahoma State (ABC): I have no reason to think WVU is especially good, so I’m going with Oklahoma State.
  • Texas @ Texas Tech (FOX): Well, the college football internet would have you believe that TEXAS IS BACK. And that could well be the case. Maybe. I mean, I’d pick them to win anyway, but this game gives me the heeby-jeebies.
  • Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (CBS): Okay, well, Joe Burrow plays for the Browns now, which is unfortunate, but LSU will persevere.
  • Army @ Cincinnati (ESPN): Cincy is a huge favorite in this one, which I don’t quite see? Army has looked good in the games I’ve seen them, and yeah, Cincy will definitely out-talent them and I think they’ll prevail, but this is gonna be close. Take Army to cover here.
  • Texas-El Paso @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPN2): I’ll spare you having to watch UTEP by saying that ULM will win,

4:00:

  • Georgia @ Arkansas (SEC): This game will start at 1:00 Pacific, by which time I should be wrapping up pre-flight on an airplane and taking the sky, and by the time I’m finished, I will have not watched a single second of this game, and I think I’ll be better for it.
  • Duke @ Virginia (ACCN): I’m still coming to terms with the idea that UVA is good, okay? I just need time and space to process this.

6:00: Texas State @ Boston College (ACC/RSN): As the crow flies, it is 1720 miles from San Marcos, TX to Boston, MA. But, yeah, we definitely can’t play Clemson-South Carolina or Georgia-Georgia Tech this year. Yeah, that makes sense. But hey, BC will be able to convert some cash into a win.

7:00: Alabama @ Missouri (ESPN): You know, it’s been a while since I’ve thought about… oh, no wait it hasn’t. Even Alabama football, of all things, has been in the news-cycle that his 2020. From the Bama AD exhorting partying students in Tuscaloosa to wear masks to Nick Saban marching with his players in a protest, to even then finding out that the reason while the otherwise robotic Saban being there likely because he was there when the Kent State massacre happened (you know, “tin soldiers and Nixon’s comin’/we’re finally on our own…”). 2020, y’all. And yea, ‘Bama’s gonna roll in this one.

7:30:

  • Florida State @ Miami (ABC): Well, FSU hasn’t played since losing to us, so… yeah, I’m defaulting to Miami in this one.
  • Kansas @ Baylor (ESPNU): Baylor isn’t good. But Kansas is, like, really, really, not good.
  • Tennessee @ South Carolina (SEC): I know this game will be awful. I know this game will be ugly. But… that’s kinda why I want to watch it? Like even to the point where I’ll pick an upset and give the Gamecocks the edge? I dunno, it’s just a feeling.
  • Vanderbilt @ Texas A&M (SECA): Good thing this one is on the alternate channel, ’cause TAMU should roll.

8:00: North Carolina State @ Virginia Tech (ACCN): There’s no way I can pick VPI in this scenario, so it’s NCSU I guess?

10:15: Troy @ Brigham Young (ESPN): Well, we’re still a ways off from Pac-12 After Dark, even though I live in Pac-12 country so for me it’s always been more “Pac-12 in Prime Time”, but anyways I like BYU here.