Well, I gave the bowl predictions a shot, but given that no one really has any idea what’s going on and games are being canceled/moved constantly, it’s extremely hard to predict anything. I guess on one hand, if I’m wildly off base it’s not really my fault, but on the other hand that doesn’t make for very satisfying predictions. Also, it doesn’t help that this year would’ve been tough anyway because this season would have seen several realignments regardless as many bowl contracts were replaced and more conferences took direct control of the bowl assignment process (which makes predictions much more difficult without inside information).

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday

Noon:

• Texas @ Kansas State (FOX): So the one team that hasn’t been able to beat Tom Herman at Texas is… K-State. The Wildcats are usually good at being a bee in the bonnet, as it were, but they haven’t been able to get Texas yet. And despite everything around Texas right now, I don’t know that they will this time.
• Ohio State @ Michigan State (ABC): Sparty is playing better than anyone thought this year, but Ohio State’s potentially quixotic quest to get into the college football playoff demands that they play, and that they grind teams like Michigan State into a fine powder.
• Texas A&M @ Auburn (ESPN): If I had time to look up the shruggie emote, that’s what I would use to describe Auburn this year, and likely most years. But this year? Yeah, it’s gonna be the Aggies in this one.
• Oklahoma State @ Texas Christian (ESPN2): Still don’t know what TCU is, and they don’t either. I’ll take the Cowboys here.
• Pennsylvania State @ Rutgers (FS1): Penn State versus Rutgers shouldn’t be an interesting game, and for most people it isn’t. But when you like college football just a bit too much… yeah. I still don’t see how Penn State could lose this game, but I’ve probably said that six times this year and only been right once.
• Arkansas @ Missouri (SEC): Arkansas figures to romp here, which is still a weird thing to say.
• Nebraska @ Purdue (BTN): I think that perhaps the biggest indictment of Scott Frost at Nebraska right now is that I definitely have Purdue all the way here.
• Kansas @ Texas Tech (FS2): Kansas is still real bad.
• Toledo @ Northern Illinois (espn3.com)
• Memphis @ Tulane (ESPN+)
• Rice @ Marshall (ESPN+)

2:00:

• Ball State @ Central Michigan (ESPNU): Ball State, probably?
• Bowling Green @ Akron (espn3.com)
• Troy @ South Alabama (“Battle for the Belt”; espn3.com)
• Eastern Michigan @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)

2:30: Syracuse @ Notre Dame (NBC): Syracuse doesn’t figure to have many ways to score points against the Irish.

3:00: Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas State (espn3.com)

3:30:

• Florida @ Tennessee (CBS): Tennessee doesn’t figure to have many ways to score points against the Gators.
• Indiana @ Wisconsin (ABC): Well, Indiana’s best quarterback is out, but Wisconsin is also coming off a thorough(?) loss to Northwestern. If Indiana is for real, though, they gotta go up to Camp Randall and take this one. I’ll give them a fair shake to do it.
• West Virginia @ Iowa State (ESPN): WVU doesn’t seem likely to derail Iowa State’s dream season.
• Tulsa @ Navy (ESPN2): Tulsa is ranked? When did that happen? I guess I’ll take them to beat Navy then?
• Iowa @ Illinois (FS1): Iowa figures to romp here.
• Boston College @ Virginia (ACC/RSN): My gut says BC, and my heart doesn’t have a particularly strong opinion on this one.

4:00:

• Stanford @ Washington (FOX): UDub should obliterate Stanford.
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina State (ACCN): Well, we were able to take advantage of the ample opportunities Duke provided last week. NCSU figures to be less generous. It’ll be a tougher test, but I think it’s an appropriate step up in difficultly for this team. And at this point, I think that’s what we need.

5:30: Brigham Young @ Coastal Carolina (ESPNU): The next time I hear about a home-and-home scheduled for 2045 with the return in 2052, I’ll think about how BYU managed to make arrangements to fly to South Carolina on two days notice to put a ranked vs. ranked matchup. (If only they had been able to get Cincinnati!) At any rate, the Stormin’ Mormons are the deserved favorites here, but don’t sleep on this game.

6:00:

• San Jose State @ Hawaii (Team1Sports)
• Florida Atlantic @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Oregon @ California (ESPN): The Ducks lost to an extremely up-and-coming Oregon State last weekend, but I think they’ll be able to get their bearings back against Cal.
• Colorado @ Arizona (FS1): In a statement that will make sound vastly more confident about this result than I actually am, I have the Buffs all the way here.
• Colorado State @ San Diego State (CBSS): The Aztecs have taken a few L’s this season, but the Rams should provide a soft opponent to get them back above .500.

7:30:

• Clemson @ Virginia Tech (ABC): Ah, Blacksburg at night in the late fall. The forecast? Oh, temperatures in the low 30’s with a 9mph wind gusting to 20. No chance for snow, unfortunately. Will any of this matter? Will, Trevor Lawrence figures to be in a heavy coat under the heat lamps by halftime (early 3rd quarter at the latest if they want to give him a series in the second half), so probably not.
• South Carolina @ Kentucky (SEC): Neither of these teams is good, but will it still be funny when Kentucky wins? We posit:  yes.

8:00:

• Alabama @ Louisiana State (CBS): Well, when CBS was scheduling the double-headers, this probably looked really good. Now, Mac Jones might be in race to see if he can clock less game time than T-Law tonight.
• Baylor @ Oklahoma (FOX): The Sooners aren’t great, but they are pretty good, and should be able to dispatch the Bears.
• Miami @ Duke (ACCN): Miami is #10? Huh, okay, sure. Even if they weren’t, they’d still have a walkover against this Duke team. Cutcliffe’s gotta retire after this year, right?

9:00: Fresno State @ Nevada (FS2): My gut says Nevada, and for this one, my heart agrees.

10:30:

• Oregon State @ Utah (ESPN): Okay, Beavers, you’ve got the upset win over your most hated rival down. Now you have to go to a team that is currently 0-2 but they’ve still been much more consistent than you have the past several years. I have no idea who will win this, but it would be more fun if the Beavers do, so let’s go with them.
• California-Los Angeles @ Arizona State (FS1): I’ll favor UCLA since they have played 4 games to Arizona State’s 1. That’s about it.
• Wyoming vs. New Mexico (@Whitney, NV; CBSS): Wyoming.

Sunday

Noon: Western Kentucky @ Charlotte (espn3.com)

7:30: Washington State @ Southern California (FS1): USC hasn’t played in a few weeks, but I still figure they’ll get to 4-0 in sometime primetime Sunday night football in the weirdest way possible. I don’t know how they’ll do it against Wazzu, but I’m sure they’ll find a way.