As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Ohio State @ Illinois (ESPN): I’m sure the Buckeyes will be able to figure out something against the nation’s 105th ranked scoring defense.
• Indiana @ Wisconsin (ESPN2): I’m less sure about Indiana’s ability to put something together against the nation’s 6th ranked scoring defense, though.
• Iowa State @ Oklahoma (FS1): Oklahoma figures to be out for blood after last week.
• Cincinnati @ Rutgers (ESPNEWS): Cincy has generally be a much more consistent team so far this year; they should be able to get a win.
• Troy @ Mississippi (ESPNU): Troy already lost 62-7 to Mississippi State this year, so…
• West Virginia @ Kansas (FSN): West Virginia has been extremely inconsistent this season, but it’s hard to envision how bad they would need to be to lose to Kansas.
• Purdue @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State would be bowl eligible after this if they were eligible to go a bowl.
• Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Speaking of bowl eligibility, the Commodores are 5-4 and close with Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wake Forest. I have to say I like their chances of going 8-4.

12:30:

• North Carolina @ Pittsburgh (ACC): Both these teams have lost to every competent opponent they’ve played this year, making this game a pretty even match. That said, Pitt did knock off Notre Dame last week and Carolina is riding a 3-game win streak. I’m giving a slight edge to Pitt, though.
• Maryland @ Virginia Tech (ACC): Good Logan Thomas finally reappeared last week in last week’s easy win over Miami. However, thanks to Bad Logan Thomas’s loss to Duke, the Hokies don’t control their own destiny in the division.
• North Carolina State @ Boston College (ACC/FSN): NC State is 0-6 in ACC play, and I don’t see that improving this week.

2:00: Washington State @ Arizona (Pac12): Wazzou is better this year than last, but they’re still not quite there yet.

3:30:

• Georgia @ Auburn (CBS): I’d say the tables are almost completely flipped for these two teams from where they were at the start of the season. Considering their injury situation, I just don’t see how UGA will be able to keep up with the Tigers.
• Michigan State @ Nebraska (ABC/ESPN2): The risk for a team like Michigan State is always that one week, the defense just isn’t quite up to snuff and the offense is still as incompetent as ever. But that said, Nebraska is a 7-2 team that most people would probably describe as “struggling”, what with being a few plays away from 5-4 and all. I’ll stick with Sparty here.
• Syracuse @ Florida State (ABC/ESPN2): Syracuse is… not good. Not good at all.
• Miami @ Duke (ESPNU): On paper, this one shouldn’t be close. Miami is a team that can definitely shoot itself in the foot, but that’s really the only way the Blue Devils can win this game.
• South Alabama @ Navy (CBSS): Navy isn’t awesome this year, but they don’t need to be against these guys.
• Texas Christian @ Kansas State (FSN): TCU barely eked out a win over Iowa State last weekend, which does not bode well for their chances against the Wildcats.
• Michigan @ Northwestern (BTN): Northwestern’s awful year doesn’t appear to be getting any better, but if they have a shot, it’s against this moribund Michigan squad.

4:00: Utah @ Oregon (FS1): This is sure to be yet another resounding defeat for the transitive property as it applies to college football.

5:30: California @ Colorado (Pac12): Going with Colorado, because why not?

7:00:

• Baylor vs. Texas Tech (@Arlington, TX; FOX): I figured Texas Tech might lose 4 of their last 5, but well, I didn’t really see them losing to Kansas State. Whoops. Things don’t look to be getting much better against Baylor.
• Florida @ South Carolina (ESPN2): Florida is just so inept offensive that it is impossible to pick them to win this game.
• Houston @ Louisville (ESPNU): Louisville’s best shot at the AAC crown looked to be Houston beating UCF last weekend, but that didn’t happen. The Cardinals may be out for revenge.
• Louisiana Tech @ Rice (CBSS): Going with Rice here. They’re better, but it still feels weird.

7:45: Alabama @ Mississippi State (ESPN): There is almost no way I could purposely pick anyone to beat Alabama right now.

8:00: Stanford @ Southern California (ABC): DACOACHO GONNA GO OUT COACHA DA FOOTBAW ANNA LEADA THA TROWJANS TOA VICTORIE. Okay, probably not. Stanford is pretty good, folks.

9:30: Oregon State @ Arizona State (Pac12): This is an intriguing matchup of the Pac-12’s second tier, and, well, I’ve been calling this for Arizona State for weeks in the bowl predictions, so I’m going to stick to my guns.

10:15: Wyoming @ Boise State (ESPN2): Boise should be able to handle this.

10:30:

• San Diego State @ Hawaii (CBSS): The retro uniforms will be cool, but it’s hard to see the re-christened Rainbow Warriors having much of a chance here.
• San Jose State @ Nevada (ESPNU): It’s been pretty bad for Nevada this year. Hard to see it getting much better against SJSU.

Already this week I struck out on both of Thursday’s marquee games. So just keep in mind the below disclaimer.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Florida State @ Wake Forest (ABC): With a clear path to the national title game, can the Seminoles not trip up against a foe that… well, they’ve tripped up against before? I’m thinking no.
• Kansas State @ Texas Tech (ABC): TTU was humbled a bit against Oklahoma State last week, but I doubt that K-State will be as effective against them.
• Auburn @ Tennessee (ESPN): This game was probably a tossup going into the season, but now, well, it seems like an easy Auburn victory.
• Pennsylvania State @ Minnesota (ESPN2): It feels really weird, but… I’m going with Minnesota in this? I’m so unsure that I put a question mark there.
• Missouri @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Mizzou continues their march to Atlanta.
• Texas Christian @ Iowa State (FSN): It’s been a disappointing season for TCU, mainly due to their extremely lackluster offense. But if TCU is lackluster, than Iowa State hasn’t even been acquainted with the very concept for “luster” at any point this season.
• Western Kentucky @ Army (CBSS): Western Kentucky already beat Navy this year, and Army is much, much worse.
• Iowa @ Purdue (BTN): There aren’t very many teams Iowa could reasonably expect to outscore entirely with their offense. Purdue, with the second worst scoring offense in the FBS, is one of them.
• Vanderbilt @ Florida (SEC/FSN): Is Florida’s offense so inept and wracked by injuries that one could actually pick Vanderbilt as having a shot? The Gator defense is still legit, which means that one could be ugly and low scoring. Which is exactly what the Gators will need to win. I suspect they probably will.
• Arkansas @ Mississippi (SEC): Arkansas is a disaster this season. Maybe John L. wasn’t that bad after all?

12:30: Virginia @ North Carolina (ACC): UNC has been lost on offense for most of this season, but by way of analogy UVA set off without having ever consulted a map in the first place. I like the Tar Heels here.

3:00: Southern California @ California (FOX): The Bears should probably start looking ahead to Colorado.

3:30:

• Mississippi State @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (CBS): Miss State’s offense isn’t quite competent enough to take advantage of TAMU’s awful defense, so the Aggies should be okay here.
• Nebraska @ Michigan (ABC): Well, one of these teams actually beat Minnesota. That team was not Nebraska.
• Brigham Young @ Wisconsin (ESPN): BYU is a pretty good team, and they should make the Badgers sweat, but ultimately the Stormin’ Mormons will probably come up short.
• Hawaii @ Navy (CBSS): Navy.
• Illinois @ Indiana (BTN): I feel a bit silly for having Illinois make a bowl game a couple weeks ago, but I don’t think it was entirely unreasonable at the time. It probably is now, though. But it is reasonable to have Indiana winning, like, ever? Sure, why not.
• Syracuse @ Maryland (ACC/FSN): Neither of these teams is good or anything, but Syracuse is awful.

4:00:

• Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Oklahoma State.
• North Carolina State @ Duke (ESPNU): I almost flippantly did the “team name with no description” thing here, but then I remembered that this is Duke we’re talking about it. But, well, the Blue Devils really are the better team at this point.
• Arizona State @ Utah (Pac12): Arizona State is a pretty good team, while Utah has mostly wilted in Pac-12 play (except for that increasingly inexplicable win over Stanford).

7:00:

• Texas @ West Virginia (FOX): Texas has managed to remain relevant, and they should here. Then again, strange things can happen in Morgantown at night.
• Virginia Tech @ Miami (ESPN): Provided they aren’t completely demoralized by getting blown away by FSU and losing their star running back, Miami still has a certain advantage over Virginia Tech: they have an offense. Of course, that presupposes Good Logan Thomas remains locked in a storage closet somewhere. That said, I’m still going with Miami.
• Houston @ Central Florida (ESPN2): In my bowl predictions, I have consistently predicted UCF losing this game. Don’t let me down, Cougars.
• Southern Mississippi @ Louisiana Tech (CBSS): Louisiana Tech.

8:00:

• Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh (ABC): So it turns out that Notre Dame probably isn’t really good or anything, but they should be sufficiently decent enough to handle Pitt.
• Louisiana State @ Alabama (CBS): I know everyone has their hopes for this game, but… statistically Alabama is the superior team. Like, not by a ton, but it’s pretty clear-cut. Perhaps the closest comparison for a team LSU has faced this season is Florida, but only because of their defense. They toughed that one out 17-6, but as we know Florida’s offense is super inept. Now imagine a team that has a better defense than Florida, and oh yeah, a freaking idea of what they’re doing on offense, and you have Alabama. In other words, this Crimson Tide team, as loathe as I am to say it, is really good.
• Utah State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (ESPNU): Utah State.
• Colorado @ Washington (Pac12): Washington.

10:00: California-Los Angeles @ Arizona (ESPN): Arizona’s been quietly putting together a good season. Sure, they OOC schedule was a joke and they’ve pretty much only beaten the dregs of the Pac-12 (and Utah), but still, 6-2 is pretty good. But if they lose this, they’re not in good shape for the Pac-12. And, well, they’re probably going to lose.

10:15: Fresno State @ Wyoming (ESPN2): The most compelling thing here will probably be how ugly Wyoming’s uniforms are on this evening. And as I’ve said in the past, I mean that in an entirely good way, as making ugly uniforms was always my objective in the Create-A-School feature of the NCAA Football games.

10:30: San Diego State @ San Jose State (CBSS): And here’s your Mountain West nightcap. Two mediocre offense, but two awful defenses, should make for some occasionally fun viewing in this Aztech vs. Spartan battle. I like the Greeks here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ABC/ESPN2): Once again, I’m going to say that the main goal for VPI here is to somehow, some way, figure out how to score 17 points, because that’s probably all they need to win.
• Wisconsin @ Iowa (ABC/ESPN2): Both these teams posses good defenses, but only one has a competent offense. I’ll favor the Badgers in this one.
• Illinois @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): I’m going to lean very slightly toward Penn State in this one, but only very.
• Army @ Air Force (ESPNU): Air Force looks awful this year. I think I’m actually picking Army.
• Ohio State @ Purdue (BTN): Well, Ohio State forever reason has trouble against the Boilermakers. They actually lost to Purdue two years ago and needed overtime to win last year. Of course, that doesn’t really have any bearing on this Ohio State team, but then again, on paper the Buckeyes should pretty much always be favored, right?
• Southern Mississippi @ Marshall (CBSS): I’m sure when this game was picked for TV, no one was really expecting Southern Miss to be the worth team in college football for the second straight year.
• Mississippi State @ South Carolina (SEC): There’s some good teams in the SEC, and some really bad ones. Miss State somehow is just mediocre. Should be a win for the Gamecocks.

12:30:

• North Carolina @ North Carolina State (ACC): NC State, ‘cause why not?
• Wake Forest @ Syracuse (ACC/FSN): If Wake isn’t too bummed out about their lost opportunity against Miami last week, I think they could actually have some success up in the Carrier Dome.

3:30:

• Florida vs. Georgia (@Jacksonville, FL; CBS): This game is going to be ugly, and probably not even in the entertaining way. At least Florida plays defense. While UGA did play offense earlier this season, last week’s loss to Vandy was mostly due to almost all their skill players other than Aaron Murray being hurt. The Gators could well win this one 6-3 or something.
• Navy @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame.
• Michigan @ Michigan State (ABC): Very cautiously going with Michigan in this one, but with these teams having wildly opposite strengths I also expect this one to be close. But Michigan can get to 17 or 21 points it’s hard to see how Michigan State is going to score enough to win.
• Clemson @ Virginia (ESPN): UVA is awful, Clemson rolls.
• Iowa State @ Kansas State (FS1): Iowa State is also awful, but K-State may not be good enough to completely roll them.
• West Virginia @ Texas Christian (ESPNU): TCU can’t score, but somewhat surprisingly, neither can WVU. I’m not sure which way to roll on this one, so I’m going with the Horned Frogs.
• Northwestern @ Nebraska (BTN): Northwestern has lost five straight Big Ten games, and I have a feeling it’s about to be five.
• Arizona @ California (Pac12): Arizona.

4:00: Hawaii @ Utah State (CBSS): Utah State.

6:00: Auburn @ Arkansas (ESPN2): Arkansas has lost its last two games by a combined score of 104-7. That’s… not good. Meanwhile, Auburn has only scored less than 30 points once this season. This could get ugly.

7:00:

• Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (FOX): That loss to West Virginia is looking more and more inexplicable as the season goes on, but that said, these teams otherwise appear to be pretty even, so I’ll give an edge to the home team.
• Tennessee @ Missouri (ESPN): I’ve seen some bad losses in my time, but I’m not sure I’ve ever felt the impact of a gut wrenching loss for a team that isn’t my own than I did when I saw that ball clang off the uprights. That said, I don’t expect the transitive property to hold up (South Carolina lost to Tennessee two weeks ago), as Mizzou is just categorically better than the Volunteers.
• Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): Last week’s win in Charlottesville may be the ugliest win I’ve ever seen by a Georgia Tech team. I’m still not sure how you can turn the ball over 5 times and escape with a victory, but we managed. So now our attentions turn to Pitt.
  So last weekend, Pitt lost at Navy. So there’s a couple ways this can go, and if you pay attention to GT sports, you can probably already guess the narratives. Quickly, they are something along these lines. Since Pitt played Navy last weekend, they’ve had an extra week to practice against our offense, and especially at full-speed. The retort is, of course, that hopefully our guys are a little more athletic and skilled than Navy’s. And, of course, we do have some shotgun/pistol looks in our pocket as well.
  Pitt is pretty middle-of-the-road statistically, though maybe slightly better than their 4-3 record. They’re definitely a better team than Virginia, and I can guarantee that we will not beat them if we turn the ball over five times again.

7:30: Colorado @ California-Los Angeles (FS1): So far, Colorado has not scored more than 20 or given up less than 40 in their Pac-12 games. This is not what one would call a formula for success, and indeed, success will likely remain elusive against the Bruins.

8:00:

• Miami @ Florida State (ABC): I figure the line for this game is mostly due to FSU’s pummeling of Clemson and Miami barely beating Wake Forest last weekend. I understand that, okay? And I still think FSU is going to win. But probably not by 3+ touchdowns.
• Boise State @ Colorado State (CBSS): It’s definitely a down year for the Broncos, but they should still be good enough to win this one.

9:00: Texas-El Paso @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ESPN2): Oh, what I would give to have this game be at UTEP. Alas, in the safe confines of Kyle Stadium even TAMU’s awful defense should be able to contain the 1-6 Miners. (Also, UTEP’s defense is actually worse than TAMU’s, so… yeah.)

10:30: Nevada @ Fresno State (ESPNU): Nevada just isn’t that good this year, unfortunately. They probably won’t provide that much of an impediment to Fresno’s BCS quest.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Nebraska @ Minnesota (ESPN): This might be the most lopsided matchup in history between two 5-win teams. Nebraska should roll.
• Louisville @ South Florida (ESPN2): Well, Louisville kind of ruined its season last week, and unfairly, the Heisman candidacy of their star quarterback. Now it’s a race for the Cardinals to still try to win the AAC and rise above Northern Illinois and Fresno State in the BCS. Can they do it? Against South Florida, the answer for this week is “probably”.
• Houston @ Rutgers (ESPNEWS): I actually like Houston here.
• Wake Forest @ Miami (ESPNU): All together now: trap game. Wake has looked slightly cagier in recent weeks, but regardless Miami should steamroll them. Unless, of course, they’re caught looking ahead to next week’s huge game against their rival, Florida State.
• Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (FSN): Oklahoma State.
• Northwestern @ Iowa (BTN): After their 40-30 defeat against Ohio State, it’s almost as though this team is completely deflated. Their numbers are now middling,while Iowa at least boasts a good defense. It’s hard to see how Northwestern will pull itself out of the doldrums, and this may be their last chance to do so.
• Vanderbilt @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (SEC): TAMU boasts the 4th ranked scoring offense and the 104th ranked scoring defense. Yes, it’s a disaster that has now cost them a shot at the national title, but even after notching a win over UGA last week (yay) the Commodores should not be a match for TAMU.

12:30: Georgia Tech @ Virginia (ACC): I’m not even sure what superlatives I can add after last week’s 56-0 trouncing of Syracuse. (Welcome to the ACC!) Tech executed very well in all phases. Now the key is to go into what has been a house of horrors GT: Charlottesville, VA. After 1990, Georgia Tech has 1 win in 10 tries at Scott Stadium, which came in 2009. We lost in our last trip there in 2011 after going in 6-0. I’m a man of science, but there are definitely times where I’m forced to wonder what in the heck could lead to that sort of record other than luck. But coincidence and luck are indeed the most rational explanations: GT has a losing record against UVA in that time (9-13) including a 4-game losing streak in the early 90’s (no surprise there, some of those Tech teams were awful), and some losses when the two sides were evenly matched. I would suspect, by the numbers, most of them actually make sense. Nonetheless, I am taking nothing for granted going into this one, and hopefully we can put forth the effort shown last weekend.

1:00: Pittsburgh @ Navy (CBSS): I guess the angle for this one is that Pitt gets some complacent when they easily beat Navy that they just take playing the same offense run by us next week?

3:30:

• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (FOX): Oklahoma is easily the best team TTU has played since beating TCU back in week 3. And even then, TTU only won 20-10. Will they be able to contain the Sooners? I think not.
• Tennessee @ Alabama (CBS): Third, fourth, Saturday of October, it doesn’t matter. This game could well by over by the time the second quarter starts.
• Michigan State @ Illinois (ABC/ESPN2): Well, if there’s anyone left on Michigan State’s schedule they may be able to score offensive points against, it’s probably Illinois. Nonetheless, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see Sparty win a 6-2 game or something.
• North Carolina State @ Florida State (ABC/ESPN2): I missed the last games last weekend, so I DVR’d the Florida State-Clemson game. I started fast forwarding through only to see the game get increasingly out of hand. I think I stopped watching in the third quarter and just went over to College Football Final. Suffice it to say, I will not be DVR’ing this game.
• Clemson @ Maryland (ESPN): As many internet commentator types have noted, the Maryland Injury Bug has struck again, seemingly this time afflicting everyone but their quarterbacks. I doubt it would matter much against what should be a Clemson team out to restore their honor.
• Duke @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the inevitable Virginia Tech-Michigan State bowl game, despite the fact that the ACC and Big Ten don’t have any bowl games each other. As for this one, the limitation here is VPI’s offense being able to get to, let’s say… 17 points.
• Boston College @ North Carolina (ACC/FSN): What a disaster for Carolina this season, and when you can’t even count on beating Boston College, well…

3:45: West Virginia @ Kansas State (FS1): It feels like the magic has run out for K-State, but fortunately for them this is a very winnable game at home.

4:00: Utah @ Southern California (Pac12): Going with Utah in this one. They beat Stanford and were close in losses to UCLA, Oregon State, and Arizona. Against an injury riddled USC I have to like their odds.

5:00: Notre Dame @ Air Force (CBSS): It is not working for Air Force this year. ND should roll.

7:00:

• California-Los Angeles @ Oregon (ESPN): UCLA is a fine football team this year. Very fine! But Oregon is… well… they’re pretty good.
• South Carolina @ Missouri (ESPN2): I’m not sure what I’m having a harder time coming to grips with: how mediocre South Carolina apparently is or how good Missouri apparently is. Is this the game Mizzou fans are waiting for, that is, the game when the other shoe drops? I don’t think so, but even if it is, they’re still two games ahead in the loss column in the SEC East and the schedule lightens up after this until the very last weekend of the season.
• Baylor @ Kansas (ESPNU): Kansas averages 18.3 points per game. Baylor averages 16.2. Per quarter. The real season starts for the Bears next week against the Sooners.

7:30:

• Texas @ Texas Christian (FS1): TCU’s defense is looking to bring Texas back to the grim reality of this season, but will Texas’s mediocre offense oblige? And will TCU’s mediocre offense score enough points to matter? I’m going with TCU but I’m not very comfortable with it.
• Florida Atlantic @ Auburn (SEC/FSN): Auburn.

8:00:

• Pennsylvania State @ Ohio State (ABC): Ohio State has yet to defeat a Big Ten foe by more than 10 points this season. They should be able to against Penn State, but then again, you probably would’ve said the same about Iowa or Northwestern.
• Arizona @ Colorado (Pac12): Colorado just isn’t very good.

10:30:

• Stanford @ Oregon State (ESPN): It’s still hard for me to shake the fact that the Beavers’ lone loss came against Eastern Washington, but then again, one could argue that the next five games will tell us a hell of a lot more about them than the first seven. I’m going with the Cardinal here.
• Fresno State @ San Diego State (ESPN2): Fresno State so far this season has had little trouble with their Mountain West foes, a pattern that should continue here.

11:00: California @ Washington (FS1): Washington should be able to right the ship against the worst scoring defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Seriously, this could get ugly.

Okay, this time I’ll really debut the bowl predictions after today’s games. (I thought the BCS was coming out last week.)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Texas Christian @ Oklahoma State (FOX): I’ll take the team with close losses to the likes of LSU and Oklahoma rather than the one with the blowout loss to West Virginia, thank you.
• Georgia @ Vanderbilt (CBS): Oh hey a game featuring the last two teams Mizzou beat. Anyway, it looks like tough sledding for Vandy here on out, with probable losses here, to TAMU, and then to Florida. They have the last 3 weeks of the season to get to 6-6, I’d say.
• South Carolina @ Tennessee (ESPN): Hatin’ Ass Spurrier is hilarious, and also, real.
  

  Spurrier: “Will be the 14th time I’ve coached in Neyland Stadium. … I’ve coached there more than some of their head coaches.”
  — Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) October 17, 2013

  The following is a series of RTs from @sgw94. They are another real chapter in H.A.S. Enjoy.
  — edsbs (@edsbs) October 18, 2013

  Week after we played the Gators my senior year their QB Wueffel made a tackle after an int or fumble. Spurrier said he had just as many
  — Stephen White (@sgw94) October 17, 2013

  Tackles as I did against them. He was wrong (I got a sack caused fumble btw) and I have NO idea why i was on his mind but it still pissed
  — Stephen White (@sgw94) October 17, 2013

  Me off
  — Stephen White (@sgw94) October 17, 2013

  That dude is surgical with his barbs
  — Stephen White (@sgw94) October 17, 2013

  I like South Carolina in this one.

• Minnesota @ Northwestern (ESPN2): Northwestern is now in the easier part of their schedule, after going 0-2 against two teams you’d reasonably expect them to. Minnesota, meanwhile, has blowout losses to Iowa and Michigan.
• Texas Tech @ West Virginia (FS1): Is Tech Tech for real? I’m still not sure, but that doesn’t affect my opinion of their chances against WVU.
• Navy @ Toledo (ESPNEWS): Holy Toledo, Navy isn’t very good this year.
• Connecticut @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): There is not a joke about the start of basketball season here. None at all. Cincy rolls.
• Southern Mississippi @ East Carolina (FSN): I have a suspicion that we’re about to see a mid-major school have a 3rd coach in three years where none of the coaches left for a better job. How often does that happen?
• Purdue @ Michigan State (BTN): EDSBS compared the Michigan State offense to the Battle of Ypres, which were a series World War I trench warfare affairs. Sounds about right. Sparty goes over the top and gets the win, but only at great cost.
• Florida @ Missouri (SEC): Yeah, that’s right, two teams with a combined 10-2 record are on at noon on syndication. Of course, one of them lost their starting quarterback last week, and Florida’s gone through like 50 QBs at this point, I think. I still like the Gators here.

12:30: Syracuse @ Georgia Tech (ACC): What is there to say at this point? Arguably, our 3-3 record is correct: we have to beat every team we should’ve but lost to every team we should’ve lost to. So where do you go from there, when staring down the barrel of needing 3 wins from your next 5 FBS games? Oh, and two of those games are against our biggest rivals.
The problems for GT right now are many. The first are awful, slow starts in the first half by the defense. Then there’s the backbreaking turnovers, plus the inability to capitalize on our own mistakes. It’s cool that we have a kicker with a cannon of a leg now, but I liked it when we tried to score touchdowns at almost any cost. Then there’s almost anything relating to the offense. Mistakes in the line, mistakes by the skill players, mistakes by both. Perhaps nothing summed up this season more than the reverse we ran against BYU last week. It was called at the perfect time of the game in the perfect situation – BYU had been overflowing to the playside, which make them perfectly vulnerable. The play would’ve resulted in a touchdown except one of the WRs couldn’t make his block. Perhaps the other problem is that while I think we all still have reasons to be excited about our young quarterbacks, they are still young.
I haven’t seen a single Syracuse game this season, so I have no idea what to really write about them. They beat NC State last week for their best of the season so far. They otherwise seem pretty average, but their record is also 3-3, so I guess that makes sense. We’ll see what happens.

3:30:

• Auburn @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (CBS): So it turns out that TAMU’s defense is probably kind of bad? Nonetheless, the offense is so spectacular they can just keep outscoring the Auburns of the world.
• California-Los Angeles @ Stanford (ABC/ESPN2): 5-0. #9 in the country. Why, then, does my brain keep telling me Stanford is going to win this one? I’m just not buying what the Bruins are selling for some reason.
• Iowa @ Ohio State (ABC/ESPN2): Iowa has only scored more points in a single game than Ohio State averages per game only once this season. This one might be a little rough.
• Oklahoma @ Kansas (ESPN): I’m glad I’m not a Kansas fan right now. I mean, when it comes to football, that’s generally true, but in a “vent our frustrations” sort of game like this, I’m really glad.
• Brigham Young @ Houston (ESPNEWS): BYU is easily the best team Houston has played this year, which I think will result in their first loss.
• Maryland @ Wake Forest (ESPNU): How many more times this year am I going to have to go with “this isn’t one of those good Wake Forest teams”? Of course, they did win last week (like it says at top, “all predictions wrong”) but still, not seeing how they beat Maryland.
• North Texas @ Louisiana Tech (CBSS): A cursory examination reveals that one of these teams is slightly less awful than the other, so going with UNT.
• Indiana @ Michigan (BTN): Just take what I said about Kansas and Oklahoma up there and replace Kansas with Indiana and Oklahoma with Michigan.
• Duke @ Virginia (ACC/FSN): UVA’s offense is a disaster right now, which means Duke has a very good chance to eke out a win here. The way their schedule is shaping up, do I even dare suggest we could see a 7-5 Duke by season’s end?

6:00: Washington @ Arizona State (Pac12): Washington’s back to playing teams on its level game, and I think they’ll be able to even up their Pac-12 record in Tempe.

7:00:

• Arkansas @ Alabama (ESPN): Since giving up 42 points to TAMU, Alabama has given up 15 points in 4 games. The absurdity should continue here.
• Louisiana State @ Mississippi (ESPN2): Ole Miss does not appear to be great at scoring points or not letting people score points. This is bad when playing superior opponents like the LSUs of the world. I mean, it wasn’t great against the TAMUs of the world, but at this point the Aggies’s defense can officially be considered “suspect”. LSU’s is not.
• Iowa State @ Baylor (ESPNU): The Cyclones have the nation’s 87th ranked scoring defense. I don’t know what the over/under is on this game, but I’d probably take the over.

7:30: Southern California @ Notre Dame (NBC): DACOACHO GONNA GO TODA SOUTHA BEND ANDA GONNA SEEAH THA DOME. FOOTBAW. (Also, probably a USC loss.) (I really hope Orgeron gets another head coaching gig after this though.)

8:00:

• Florida State @ Clemson (ABC): I have Clemson in this one. Why? For starters, they’ve already played and beaten a good team (Georgia) and dominated most of their opponents. Yes, FSU blew out Maryland, but come on, they’re Maryland. Also it is at night, at home, and in this battle of young, excellent QBs only of them is going to have the crowd behind him.
• Nevada @ Boise State (CBSS): I made a face when I saw that Boise has the 17th ranked scoring offense to the Wolfpack’s 118th ranked scoring defense. That’s, uh, that’s not real good.
• Wisconsin @ Illinois (BTN): Wisconsin continues their rampage against Illinois based teams here.

10:00:

• Washington State @ Oregon (FS1): We all expected Oregon to score points, yeah. I’m not sure I saw the 13.8 points per game of their opponents coming. Wazzou is better this year, but not that much better.
• Utah @ Arizona (Pac12): I’m favoring Utah in a Pac-12 game against a team that isn’t Colorado and I’m not sure how that makes me feel.

10:30: Oregon State @ California (ESPN2): The nation’s best passing offense goes against the nation’s worst passing and scoring defense. Sure, Cal is 5th in passing as well, but their defense is so bad it doesn’t really matter.