As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Florida @ Missouri (CBS): LIGHTNING ROUND! Okay, look, I realize I’ve been leaning on that trope a lot so far this season. I honestly don’t know what the future of the site is. In some ways even thinking about the future I think assigns more importance to this than it actually merits. So, yeah, with that bout of self-doubt out of the way, I’m going to do this. pick winners, provide commentary on games that I think are worth it, and then get some sleep. Sounds good, yeah? That’s what I thought. Anyway, Gators.
• Michigan State @ Michigan (FOX): Wolverines!
• Indiana @ Pennsylvania State (ABC): Nittany Lions!
• Alabama @ Mississippi State (ESPN): Oh, man, this is such a pithy one-word response that I felt it necessary to preface this with “yes, this is a one-word response”: Bama.
• Texas Christian @ Texas Tech (ESPN2): TCU?
• Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Cowboys.
• Tulane @ Temple (ESPNU): This should actually be a fun contrast of styles in the American and one of the more fun games here in this morning slate… maybe I’ll be awake for the fourth quarter. Tulane?
• Wisconsin @ Nebraska (BTN): Wisconsin.
• Massachusetts @ Northwestern (BTN): Even Northwestern figures to score against UMass.

2:30: Navy @ Notre Dame (NBC): So overall this is a fantastic season for Navy so far, but I’m not sure I can realistically ever pick them against most Notre Dame teams that should simply out-athlete them.

3:00: Louisiana-Monroe @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Georgia @ Auburn (CBS): I want Auburn to win so badly, but I just can’t pick them. But then again, it’s not exactly outlandish. Auburn will come in with a great defensive line on a Georgia offense that has definitely scuffled at points this year. I can definitely talk myself into Auburn winning this, which is exactly why I’m going with UGA.
• Wake Forest @ Clemson (ABC): Clemson!
• West Virginia @ Kansas State (ESPN): Kansas State!
• Memphis @ Houston (ESPN2): Memphis.
• Texas @ Iowa State (FS1): Texas?
• Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Kentucky?
• Ohio State @ Rutgers (BTN): Ohio State!
• Central Michigan @ Ball State (CBSS): Central Michigan?
• Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech (ACC/RSN): Well, it’s Year Zero. What this means, if you’re not familiar, is that a team has a new coach and things are so different, and so many changes are being made, that the new coach sort of gets a free pass on their first year. Hence, “year zero”. I watched the game last week and believe that this team is getting better, and I think there’s reason to believe that next year we’ll get back to a bowl. But for now, I hope that we can still at least spoil Bud Foster’s last season appropriately by running the option like 50 times.

4:00:

• Minnesota @ Iowa (FOX): Minnesota? Should we believe in them now? I have no idea, but I don’t feel tempted to bet against them again.
• Wyoming @ Utah State (ESPNU): Wyoming?
• Syracuse @ Duke (ACCN): Duke?

4:30:

• Stanford @ Washington State (Pac12): Wazzu should win this game, so I’m picking Stanford.
• Rice @ Middle Tennessee State (ESPN+)

5:00: Louisiana-Lafayette @ South Alabama (ESPN+)

6:00: Southern Mississippi @ Texas-San Antonio (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Louisiana State @ Mississippi (ESPN): LSU!
• Air Force @ Colorado State (ESPN2): AF!
• Cincinnati @ South Florida (CBSS): Cincy!

7:30:

• Oklahoma @ Baylor (ABC): Oklahoma’s defense didn’t improve as anticipated, but I think they can still outscore Baylor.
• Arizona State @ Oregon State (FS1): Arizona state?
• Appalachian State @ Georgia State (ESPNU): App State!
• South Carolina @ Texas A&M (SEC): TAMU!
• Louisville @ North Carolina State (ACCN): Louisville? Seriously, I feel like that’s just a question in and of itself. No expected the kind of season they’re having after the barren wasteland Bobby Petrino left. It’s kind of amazing.

8:00: California-Los Angeles @ Utah (FOX): Utah.

10:15: New Mexico @ Boise State (ESPN2): Boise.

10:30: Arizona @ Oregon (ESPN): Oregon!

11:00: Southern California @ California (FS1): USC?

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Maryland @ Ohio State (FOX): This is a “Hey, you wanna see a dead body?” game. Buckeyes all the way,
• Pennsylvania State @ Minnesota (ABC): ABC doesn’t call i this, but this is really your BIG NOON SATURDAY game this week. The main this, we’re going to find out a lot about these here Golden Gophers. Perhaps my favorite stat about Minnesota so far this year is that they have only faced a first string quarterback for something like 15 minutes on the whole season. It’s nuts how lucky they’ve gotten, and that luck runs out later today.
• Vanderbilt @ Florida (ESPN): Solid bounceback game for the Gators, here.
• Texas Tech @ West Virginia (ESPN2): I have no idea what is going on with these two teams at this point and I’m too tired to look it up. WVU?
• Baylor @ Texas Christian (FS1): TCU can pip ’em, but I’ll still take Baylor for now.
• East Carolina @ Southern Methodist (ESPNU): Almost beating Cincy aside, ECU is dreadful. I’ll stick with the Ponies.
• Western Kentucky @ Arkansas (SEC): Getting very heavy “They supposed to be SEC!” vibes from this one.
• Purdue @ Northwestern (BTN): Purdue can actually score touchdowns, so I’m going with them.
• Massachusetts @ Army (CBSS): It’s been a bit of a struggle for Army this year, but not enough of a struggle to figure they’ll have any issues with UMass.
• Florida State @ Boston College (ACCN): FSU just fired this coach after not even two years, so, uh, I’ll take BC here.

12:30: Georgia Tech @ Virginia (ACC/RSN): I still think GT can win another game, but this team is so much a work-in-progress from week to week it’s almost hard to predict anything about them. Well, I can predict the offensive line is probably going to struggle. That seems like a gimme.

3:00:

• Stanford @ Colorado (Pac12): Stanford seems to have some elusive property where when I look at them they look terrible, but they’re actually having a solid season on the whole. It’s weird, I tell ya. I like them against the Buffs though.
• Charlotte @ Texas-El Paso (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Louisiana State @ Alabama (CBS): I’m trying to talk myself in LSU. Don’t get me wrong, I want it to happen. I want there to be some sliver of a chance that Alabama doesn’t make the playoff. But few things seem as inevitable in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen as Bama easily dispatching an “evenly matched” LSU. Man, if only this game were at night in Baton Rouge.
• Southern California @ Arizona State (ABC): USC just hired an athletic director (who isn’t a former USC athlete, even!), so Clay Helton finally getting the axe seems pretty likely. The main drama may be whether he makes on the play or gets tarmac’d Lane Kiffin-style.
• Kansas State @ Texas (ESPN): Yeah, turns out Kansas State is actually kinda good? Huh. I’m still coping with this news, so in the meantime I’m still picking Texas.
• Louisville @ Miami (ESPN2): Few things would be as poetic as Miami basically just getting Willie Taggart fired in Year 2 at FSU and then losing to Louisville.
• Illinois @ Michigan State (FS1): Speaking of adjusting to teams that are shockingly good, I can tell you who hasn’t adjusted to Illinois being decent: bookies! Yeah, Sparty’s a 14 point favorite in this contest. I mean, hell, I’m not sure Sparty will score fourteen in this one. Geez. I like Illinois straight up.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Southern Mississippi (NFL): This game’s on the NFL network of all places, which is a shame. Go Blazers.
• Connecticut @ Cincinnati (CBSS): Cincy.
• Wake Forest @ Virginia Tech (ACCN): Wake?
• Georgia Southern @ Troy (ESPN+)

4:00:

• Iowa @ Wisconsin (FOX): Hey, this is low-key probably going to be one of the best games of the day. Well, it’ll definitely be the best game featuring a bunch of large, corn-fed linemen and only a handful of pass attempts. But hey, if that’s your thing we’re not here to judge: college football takes all kinds. Anyway, I’ll take the Badgers here.
• New Mexico State @ Mississippi (SEC): Ole Miss.

5:00: Georgia State @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPN+)

6:00: Florida International @ Florida Atlantic (Stadium): FIU?

7:00:

• Missouri @ Georgia (ESPN): Can you do me a favor Mizzou? Oh, you can’t? Ah well.
• Appalachian State @ South Carolina (ESPN2): I don’t think App State will win, but it’d sure be awesome if they did. It’s not like SoCar has had a great go of it since beating UGA.
• Utah State @ Fresno State (CBSS): Early on this looked it could be a date to circle on the Mountain West calendar, but Utah State hasn’t quite held up their end of the bargain.
• Washington State @ California (Pac12): Wazzu? (With a heavy emphasis on the ‘?’ there.)

7:30:

• Clemson @ North Carolina State (ABC): The weekly release of the College Football Playoff rankings is completely pointless, except as a means to drive TV ratings and give Dabo a reason to give his players some extra motivation.
• Liberty @ Brigham Young (EPSNU): BYU.
• Tennessee @ Kentucky (SEC): Man, this evening slate is kind of dire. Uh, despite a somewhat resurgent Vols I’m still going Kentucky here.
• Notre Dame @ Duke (ACCN): Notre Dame all the way, probably.

8:00: Iowa State @ Oklahoma (FOX): Oklahoma.

10:15: Wyoming @ Boise State (ESPN): Boise.

10:30: Nevada @ San Diego State (ESPN2): Aztecs.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Michigan @ Maryland (ABC): This noon slate is pretty dire, so let’s just try to work through it together with a…. LIGHTNING ROUND! Michigan!
• Nebraska @ Purdue (FOX): Okay, well, the lightning round has careened off the road and is tumbling down the side of a cliff in a way that is definitely emblematic of both of these teams’ seasons. It’s difficult to know what to make of either of these teams, so I guess I’ll take Purdue at home?
• North Carolina State @ Wake Forest (ESPN): crawls out of the smoldering wreckage, somehow still functional and not all that badly hurt, yelling: LIGHTNING ROUND! Wake!
• Houston @ Central Florida (ESPN2): UCF!
• Buffalo @ Eastern Michigan (ESPNU): Bulls!
• Texas-San Antonio @ Texas A&M (SEC): TAMU!
• Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan (CBSS): CMU!
• Boston College @ Syracuse (ACCN): BC!
• Old Dominion @ Florida International (ESPN+)

2:00: Akron @ Bowling Green (ESPN+)

2:30: Virginia Tech @ Notre Dame (NBC): Virginia Tech is 5-2 but I don’t trust them at all, but before I make this pick, let me check the weather for South Bend… okay, it’s not going to rain, at least not a lot, so ND is good.

3:30:

• Miami @ Florida State (ABC): Don’t ask me about Miami, because I don’t know. FSU.
• Georgia vs. Florida (@Jacksonville, FL; CBS): So this Georgia team just. cannot. move. the. ball. Their defense is keeping them in games, but what happens when they run up against a team that can actually play offense? Luckily for them, the only team in the SEC East that even seems interested in scoring points is Florida. The thing is, it’s not like Florida is actually that good(?) offensively. Sure, they got scored against LSU, but it took everything they had to do it. Then again, that was at night with a top-tier hostile college football crowd, while this is a neutral site in their own state. If Florida can get 24 on this Georgia defense, I think they’ll win.
• Texas Christian @ Oklahoma State (ESPN): Okie State’s just kinda bad this year. TCU.
• Kansas State @ Kansas (FS1): Is the same for this game the Sunflower Showdown? Sunflower State Showdown? Hold on a second. Okay, good, it’s the former. Anyway, so as someone who was born in Kansas, I’m more than qualified to tell you that this isn’t one of the biggest contests even by the standards of this rivalry, but nonetheless we’ve got two first-year head coaches that are better than I think anyone outside the state could have possibly expected. Chris Klieman came down from North Dakota State and seems to have just gotten K-State humming at near-peak-Synder levels again, which is certainly way better than the way it went the last time Bill Synder retired. Meanwhile, it was hard to see Kansas hiring Les Miles as anything other than a joke, and look, no one is going to confuse KU with having a good team, but… they play with great chest, as Miles might say. So, yeah, that’s all to say that K-State is probably going to win, but this might be as fun as anything else on at 3:30.
• Arkansas State @ Louisiana-Monroe (ESPNU): Got Sun Belt games on national television on a Saturday, yeah, that sums up this day pretty much. Arkansas State.
• Texas-El Paso @ North Texas (NFL): UTEP is really bad, so UNT.
• Rutgers @ Illinois (BTN): Illinois got themselves a couple weeks ago against Wisconsin, now let’s see if they can keep it up against the worst Power 5 team. (They will.)
• Army @ Air Force (CBSS): So Army has lost four straight. At first, it was understandable, Tulane is pretty sold this year. Western Kentucky is winning their division in C-USA. Georgia State beat Tennessee. San Jose State, though… just, no, you can’t do that. But will playing for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy get them re-centered? Well, I think they’ll cover 15.5, but I think I like Air Force a bit better.

4:00:

• Utah @ Washington (FOX): The Pac-12 really, really needs Utah to win to have any chance of getting a pair of 1-loss teams as a play-in game in Santa Clara next month, which is why I’m picking UDub.
• Tulsa @ Tulane (ESPN2): Tulsa nearly beat some of the other good teams in the AAC, can they get over the top against the Green Wave? I’m going with “no”.
• Mississippi State @ Arkansas (SEC): Look, Miss State has underperformed this year, but Arkansas might be down there with Rutgers, y’all.
• Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech (ACC/RSN): Like many ACC Coast teams this year, Pitt’s season makes no sense. They were a yard and some game/time decision making away from having Penn State tied in the 4th quarter. They upset UCF with a trick play. They then reeled off three more in a row, and then they went to a Miami team that just lost to, well, us, and lost themselves 16-12. So now what? Well, I don’t have any insight into Pitt, but for the Yellow Jackets they just had a week to practice a bit more and get a bit more healthy. I said last time that I thought we’d win another game. The thing is, we did that already, so… maybe let’s do it again?

4:30: Oregon State @ Arizona (Pac12): ‘Zona.

5:00: Texas State @ Louisiana-Lafayette (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Mississippi @ Auburn (ESPN): Auburn.
• Northwestern @ Indiana (FS1): Northwestern is bad at offense this year that they seem almost actively hostile to the idea of offensive football, like they’d be happy to win 7-0, preferably with that 7 being a defensive score. It’s awful. Hooisers all the way.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Tennessee (ESPNU): I want to believe. Go Blazers.
• Cincinnati @ East Carolina (CBSS): ECU is bad, Cincy all the way.

7:30:

• Southern Methodist @ Memphis (ABC): Okay, so neither lost last week, so get the AAC game we were promised, but neither team is from Florida! I think this could be a lot of fun, but I believe Memphis will generate more stops and get the win.
• Vanderbilt @ South Carolina (SEC): Well, Vandy just beat Mizzou, but they’re still dreadful offensively. Fortunately for them, so is South Carolina, but let’s face it, you’re not going to out-dumb Will Muschamp at his own game. Just ask Georgia how that worked out for them.
• Virginia @ North Carolina (ACCN): Yep, this game may well decide the ACC Coastal. Just like we call thought back in August. I still have UVA, though. Why? I’m not sure.

8:00: Oregon @ Southern California (FOX): Unlike the Utah-UDub scenario above, I think the Ducks are relatively safe against USC.

9:00: Colorado @ California-Los Angeles (Pac12): Is UCLA good now? I don’t think so. Is Colorado? Definitely not. Bruins all the way.

10:00: Brigham Young @ Utah State (ESPN2): Utah State is a solid, but not spectacular Mountain West team, which I think puts them at about par with BYU. I’m not sure who I have here, Utah State I guess?

10:30:

• New Mexico @ Nevada (ESPNU): Well, for the sake of my bowl predictions, it’d be a lot nicer if Nevada wins here, so I’ll go with them.
• Boise State @ San Jose State (CBSS): Boise suffered a bad loss at BYU. I don’t think they’ll make it two in a row.

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.