As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Maryland @ Ohio State (FOX): The calendar has rolled to October, and while September Maryland went 5-0, things usually go south once they become October Maryland. I expect the same here.
• Oklahoma vs. Texas (“Red River Shootout” @ Dallas, TX; ABC): It’s Red River time. This one figures to be a return to form after last year’s Longhorn romp. I still expect them to win, but I definitely think that Oklahoma’s new discovery of “defense” is going to make it tough on Ewers and Co.
• Louisiana State @ Missouri (ESPN): Speaking of teams undefeated after September, here’s Mizzou. While they are not one of the better offenses LSU has faced, LSU’s defense seems to be bad enough that it won’t matter.
• Toledo @ Massachusetts (ESPNU): Rockets all the way here.
• Western Michigan @ Mississippi State (SEC): Clanga all he way here.
• William & Mary @ Virginia (ACCN)
• Boston College @ Army (CBSS): Outside of whatever went on against FSU, there haven’t been many signs of life on Chestnut Hill. I’m taking Army here.
• Rutgers @ Wisconsin (Peacock)

2:00:

• Marshall @ North Carolina State (The CW):
• Texas-San Antonio @ Temple (ESPN+)
• Central Michigan @ Buffalo (ESPN+)

3:00:

• Washington State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): UCLA is a favorite in this game for reasons that I’m not really sure of. The Cougs have been awesome, while UCLA’s offense has struggled after losing their two best players to the NFL after last season.
• Howard @ Northwestern (BTN)

3:30:

• Alabama @ Texas A&M (CBS): I don’t know the last time that Bama was only an one point favorite in a regular season game. It doesn’t happen a lot. But that said, they seem to have figured some things out on offense, and I don’t think TAMU’s offense is much more talented that Ole Miss’s, whom the Tide smothered pretty effectively a couple weeks ago.
• Virginia Tech @ Florida State (ABC): Struggling VPI got a win over struggling Pitt last week, but this is in Tallahassee and the Noles are not, well, struggling.
• Syracuse @ North Carolina (ESPN): I’ll keep picking Carolina until they play a team that I think can actually stop them.
• Texas State @ Louisiana (ESPNU): Yep, it’s the kind of week that the Sun Belt gets on TV. That said, this game might be pretty solid! Texas State has been… well, one of the surprise teams of the season so far, in that they aren’t one of the worst teams in FBS. The Cajuns are still ragin’, however, and I think they’re still a decent squad. I’ll go with them to give the Bobcats a dose of reality.
• Wake Forest @ Clemson (ACCN): I still can’t believe we sacked Wake Forest eight times. This will be a bit of a get-right game for the Tigers.
• North Texas @ Navy (CBSS): I don’t think Navy is really that bad, and I think this game will be a bit of a chance to regroup after two tough losses.
• Purdue @ Iowa (Peacock): Through 5 games, the Drive for 25 is still being dragged down by the shutout in Happy Valley a couple weeks ago. Right now at 22.2 points per game, Iowa will need to score 26.75 points per game the rest of the way.
• Ball State @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)
• Bowling Green @ Miami (ESPN+)
• Kent State @ Ohio (ESPN+)
• Northern Illinois @ Akron (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Central Florida @ Kansas (FOX): UCF had one of the plays of the weekend against Baylor, but… they still lost. KU, unlike Baylor, is a functional, good football team. I don’t think UCF has much of a chance.
• South Florida @ Alabama-Birmingham (ESPN2): One of the lowlights of the weekend was Trent Dilfer (who is, for whatever reason, the head coach of the Blazers) berating a coach on the sidelines after a kinda dumb penalty. We’re normally a pro-Blazers outfit here, but Dilfer makes it hard to root for them. Also, USF is gonna rout them.
• Vanderbilt @ Florida (SEC): The Gator’s are down bad a bit now that Kentucky has beaten them three in a row. I assume that Vandy will not be able to also have a multi-game winning streak against Florida.
• Arkansas State @ Troy (ESPN+)

5:00: Connecticut @ Rice (ESPN+)

6:00: Tulsa @ Florida Atlantic (ESPN+)

6:30: Colorado @ Arizona State (Pac12): The Buffs were able to make a comeback of sorts against USC’s “defense” last weekend, but that effort does make me think this is a pretty winnable contest for them. I expect this one to be pretty even, as Colorado’s own bad defense lets ASU get some traction on offense. I’ll pick the Buffs here.

7:30:

• Notre Dame @ Louisville (ABC): Louisville is currently undefeated. Didn’t see that coming! At any rate, they won’t be after this.
• Michigan @ Minnesota (NBC): Michigan hasn’t played the Gophers since 2020, but I expect similar results to the scores from the last two times they met (49-24, 33-10).
• Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Arkansas gave LSU everything they wanted, but it’s otherwise been a bit of a struggle for the Hogs. Ole Miss will score early and often, but their defense can definitely be softened up by Arkansas’s bruising attack. I’ll take Ole Miss here but I wouldn’t sleep on this upset.

8:00:

• Fresno State @ Wyoming (FOX): This is the best game of the day outside of Red River, and for good reason. These are two of the best teams in the Mountain West (the other is Air Force). Fresno just looks plain good, after a somewhat wobbly opening couple of weeks they’ve demolished some bad teams, including Arizona State. Wyoming’s only blemish is an understandable loss to a very good Texas, otherwise they’ve handled business. Add in Laramie at night, and this could be some must see TV. (Provided you aren’t living and dying with every pitch involving your team in the baseball playoffs, of course.) At any rate, I still do like Fresno here.
• Texas Tech @ Baylor (ESPN2): Baylor isn’t good, but Texas Tech is worse.
• Texas Christian @ Iowa State (FS2): It’s been a struggle for both teams this year, but TCU at least seems to be functional, whereas… it’s getting kinda late for Matt Campbell up in Ames, eh?
• Georgia Tech @ Miami (ACCN): (reads last week’s post) LOL
• San Jose State @ Boise State (CBSS): Boise isn’t Boise this year, but SJSU is being outscored by FBS opponents by a 165 to 82 margin. That’s not good, which is why they’re 0-4 against those same opponents, and likely will be 0-5 after this.
• Colorado State @ Utah State (MWN)

10:00: Oregon State @ California (Pac12): Same story as always: Cal’s defense is good, the offense is… bad, and the opponent is probably going to win.

10:30: Arizona @ Southern California (ESPN): If Jayden de Laura, college football’s most pure “random number generator” QB, plays, USC’s “defense” is bad enough that the Cats could be hanging around longer than anyone in Heritage Hall is comfortable with. If not… well, I mean, they could still do it, but the odds are much longer.