As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Oklahoma @ Kansas State (ABC): Okay, let’s get this show in the road. K-State is doing about as well as could be expected in Year 1 after Synder, and I mean that in a good way. But Oklahoma shouldn’t have any issues.
• Wisconsin @ Ohio State (FOX): Well, so much for an undefeated battle in Columbus. Wisconsin would’ve had hard a time of it regardless, but losing to Illinois last weekend inspires zero confidence in the Badgers.
• Miami @ Pittsburgh (ESPN): This Miami team is more talented, sure, but they looked completely discombobulated while losing to us last weekend. I’m taking Pitt.
• Iowa @ Northwestern (ESPN2): Northwestern will make it tough, but I’m going with the Hawkeyes here.
• Appalachian State @ South Alabama (ESPNU): App State should have no issues here.
• Mississippi State @ Texas A&M (SEC): TAMU isn’t have a fun time of it right now, but the Miss State team is impossible to judge so far this year. I’ll go with the Aggies.
• Liberty @ Rutgers (BTN): Rutgers could lose this game. Seriously. I don’t think they will, but the possibility is there.
• Illinois @ Purdue (BTN): Illinois? This game is solidly in the mediocre cement mixer that’s the second tier of the Big Ten right now.
• San Jose State @ Army (CBSS): Army’s dropped a couple games now, but they shouldn’t have any problem with the Spartans.

1:00: Southern Mississippi @ Rice (ESPN+)

2:00: Ohio @ Ball State (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Auburn @ Louisiana State (CBS): Auburn is the closest thing the SEC has to a CHAOS TEAM, for sure, and of course this goes hand-in-hand with Gus Malzahn’s perpetual on-again-off-again hotseatedness. That said, I think Auburn is on the relatively cool part of that cycle right now, so I’ll go with LSU here.
• Texas @ Texas Christian (FOX): Tom Herman did nothing to shrug off the idea the plays both up and down to his opposition by nearly losing to Kansas last weekend. But I’m not as soured on the Longhorns as most, and I’m willing to say that I think they’ll win in Ft. Worth.
• Pennsylvania State @ Michigan State (ABC): Penn State survived a massive test at home against a good Michigan team, so now the natural question is “can they go on the road to a kind of bad Michigan State team”. If it were just about any other team, the answer would be obvious. But it’s Michigan State, and as anyone who follows college football knows, Sparty has ~ways~ to make any game a 12-10 rock fight. Penn State wins, but an apt descriptor on Sunday will probably be “survived East Lansing”.
• Maryland @ Minnesota (ESPN): Minnesota is still undefeated, and figures to remain so.
• Syracuse @ Florida State (ESPN2): No. Clue. Who. Will. Win. This. Florida State?
• Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (FS1): Speaking of mid-tier cement mixers, welcome to the Big 12, where the “mid-tier” is approximately 8 of the teams in the conference. Who will this? Iowa State, probably. Am I at all sure about it? Nope!
• Florida International @ Middle Tennessee State (NFL): Uh, MTSU?
• Indiana @ Nebraska (BTN): Yeah, uh, this looks like a game set of Hoosiers and a not so much game set of Cornhuskers. I think Indiana pips one.
• Tulane @ Navy (CBSS): I like Tulane to be able to recover and get back on track after getting, well, kind of dominated by Memphis last weekend.
• Virginia @ Louisville (ACCN): I still think UVA is good, so I’m sure they’ll spend the early evening in Louisville making me look dumb.
• Arizona @ Stanford (Pac12): Stanford is just kinda bad this year. I like the Wildcats to win on the road and spoil the Cardinal’s homecoming.
• Miami @ Kent State (ESPN+)
• Central Michigan @ Buffalo (ESPN+)
• Eastern Michigan @ Toledo (ESPN+)
• North Texas @ Charlotte (ESPN+)
• Florida Atlantic @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)

3:45: South Florida @ East Carolina (ESPNU): I wouldn’t advise watching this. USF I guess?

4:00:

• South Carolina @ Tennessee (SEC): Well, it turns out the Vols didn’t get obliterated in Tuscaloosa last weekend. If there were ever such a thing as a moral victory, I guess that was it. Regardless, this figures to be an unwatchable knife fight as the Vols come crashing back to Earth against South Carolina.
• Duke @ North Carolina (ACC/RSN): Why isn’t this this their end-of-year rivalry? I need to look into that sometime. At any rate, Mack Brown and Co figure to keep rolling.

7:00:

• Arkansas @ Alabama (ESPN): No Tua, no problem. Arkansas is a mess, and Bama doesn’t figure to be the kind of team looking ahead to LSU next weekend.
• Central Florida @ Temple (ESPN2): UCF is still good, and Temple’s limitations have been kind of exposed in the last couple of weeks against the other good teams in the AAC.
• Texas Tech @ Kansas (FS1): It would be the most Kansas thing possible to get on the verge of upsetting Texas and then getting the doors blown off by the Red Raiders, so I’m going to go with that.
• Memphis @ Tulsa (CBSS): The Tigers figure to have no issues here.
• Texas State @ Arkansas State (ESPN+)
• Troy @ Georgia State (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Notre Dame @ Michigan (ABC): No, it’s not wrong that you’re not excited about this. It’s perfectly understandable, honestly. This figures to be a repeat of the Notre Dame-Georgia game: tight, conservative playcalling to the point of unwatchability. I guess this time ND will win, though.
• Colorado State @ Fresno State (ESPNU): Things are getting off the rails for the Rams, who don’t figure to present any issues for Fresno.
• Missouri @ Kentucky (SEC): I’m not sure how Mizzou lost to Vandy last weekend, so given that bit of ignorance I’m still going to pick them against Kentucky.
• Boston College @ Clemson (ACCN): Still on the Clemson bandwagon.
• Arizona State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): This game figures to be kind of like a trainwreck, which is definitely a scenario that will favor Herm Edwards and the visiting Sun Devils.

10:00: California @ Utah (FS1): Cal has no offense to speak of, which means even their defense can’t keep them in games. Utes all the way.

10:15: Utah State @ Air Force (ESPN2): This should be a fun one. Utah State is a pretty solid MWC team, and Air Force has solid wins over Colorado, Fresno State, and Hawaii. I’ll take the Falcons at home.

10:30:

• Washington State @ Oregon (ESPN): Wazzu is just… man, who knows. Who knows. Ducks all the way.
• San Diego State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (CBSS): And finally, we’ve got our MWC closer, but unfortunately a solid Aztecs squad against the hapless Rebels.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• West Virginia @ Oklahoma (FOX): As long as Jalen Hurts is a little more consistent in this one, it should be a walk-over for the Sooners.
• Clemson @ Louisville (ABC): Louisville is maybe slightly better than we thought they’d be, but likely not better enough to avoid getting waxed here.
• Florida @ South Carolina (ESPN): Florida is coming off a disappointing loss to LSU, but what they showed is that they can actually move the ball on offense, an idea that Georgia seemed bitterly opposed to while losing to South Carolina. I like the Gators here.
• Purdue @ Iowa (ESPN2): The less said about this game, the better: Iowa.
• Iowa State @ Texas Tech (FS1): It’s a coin-flip Big 12 game, so I’ll take the Red Raiders at home.
• Houston @ Connecticut (ESPNU): Look, there’s some talk that Houston is doing the college version of “tanking” by having seniors redshirt so they can try again next year, but that doesn’t mean UConn has any shot in hell of winning this.
• Auburn @ Arkansas (SEC): How many Arkansas fans will be holding signs that say “COME HOME GUS” at this one?
• Wisconsin @ Illinois (BTN): As long as Wisky isn’t looking ahead to Ohio State next week, they should be fine in this one.
• Kent State @ Ohio (CBSS): MAC East Maction! It’s kind of bad! But I’ll still take Ohio.
• Georgia Tech @ Miami (ACCN): I’m so tired y’all. Not of this team, just in general. The main problem is that I really want to sleep in tomorrow, but this game is going to be on at 9am. Such is the life of being an East Coast school fan living on the West Coast.
  As for the game, look, Tech’s offensive line just makes it hard for me to be optimistic about this season. The sudden regression of the defense is also worrying, but I suppose it’s natural they’d get tired since they’re on the field basically all the time.
  Miami is unsettled and unstable as well, as they somehow lost to Virginia Tech last week.
  I still maintain that we’ll win another game this season. I just have no idea which one.
• North Carolina State @ Boston College (ACC/RSN): Well, NC State’s in the midst of an extremely disappointing season, but I’ll still take them over BC.

2:00: Toledo @ Ball State (ESPN+)

2:30:

• Texas Christian @ Kansas State (RSN): You basically have to go with TCU here, but that doesn’t mean I want to.
• Oregon State @ California (Pac12): Cal’s defense is sufficient to see them through this one, though the Beavers are still a tad feistier than I suspected they’d be this year.
• Northern Illinois @ Miami (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Oregon @ Washington (ABC): This should be a fantastic game that I have no read of. Oregon is exceeding expectations this year, but it looks mostly legit. Losing to Stanford notwithstanding, it’s always tough to go up to Husky Stadium, but I still like the Ducks here.
• Louisiana State @ Mississippi State (CBS): LSU got over their first big test and passed with flying colors. While Florida was close the hole time, they were still laboring on offense while LSU moved the ball with ease. The walls also seem to be closing in for Joe Morehead at MSU as well, so this isn’t setting up to be close.
• Temple @ Southern Methodist (ESPN2): Hey, this game should be fun! SMU’s running like it’s the 80’s (minus the money and coke, presumably), but Temple’s defense can lock down a lot of teams. I’ll still take the Ponies at home, but keep an eye out here.
• Tulsa @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): Cincy. Next!
• Southern Mississippi @ Louisiana Tech (NFL): What’s up, C-USA games on NFL Network? That’s about all I got for this one. USM?
• Minnesota @ Rutgers (BTN): Minnesota gets their 7th win easily. Talk to your children about Undefeated Minnesota®.
• Indiana @ Maryland (BTN):  Indiana: they’re kind of mostly competent now! That should probably be enough to beat Maryland, I’m guessing.
• South Florida @ Navy (CBSS): Navy all the way.
• Duke @ Virginia (ACCN): I still like UVA, but I’m not sure why.
• North Carolina @ Virginia Tech (ACC/RSN): I’m still not comfortable with “Coastal Favorite UNC”, but here we are. I don’t think VPI can turn the trick two weeks in a row.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Baylor @ Oklahoma State (FOX): It’s another Big 12 Coin Flip! Uh, how about Baylor this time?
• Missouri @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Vandy is dreadful, Mizzou, less so.
• Middle Tennessee State @ North Texas (Stadium)
• Old Dominion @ Alabama-Birmingham (ESPN+)
• Charlotte @ Western Kentucky (ESPN+)

6:00:

• Kentucky @ Georgia (ESPN): Presumably, Georgia will try to, like, score points in this game. It was hard to take too much joy in the loss last week simply because Georgia is still a title favorite if they’re a 1-loss SEC champ. And I can’t see this game getting them to 2 losses.
• Arizona State @ Utah (Pac12): Tight, low-scoring, and defense heavy. Just the way Herm Edwards likes it. I still like the Utes.

7:00:

• Tulane @ Memphis (ESPN2): Count it, here’s the second awesome looking AAC game of the day! Tulane takes their option attack to the Liberty Bowl for control of the AAC West. I like the Green Wave here, but this should be a fun game at any rate.
• Colorado @ Washington State (ESPNU): Colorado is, uh, moribund? I think I’m using that word correctly. This seems like a game Wazzu could lose, but let’s face it, that’s just about any game Wazzu plays in at this point. I’ll still take the Cougars.
• East Carolina @ Central Florida (CBSS): Yeah, I’ll UCF over ECU any day.
• Kansas @ Texas (LHN): Texas gets healthy again with a solid walkover at home against the Jayhawks. And we still won’t know how good the Longhorns actually are.
• Texas-El Paso @ Florida International (ESPN+)
• Western Michigan @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)
• Army @ Georgia State (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Michigan @ Pennsylvania State (ABC): Michigan’s defense is good. Like, really good. The problem is that their offense is bad, like, really bad. This does not bode well going into a game in Happy Valley where points will likely be at a premium, and I’ll give the edge to the team in that scenario.
• Texas A&M @ Mississippi (SEC): Ole Miss figures to get gigged here.
• Florida State @ Wake Forest (ACCN): Wake beating FSU used to be funny, these days, it’s just sort of half-expected.

9:00: Tennessee @ Alabama (ESPN): The only question here is whether Bama will keep the starters in long enough for the Tide to win by at least seven touchdowns.

9:30: Arizona @ Southern California (Pac12): “Pac-12 South Favorite Southern Cal” is not a sentenced I expected to type back in August, but here we are in mid-October and that’s the reality of the scenario. Is it because USC is better than everyone thought or that with Utah stumbling early that the South is more wide open than expected? Well, how about both? As for the game, I don’t like either of these teams (I may have compared Khalil Tate to Reggie Ball in the Banner Society Slack last weekend), but I guess I’ll do what I always do in this scenario: take the home team.

10:15:

• Boise State @ Brigham Young (ESPN2): Boise, all the way.
• Nevada @ Utah State (ESPNU): I have no idea who will win this, which means it should be fun! I’ll stick with the Aggies.

11:00: Air Force @ Hawaii (CBSS): Late-night service academy option football versus the throw-it-all-over the place Rainbow Warriors. And let me be clear about the “throw-it-all-over the place” part: they don’t discriminate. Teammates, defenders, it doesn’t matter, everyone has a shot! This should be fun. I’ll still with Hawaii.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Oklahoma vs. Texas (@Dallas, TX; FOX): It’s that Red River Shootout Rivalry Showdown. Whatever you call it, it’s incredibly important for both these teams, but only the Sooners figure to figure in the national discussion two months from now. I like Oklahoma here, but this is one of those games that has a deserved reputation for chaos.
• Michigan @ Illinois (ABC): Michigan’s offense is bad, but not bad enough to lose to Illinois, presumably.
• South Carolina @ Georgia (ESPN): You could watch Georgia pummel this extremely mediocre South Carolina team, but I wouldn’t.
• Memphis @ Temple (ESPN2): Hey y’all, watch this G5 game. I like Temple here.
• Miami @ Western Michigan (ESPNU): Some last bits of Saturday MACtion as the weeknight games kick into gear. This matchup figure to be relatively even, so I’ll go with the Broncos.
• Mississippi State @ Tennessee (SEC): I’m going with Miss State all the way here.
• Maryland @ Purdue (BTN): Maryland isn’t good, but Purdue is worse.
• Rutgers @ Indiana (BTN): Do we have any material evidence that Rutgers actually helped get the Big Ten Network on in New York City-area televisions? I mean, seriously.
• Toledo @ Bowling Green (CBSS): Hey, this is a rivalry! Unfortunately BGSU is terrible.

12:30: Georgia Tech @ Duke (ACC/RSN): The rebuilding figured to be bad enough, but the injuries, especially on the offensive line, have made this year so much worse than it figured to be. I don’t think we’ll go winless in the ACC, but I have no idea who we’ll beat.

2:00: Ball State @ Eastern Michigan (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Florida State @ Clemson (ABC): Remember the Bowdenbowl? Yeah, me neither. Clemson figures to wake up any week now.
• Alabama @ Texas A&M (CBS): Alabama faces something they haven’t seen all year: a team with enough talent to actually stay within three scores. In case you’re wondering, Bama-LSU is on November 9th.
• Cincinnati @ Houston (ESPN2): The shine is off Houston a bit, racked by injuries and other issues. Cincy seems to have found its groove a bit after beating UCF last weekend, but they also got a little lucky. I don’t think they’ll need luck against a talented but deflated Houston.
• Michigan State @ Wisconsin (BTN): Michigan State will try to keep it close, but nothing figure to be able to stop Wisky from rolling at the moment.
• Brigham Young @ South Florida (CBSS): No issues for BYU here.
• Washington State @ Arizona State (Pac12): I have no idea what will happen in this game, which generally bodes well for Wazzu.
• Northern Illinois @ Ohio (ESPN+)

3:45: Connecticut @ Tulane (ESPNU): UConn: why? Like, just, philosophically.

4:00:

• Iowa State @ West Virginia (ESPN): The middle of the Big 12 is all about the same, yes, but WVU is pretty much outside the middle right now.
• Texas Tech @ Baylor (FS1): This game is a good example of how similar the middle of the Big 12. Baylor is 5-0, having won most of their coin flips so far, but I think TTU will finally cause them to miss the call.
• Nevada-Las Vegas @ Vanderbilt (SEC): In a statement I probably won’t make too often this year, Vandy’s got this one.
• Middle Tennessee State @ Florida Atlantic (ESPN+)

5:00: Georgia State @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN+)

6:00: Alabama-Birmingham @ Texas-San Antonio (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Mississippi @ Missouri (ESPN2): Ole Miss has two SEC wins, yes, but they are against Arkansas and Vandy. Mizzou won’t be the best team they’ve played, but Mizzou is a step above where Ole Miss right now.
• Fresno State @ Air Force (CBSS): Fresno has two one-score losses to P5 teams and two wins over less opponents as they start Mountain West play 2-2. I’m not sure I have them losing to anyone remaining on their schedule.
• Army @ Western Kentucky (Stadium)
• Charlotte @ Florida International (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Southern California @ Notre Dame (NBC): I have no idea what to make of USC, but I’m not sure they’re good. Considering what else is on tap for this timeslot, I think this will be one I keep an eye but probably only watch it if it’s close late. I’m not figuring on that.
• Pennsylvania State @ Iowa (ABC): Penn State is 5-0, but they haven’t played noanybody, with their best win being that… 17-10 win over Pitt, I guess? Suffice it to say, Iowa figures to be their stiffest test so far. I think if Penn State’s offense can be even half as good as they’ve been so far against lesser opposition, they won’t have any trouble at all here. But then again, who knows what will happen in Iowa at night?
• Nebraska @ Minnesota (FS1): Minnesota’s rolling now, and that doesn’t figure tou change until… November 9th when they wrap up their season with Penn State, at Iowa, at Northwestern, and Wisconsin. Yeah, they could easily go 1-3 in that stretch. But maybe not! That’s why we play the games. But, yeah, as for this game, Nebraska will probably make a bowl this year, but I don’t like them here.
• Navy @ Tulsa (ESPNU): Navy’s looking a little better this year, which is not a statement one could make about Tulsa.
• Arkansas @ Kentucky (SEC): It seems like a long time ago that Kentucky was right there in that game against Florida. Since then they’ve lose 28-13 to Miss State (okay) and 24-7 to South Carolina (ugh). Lucky for them, Arkansas is real, real bad.
• Louisville @ Wake Forest (ACCN): Back in the Jim Grobe era at Wake Forest, about once every 3-4 years they’d have a team full of redshirt juniors and seniors that would punch way above their weight and terrorize the middle-tier of the ACC (and, yeah, that one time they made the worst ACC Championship Game ever). This appears to be one of those Wake Forest teams. I mean, they could arguably be favored in every game they play this season except at Clemson on the 16th. They’re certainly going to favored here.

8:00:

• Florida @ Louisiana State (ESPN): I think Florida will win this game. Death Valley? At night? Yes, I’m crazy. But I ain’t got nothin’ to lose.
• Utah @ Oregon State (Pac12): Oregon State: improving, but likely not improved enough.

10:15: Hawaii @ Boise State (ESPN2): Okay, we’ve got three late games, but they should all be watchable for those of you on the late shift, on the West Coast, or if you’re like, both. I like Boise here, but I think this may be most fun of the three. Well that or the Broncos are just going to sit on them, I dunno. We’ll see!

10:30: Wyoming @ San Diego State (CBSS): Wyoming will roll into San Diego at 4-1, but SDSU’s defense seems to be as functional as ever. I don’t think the Cowboys will be able to put enough together to beat the Aztecs.

11:00: Washington @ Arizona (FS1): Back in August, the Wildcats went to Hawaii and left with a one touchdown loss. Since then, all they’ve done is beat, well, at least one decent team and win four in a row. Meanwhile, UDub suffered an understandable loss to Cal (that defense!) and a completely inexplicable loss to Stanford. Well, I’m sure it’s explicable, but I didn’t see a single minute of it because I was at a wedding. So yeah, I dunno, Arizona’s not a San Francisco Bay Area-based football team, so I like Washington’s chances here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Oklahoma @ Kansas (ABC): Hey folks, once again, this whole writeup is probably going to be LIGHTNING ROUND time. I was pretty busy this past week and this weekend. Things should be pretty normal from next week on out. So in that spirit: Oklahoma.
• Iowa @ Michigan (FOX): I probably wouldn’t recommend watching this. I have Iowa.
• Purdue @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): Penn State: are they actually good? This game probably won’t tell us much, but I have the Nittany Lions all the way here.
• Texas Christian @ Iowa State (ESPN2): This game seems like a coin flip, but I’ll give a slight edge to the Cyclones at home.
• Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (FS1): See above, but I guess I’ll take Oklahoma State on the road.
• Kent State @ Wisconsin (ESPNU): Wisky.
• Utah State @ Louisiana State (SEC): LSU.
• Maryland @ Rutgers (BTN): I’ll assume that possible jokes about Rutgers’s new head coach have been made. UMD all the way here.
• Tulane @ Army (CBSS): Tulane is favored, but I like Army here.

12:30: Boston College @ Louisville (RSN): BC.

3:30:

• Auburn @ Florida (CBS): For whatever reason, most of the college football internet is Florida fans, and according to them, they have no shot in the game. Naturally, I like the Gators here, but I have concerns about whether or not they’ll be able to move the ball. However, I have those same concerns about Auburn, so I think that evens out, leaving me with the Gators in the Swamp.
• Texas @ West Virginia (ABC): Texas.
• Bowling Green @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame.
• Virginia Tech @ Miami (ESPN): Miami.
• Baylor @ Kansas State (ESPN2): K-State is sneaky good, apparently?
• Air Force @ Navy (CBSS): Navy?
• Illinois @ Minnesota (BTN): Minnesota.
• Western Michigan @ Toledo (ESPN+)
• Ohio @ Buffalo (ESPN+)
• Arkansas State @ Georgia State (ESPN+)

3:45: Memphis @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPNU): Memphis.

4:00:

• Northwestern @ Nebraska (FOX): Nebraska.
• Troy @ Missouri (SEC): Mizzou.
• North Carolina @ Georgia Tech (ACCN): So it turns out our defense isn’t really that good either, but the offense remains my chief concern. Naturally, the play calling against Temple last week was actually less conservative, but regardless they failed to score a touchdown. Injuries on the offensive line and to our top receiver hard to make it easy to forecast any sort of relief, though. I think it’s going to be a long season, unfortunately.

4:30: Arizona @ Colorado (Pac12): Colorado?

6:00: Western Kentucky @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Georgia @ Tennessee (ESPN): Georgia.
• South Florida @ Connecticut (CBSS): Eeesh. Uh, man, both these are real bad. But USF is so bad that people are actively wondering if the team has quit on Charlie Strong, so I guess I’ll take UConn?
• Rice @ Alabama-Birmingham (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Michigan State @ Ohio State (ABC): No idea why you would watch this. Ohio State.
• Tulsa @ Southern Methodist (ESPNU): Southern Miss.
• Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (SEC): Vandy?

8:00:

• California @ Oregon (FOX): Take the under in this one, and also Oregon.
• Pittsburgh @ Duke (ACCN): Duke?
• Texas-San Antonio @ Texas-El Paso (ESPN+)

9:00: Oregon State @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): Oregon State is improving, but I still like UCLA here.

10:00: San Diego State @ Colorado State (ESPN2): I really have no idea in this one. I’ll take the Aztecs on the road.

10:30:

• Washington @ Stanford (ESPN): UDub.
• Boise State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (CBSS): And, last but not least, I like Boise here. Seriously, with a two-loss UCF now, it’ll be interesting to see what other G5’s step up. Boise has the cachet, but there’s other candidates (like SMU), so it will be up to the Broncos to keep the pressure.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (FOX): It’s week 5 already? It’s the end of September already? How in the world did this happen? I feel like I was just rushing to get Week 1 out before PAX. Anyway, OU status: still rolling!
• Northwestern @ Wisconsin (ABC): This may well be a replay of last week’s demolition of Michigan for the Badgers, as they’re facing another Big Ten team with serious issues on offense.
• Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (@Arlington, TX; ESPN): Arkansas didn’t just lose to San Jose State last week. They got demolished by San Jose State. Suffice it to say, I don’t like their chances here!
• Middle Tennessee State @ Iowa (ESPN2): The Blue Raiders are fun and all, but I can’t take them over Iowa here.
• Kansas @ Texas Christian (FS1): TCU got a little unlucky in losing the Iron Skillet last week, but KU doesn’t figure to put up as much of a fight as SMU did.
• Buffalo @ Miami (ESPNU): Buffalo is at least decent, probably? To be clear, this is some Saturday Maction here, not a team from Buffalo, NY venturing to south Florida.
• Northern Illinois @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Vandy gets some relief from the Georgias and LSUs of the world with a chance to catch its breath here.
• Rutgers @ Michigan (BTN): Well, presumably the Michigan offense will look like it has some semblance of idea of how to play football against Rutgers… right?
• Central Michigan @ Western Michigan (CBSS): The spread here is WMU by 17.5, but don’t be fooled, the Directional Michigan Rivalries are the toughest in the sport. Okay, well, maybe not, but there is a trophy on the line.
• Brigham Young @ Toledo (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Clemson @ North Carolina (ABC): Apparently on this Saturday “ABC” stands for “All Blowout Coverage” because, seriously, go ahead and peek at what the prime time game is. It’s cool, I’ll wait here.
• Virginia @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame actually managed to earn a smidgen of respect for hanging with Georgia. Now they need to show they’re closer to that tier by holding serve at home against a good UVA team.
• Southern California @ Washington (FOX): What to make of the Pac-12? I seriously don’t know. UDub is a solid favorite here, but USC is a little hotter right now and may actually have a clue on what its doing on offense. We’re certainly farther away than ever than all the half-joking 0-6 starts predicted for USC. I like them here, straight-up.
• Mississippi @ Alabama (CBS): Ole Miss is bad, y’all.
• Iowa State @ Baylor (ESPN): Iowa State is one of the few Big 12 teams that purports to play defense, and they’ll need that to pick up a win in Waco.
• Minnesota @ Purdue (ESPN2): Here’s another mid-tier matchup in a conference that’s “Big” followed by a number. That said, I don’t know what’s really up with Purdue at this point, so I’m also taking the road team again.
• Wake Forest @ Boston College (ACCN): Y’all, anyone who gives up 40+ to Kansas (in football) is bad. Wake all the way here.
• Florida Atlantic @ Charlotte (NFL): Hey, it’s on TV, so I gotta talk about it. I think Charlotte is starting to be okay now? And it sure seems like Lane is going to be stuck in Boca forever, eh?
• Indiana @ Michigan State (BTN): You could watch this, but then you’d have to watch a game involving both Indiana and Michigan State on purpose, and I just in good conscience can’t recommend that. Uh, I’ll take Sparty here?
• Georgia Tech @ Temple (CBSS): Sigh
  Maybe it would be more bearable here in Year 0 if two of the most visible problems with this team weren’t almost diametrically opposed to how the previous regime handled things. Let’s start with the deep handoff on 3rd/4th and short, which may be the one of the most crazy things to the average football fan. I guess my point of view is that if Tom Brady, who is approximately 500 years old and in his 300th NFL season, can get under center and run a QB sneak, then just about anyone should be able to.
  The other thing is that while we did run the ball about 80% of the time, Paul Johnson did not call a conservative offense. If we were on the other side of the opponent’s 40, we were going for it. I’m pretty sure we’ve already punted from that area three games into this season more than the previous regime did in several seasons put together. It’s ridiculous. Personally, I think that if you really trust your defense, that if you’re willing to live and die with your defense, then you should be okay with turning it over on downs at the opponent’s 35. Maybe that’s just me, though.
  Either way, look, it really is Year Zero. That term was coined for a reason. Arguably the previous regime probably should’ve lost to a FCS team in their first season. Not all is lost, and it’s not time to hit the panic button yet.
  At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.
• Coastal Carolina @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)

4:00: Southern Methodist @ South Florida (ESPNU): SMU is good. USF, uh, not so much.

5:00: Cincinnati @ Marshall (Facebook): I have no idea how to watch this game, but I may need to figure it out. Marshall’s only blemish so far is a tight loss to Boise, and while I don’t think Cincy will still be reeling from getting destroyed by Ohio State, they’re still a bit of a step down from where most of us thought they would be in this season. But hey, the season is long and they can still go beat UCF and Memphis, so not all is lost of the Bearcats. And I still like them in this game.

6:00:

• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)
• Arkansas State @ Troy (ESPN+)
• East Carolina @ Old Dominion (ESPN+)
• New Mexico @ Liberty (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Mississippi State @ Auburn (ESPN): Auburn’s defensive line will likely just be too good for the Bulldogs.
• Connecticut @ Central Florida (ESPN2): UCF took a direct hit from the Pitt Superweapon, but they still get to also play the UConns of the world and regroup.
• Stanford @ Oregon State (Pac12): These might be the two worst teams in the Pac-12, ugh. I’m picking the Beavers just because I can’t pick Stanford anymore.
• Texas-El Paso @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN+)
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Western Kentucky (ESPN+)
• South Alabama @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPN+)

7:30:

• Ohio State @ Nebraska (ABC): So, yeah, like I said, nothin’ but blowouts in ABC today. Eesh.
• Kentucky @ South Carolina (SEC): I’d almost say that this is a mid-tier SEC game, but South Carolina is just kinda really bad on offense. I like Kentucky here.
• North Carolina State @ Florida State (ACCN): NC State was thought to be solidly in the middle of the ACC, and then they took a surprising a surprising blowout from a rebuilding West Virginia team a couple weeks ago. Of course, it’s basically impossible to predict what FSU will do at this point, so this may be interesting in a trainwreck sort of way. I’m going with FSU here.
• Colorado State @ Utah State (CBSS): I like the Aggies here.

8:00: Nevada-Las Vegas @ Wyoming (ESPNU): Well, Wyoming is no longer America’s luckiest team after losing to Tulsa, but they’re still good enough to beat UNLV.

10:00: Washington State @ Utah (FS1): Wazzu had a game for the ages last weekend, which is a statement that as equally true now as it was at halftime of that game when they had a 35-17 lead that didn’t even feel that close. 78(!) second half points later, they lost to UCLA. I’m not comfortable predicting a win for them here, as Utah shouldn’t be able to keep pace, but that’s what anyone would’ve said last week too.

10:30:

• California-Los Angeles @ Arizona (ESPN): For now, I’m not going to get too high off that crazy comeback and predict a UCLA victory here. But you may wanna watch this one.
• Hawaii @ Nevada (ESPN2): You may wanna watch this too. I like Hawaii but it should be fun, and who knows what can happen as the midnight hour approaches in Reno?