There’s only one FBS game this weekend, so as usual this also doubles as my yearly foray into the FCS playoffs.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday
8:00: Sam Houston State @ Montana State (ESPN2): It will be below freezing in Bozeman tonight with a 90% chance of snow. That’s reason enough to watch this if you ask me, though Montana State doesn’t quite have the same appeal as Montana does in terms of “played in what appears to be some sort of post-apocalyptic hellscape with a football stadium in it”.

Saturday
Noon: Georgia Southern @ Old Dominion (ESPN): The reason to watch this is, of course, Georgia Southern’s Paul Johnson-style option attack.

1:00: Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Jackson State (SWAC Championship @ Birmingham, AL; ESPNU): APB already played Jackson State back in October and won 34-24. I’ll say it again: the SWAC only has 10 teams and they already play a 9 game conference schedule. What’s the point of this again?

3:00: Army vs. Navy (@Philadelpha, PA; CBS): Army’s win over Boston College says more about BC than it does Army, and their win over Air Force that makes this game the deciding game for the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy really came out of nowhere. Those are the only two wins for the Black Knights this year. Also, I hope you like running, because both of these teams are in the top 10 in rushing yards and the bottom 4 in passing. Fortunately, I do, so that’s why I’ll be watching this one anyway. Given their track records this year, though, it is pretty much impossible to pick Army to winthis.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Michigan @ Ohio State (ABC): Ohio State has, eventually, dispensed with every Big Ten challenger in their way. I’ve said it all year, but there really ought to be a Terry Bowden Trophy for teams on probation that go undefeated, because I think the Buckeyes would get it if it existed.
• Tulsa @ Southern Methodist (FX): SMU had glimpses of a promising season several times this year, but it looks as though the dream will die against the Golden Hurricane.
• Georgia Tech @ Georgia (ESPN): To Hell With Georgia.
• Rutgers @ Pittsburgh (ESPN2): I agree with most of the snarky tweets from Friday that lament the loss of the Backyard Brawl. Rutgers should win, I guess?
• Virginia @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): It’s almost unbelievable that VPI needs to win this game to go 6-6. And they should win, but UVA has been feisty a few times this year.
• Alabama-Birmingham @ Central Florida (FSN): It’s funny that UCF is basically doing the opposite of what Miami did. Instead of trying appease the NCAA, it’s like George O’Leary just said “eff it” and go for a bowl game and conference title. Well, UAB almost certainly isn’t going to stop them.
• Illinois @ Northwestern (BTN): Illinois is a lot like Cal in several ways. One of the first ways that comes to mind for me is that in academic circles Illinois usually UIUC and Cal is usually just Berkeley. They also have in common that they’ve fallen behind an in-state, also notable private school rival.
• Kentucky @ Tennessee (SEC): I’m not sure I would’ve guessed that Joker Philips would be the coach still on the sideline for this one, even if this is his last game. Either way, Tennessee should win, but that’s not something that’s gone well for them this year.
• Miami @ Duke (ACC): Miami should win, but well, I’ve been wrong before.

2:30: Baylor vs. Texas Tech (@Arlington, TX; FOX): Baylor had an Earth-shattering upset of K-State last weekend, but nonetheless they need to beat either TTU or Oklahoma State to get to 6 wins. I like their chances for that with Texas Tech better than with Oklahoma State.

3:00:

• Oregon @ Oregon State (Pac-12): This game will not be available for many of you, which is just a crime really. This game should be good viewing. I think Oregon will still win but the Civil War is always good viewing, regardless how the season is going for either.
• Maryland @ North Carolina (ACC): Well, UNC should win. Given your other options I can’t really recommend that you watch this.

3:30:

• Auburn @ Alabama (CBS): Well, unless, as I said in my bowl predictions, Gene Chizik is preparing to unleash the greatest practical joke in the history of the state of Alabama, this one is in the bag for the Tide.
• Florida @ Florida State (ABC): Well, this won’t be appointment viewing probably, but it will be important. FSU needs this win badly to even be in consideration in the national title discussion. I actually like their chances, really. Florida basically stopped playing offense about two months ago, relying entirely in defense and special teams to general any semblance of offensive output. FSU, meanwhile, can actually move the ball and I think that will be the difference in this game.
• Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma (ESPN): Offense will not be the issue in this one. Instead, it’s OU with the advantage, in the sense they’re one of the few Big 12 teams that bothers to play any defense at all.
• Wisconsin @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN2): I think Wisconsin can beat Penn State, which would at least give the Big Ten the ability to say teams on probation didn’t finish #1 and #2 in the Leaders. (Still had to look that up by the way.)
• Vanderbilt @ Wake Forest (ESPNU): I just don’t see how Wake can beat this edition of the Commdores.
• Tulane @ Houston (FSN): Having the 100th ranked scoring offense and 118th ranked scoring defense is not a recipe for success, which explains why the Green Wave are not having any.
• Michigan State @ Minnesota (BTN): Well, there are some other traditional Big Ten games left, thankfully. Anyway, I like Sparty’s chances.

6:30: Stanford @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): Why watch this now when you can watch the same game from Palo Alto next weekend?

7:00:

• Missouri @ Texas Agricultural and Mechanical (ESPN2): TAMU should win this one pretty easily, and it could well clinch a Heisman for Johnny Football.
• Mississippi State @ Mississippi (ESPNU): It’s hard to see how Ole Miss will keep up with their rivals offensively. I think the Bulldogs can get this one.

7:15: South Carolina @ Clemson (ESPN): I’ve been going back and forth on this one all week. Clemson, really, has been tested only once all year (against FSU) and they failed. South Carolina had a brutal October, and while they got the win over UGA, they then lost to LSU and Florida, thus playing themselves out of the SEC East race. So really, it’s hard to say. Clemson does have all their offensive weapons, which has generally led me to favor them over the at-times piecemeal Gamecock attack (especially minus Marcus Lattimore). That said, the Gamecocks still have an excellent defensive line, so I consider this one basically even. Still leaning slightly for the Tigers though.

8:00: Notre Dame @ Southern California (ABC): After USC’s performance against UCLA last weekend, it’s hard to really see how they will be able to do anything against Notre Dame’s defense. I think this one will mostly come down to whether the Domers are able to handle the enormous presure and expectations. On the flip side, it may help them that USC will almost has to be reminded that back in August they were the ones supposed to be going into this game playing for a national title, not ND, thus reminding the Trojans how everything in this season has gone wrong.

10:30: Louisiana Tech @ San Jose State (ESPN2): Ah, a nice WACtion nightcap. Not many more of these! I like LaTech here.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day, and may your team of choice win on this day. Unless you’re a Georgia fan.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Iowa @ Michigan (ESPN): Where have you gone, Denard Robinson? / Wolverine nation turns its lonely eyes to you  Okay perhaps not quite yet, but regardless if the former wunderkind plays today or not Michigan should win.
• Northwestern @ Michigan State (ESPN2): Picking Northwestern to win Big Ten games feels so wrong, yet so far this year it’s been almost mostly right.
• Florida State @ Maryland (ESPNU): FSU should be able to name their score in this one.
• Central Florida @ Tulsa (FSN): This might be the best game of the bunch. What to expect? Points, and lots of ’em. That said, I expect a rematch between these two in a couple of weeks, so this one is probably for home field advantage in that game. I’m expecting the rematch to be in Orlando.
• Temple @ Army (CBSS): Temple, probably.
• Indiana @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Penn State, almost certainly.
• Arkansas @ Mississippi State (SEC): Miss State just lost the three games on its schedule it was supposed to lose. Now the question is if they can get back on the horse and see things out to 9-3.

12:30: Virginia Tech @ Boston College (ACC): Virginia Tech’s offense is bad, but fortunately for them they’re facing one of the few that is even more inept.

1:30: Washington @ Colorado (FX): The only thing worse than Colorado’s offense is their defense. Serious: they score 17.6 per game (118th in the nation) while their opponents score 47.2 (124th in the nation, aka, dead last). Yeah, I think the Huskies have this one.

3:00:

• Southern California @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): As pointed out elsewhere, UCLA won’t be lame ducking their way into the Pac-12 title game this year, but that said, I don’t think they’ll get there at all because I think USC will win this one. Maybe I’m just not looking closely enough, but still, I like the Trojans here.
• South Florida @ Miami (ACC): Virginia sure isn’t very good, but that was probably a fluke. The Hurricanes should prevail once again over USF, if for no other reason than because unlike USF, Miami actually is in any area one might reasonably call “south Florida”.

3:30:

• Mississippi @ Louisiana State (CBS): Well, this result will probably be less embarrassing than last year’s 59-3 “kneel down with 8 minutes to go” debacle, but not by much.
• Wake Forest @ Notre Dame (NBC): Despite their numbers, Wake is still 5-5, which may cause some to say that they’re not awful. The thing is, they certainly aren’t very good, and it’s hard to see how the nation’s 109th ranked scoring offense is going to do anything against its best defense. Oh sure, the Demon Deacons could catch a few lucky breaks, but that’s their only hope.
• Ohio State @ Wisconsin (ABC/ESPN2): So Wisky already has the Big Ten (checks divisions again because they still make no sense) Leaders division in the bag, while Ohio State still has the diluted goal of an undefeated season. (Still think there should be a “Terry Bowden Trophy” for this situation.) Anyway, the point is, the Buckeyes are probably going to win.
• North Carolina State @ Clemson (ABC/ESPN2): This the last chance for Clemson to pull a Clemson this year. Doing so would probably actually cause more chaos in the BCS than Alabama’s loss did last weekend. That said, it wouldn’t be much of a Clemson-ing if one could actually predict them, so therefore I have to take the Tigers.
• Duke @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): Not sure what to write about this one. I think of Duke’s competent passing attack and think of our shambolic defense. I see Sean Renfree (one-time GT commit, though given his abilities I’d say he made the right decision after Chan got fired) doing his best Matt Ryan impersonation, bombing above and behind our beleaguered secondary. Both of these defense give up more than 30 points per game. GT is slightly better on offense, though that’s certainly been spotty at times.
  Simultaneously the most entertaining and maddening thing about college football is its unpredictability. Duke should not be in a position to play for the ACC title. Neither should Georgia Tech. The difference, though, is one of these teams is happy with a potential 6-6 record, the other should not be, having recorded at least one utterly inexcusable loss. If the win over UNC last week was an upset, then it was certainly a narrow one – Tech has beaten no other opponents this year against which we have been not been favorites. So we haven’t pulled off the upset, and we’ve been victims to multiple ones.
  I guess I’m just rambling (no pun intended) at this point. Anyway, there’s a pretty good reason why I always say “all predictions wrong” because I suspect that more often than not I am. And even though I have to for the bowl predictions, I hate making predictions involving my own team. All I can do is watch and hope.
• Colorado State @ Boise State (NBCS): In yet another edition of “awful offense” against “really good defense”, Boise should win in a landslide.
• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State (FSN): Overtime against arguably one of the worst teams in major college football does not do much to inspire confidence in me, Texas Tech. Also I still have this probably irrational respect for Oklahoma State. I say that because I’m pretty sure I haven’t actually seen them play this year. But hey, it makes sense. I think.
• Texas State @ Navy (CBSS): Thanks to their special exemption, Army and Navy get to play a week after the actual end of the season, meaning after this Midshipmen don’t have another game for two weeks. They should head into their double-bye with a win.
• Minnesota @ Nebraska (BTN): Minnesota is most of the way through my prediction of them going 2-6 in the Big Ten and making a bowl game. Don’t let me down, Gophers!

7:00:

• Oklahoma @ West Virginia (FOX): Oh sure, WVU might score 40, but their defense is so awful the Sooners could well score 80.
• Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (ESPN2): I think I predicted Vandy to beat Tennessee last year as well, and as I recall, they probably should have. They should again this year, but as stated often around these parts, that doesn’t mean much.
• Syracuse @ Missouri (ESPNU): With Texas A&M on the docket for next weekend, this is their last, best hope for a bowl game. I’ve been predicting all year in the bowl predictions they won’t make it, so may as well stick to my guns.
• Iowa State @ Kansas (FSN): It’s difficult to overstate how awful the Jayhawks are this year, so let me just say it again: Kansas is awful. Fortunately for everyone there, basketball season has started, so there will only be a few curious and/or brave souls to see that they lost to Iowa State.

8:00:

• Stanford @ Oregon (ABC): Game of the day right here. I know everyone’s probably saying that but that doesn’t make it any less true. That said, it’s only the Cardinal’s decent defense up against the onslaught that is the Oregon offense. If you read one article about college football this week that isn’t this one, it should be Chris Bown’s article about the Oregon offense. (Really, you should be reading lots of other article about college football in a given week because this one isn’t very good.) A lot of people think that Chip Kelly will go to the NFL if he wins a national title. I really hope he gets the chance to kick the NFL into the 21st century. Oh, the league is gradually evolving, but Kelly would jump the league right into the deep end. (Probably the key takeaway from the article for me was the point about Kelly’s quarterbacks: they actually don’t run that much, negating one the usual cracks on run-based college offenses in the NFL. Also I still think even the Urban Meyer spread offense could work in the NFL, because it certainly couldn’t be any worse than every attempt I’ve ever seen at running the speed option in a NFL Game. I just tear my hair out going “the pitch angle is all wrong, it’s like they’re just doing this for the hell of it!”) Anyway, as for this game, I think Stanford isn’t going to be a wet piece of toilet paper, but Oregon should still win by at least 2 scores.
• Kansas State @ Baylor (ESPN): One might be tempted to be worried about Baylor’s offense against Kansas State, but then you remember they’ve already beaten several teams as good or better on offense than the Bears this year. And then you also see that K-State is 14th overall in offense, and their ability to measure out drives means that they can make time of possession meaningful. It’s difficult to score if you don’t have the ball, which I think is a predicament the Bears will find themselves in.
• Texas-El Paso @ Southern Mississippi (CBSS): Reminder: Southern Miss won 12 games last year. One of these days I’ll remember too look up if anyone has ever had a 12 game swing from year-to-year, because USM is probably on their way.

10:00: Arizona @ Utah (ESPNU): They’re finding their feet, but the Utes are still a little out-of-place in the Pac-12. Arizona should be able to handle them.

10:30: Brigham Young @ San Jose State (ESPN2): Well, you can’t have MACtion on a Saturday night, but you can certainly have WACtion. Okay that was bad, I’m sorry. Anyway, this one should be pretty interesting, but nonetheless I think BYU is a little better and will come away with the win.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Arkansas @ South Carolina (CBS): It’s difficult to come up with a reason why Arkansas has any sort of chance in this game, the lack of Marcus Lattimore notwithstanding.
• Miami @ Virginia (ABC): Virginia is actually a slight favorite at home. Uh, what? I’m tempted almost to say “‘Canes roll” but I guess we’ll find out.
• Louisville @ Syracuse (ABC): Louisville has only three games remaining. Three chances for the Big East to preserve some shred of dignity. Can they pull it off? Well, it’s the Big east so it’s hard to say, but you have to like their chances against the Orange.
• Northwestern @ Michigan (ESPN): I have Michigan here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Widlcats win.
• Wisconsin @ Indiana (ESPN2): The Big Ten is also hoping to preserve some dignity and is probably desperately rooting for a Wisconsin victory.
• Army @ Rutgers (ESPNU): Rutgers hasn’t played since losing to Kent State. In the meantime, Army got its second win, and by far its best, over Air Force last weekend. Rutgers should still win handily, but hey, they should’ve easily beat Kent State too.
• Kansas @ Texas Tech (FSN): KU is just awful this year.
• Purdue @ Iowa (BTN): Purdue began Big Ten play on October 6, and has lost every game since. Both teams sport mediocre offenses, so if the Boilermakers keep this low scoring they have a chance, but otherwise Iowa has a slight edge.
• Louisiana-Lafayette @ Florida (SEC): I guess this is homecoming for the Gators?
• Missouri @ Tennessee (SEC): Tennessee beat Troy last week. This ordinarily wouldn’t be remarkable, except the game was a 55-48 shootout. However, the Volunteers are slightly more competent on offense than the Tigers are, so I’ll give them a slight edge.

12:30: Georgia Tech @ North Carolina (ACC): Our defense has looked better so far, yes, but the teams we have played have been awful on offense. The only team that was even mediocre, BYU, ended up blowing us out. Carolina sports an all-conference running back in Giovani Bernard and a competent passer in Bryn Renner. They also have a pretty good defense. Both teams are playing for something – Tech to preserve our bowl streak and Carolina to show that the sanctions aren’t getting them down. We’ll see which is the more powerful in Chapel Hill.

1:30: Colorado @ Arizona (FX): Colorado is, like, so bad you guys.

3:00:

• Oregon State @ Stanford (FOX): This is a pretty pivotal Pac-12 matchup. Both teams have yet to play the frontrunner (Oregon), so in order to have any shot in the Pac-12 North they need to win this game. It’s actually difficult to get a read on these teams. Stanford has two losses, Notre Dame and Washington. Oregon State has only one, also to Washington. Both are sort of bizarro Pac-12 teams this year, sporting good defensive numbers but mediocre offensive ones. I actually took a break here because I’m legitimately stumped by who is going to win this. I’m going to roll with the Beavers and maintain a watch on my local In-n-Out, which is also the closest one to Stanford.
• Wake Forest @ North Carolina State (ACC): NC State shouldn’t lose this game, but they also probably shouldn’t have lost 33-6 to Virginia either. Regardless, by all rights the Wolfpack should win.

3:30:

• Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Alabama (CBS): Helpfully, TAMU has already played two defenses that are almost as good as Alabama’s: Florida’s and LSU’s. TAMU failed to break 20 points in either contest and lost both of them. I would guess the same will happen here.
• Pennsylvania State @ Nebraska (ABC/ESPN2): Nebraska should almost certainly win here, but then again everyone thought Penn State was going to lose 10 games this year too. There’s not a lot of certainty in the Big Ten this year, that’s for sure.
• West Virginia @ Oklahoma State (ABC/ESPN2): I hope you like points! That said, OSU’s defense is a lot less awful than WVU’s, which is also why WVU has lost three straight games and likely going on four.
• Maryland @ Clemson (ESNPU): A lot of folks are, like me, projecting Clemson into the BCS this year. Which probably means the time is ripe for a Clemson’ing. That said, pretty much every player on Maryland’s team has torn their ACL at this point and having watched last weekend’s grisly affair the Terrapins should stand absolutely no chance in hell in this one.
• Air Force @ San Diego State (NBCS): San Diego State’s upset of Boise last weekend not only punted Boise out of the BCS but also put SDSU right into the thick of the MWC title chase. Air Force lost to Army last weekend. I think I like the Aztecs here.
• Baylor @ Oklahoma (FSN): Again, I hope you like points! That said, the Sooners actually kinda sorta play a little (okay, well, a lot) of defense. Baylor may be able to keep up in the first half but will probably fade in the second.
• Minnesota @ Illinois (BTN): Minnesota can secure a bowl bid with a win, thus likely achieving the rare feat of going 2-6 in one’s conference and still making a bowl game.

5:00: Tulsa @ Houston (CBSS): I hope you like points, part three! That said, Houston has basically no defense. It may be fun for awhile, but once again the team from Oklahoma should prevail over the one from Texas.

7:00:

• Kansas State @ Texas Christian (FOX): Well, no one will doubt Gary Patterson’s cajones a this point, after deciding to go for two early in the overtime game against WVU. That said, that won’t be enough against Bill Synder’s particular brand of clock-killing wizardry, Collen Klein or no.
• Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (ESPN): Hey Bulldog(s), remember that time you started 7-0? And then you gave up 38 points to both Alabama and TAMU? Yeah, I’m not expecting much better here, but hey you’ll be favored against the last two teams on your schedule.
• Georgia @ Auburn (ESPN2): Are there any prop bets on which quarter of the game Gene Chizik will get fired in? I’m only partially kidding here.
• Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (ESPNU): Neither of these teams really play offense in any meaningful way, but Vandy does usually play defense against teams that aren’t obviously superior to them. Ole Miss is not Georgia or Florida, so the Commodores have a real good shot at winning this and securing a bowl bid for the second consecutive year. (And as I noted in the bowl games column last weekend, Vandy has never gone to a bowl game in back-to-back years.)
• Boise State @ Hawaii (NBCS): Hawaii used to at least fling the ball around and put up a ton of points. Now they don’t even do that. The Broncos should bounce back with this one.
• Southern Mississippi @ Southern Methodist (FSN): I’m not even going to look up SMU because USM is so awful this year. What the hell is happening down in Hattiesburg?

8:00: Notre Dame @ Boston College (ABC): You might be tempted to say, “hey, so ND went to overtime last weekend against a Pitt team that just got blown out by UConn”. And that is a thing you could say. But trust me on this: BC is a lot more awful than Pitt is, and by a pretty good margin.

10:15: Idaho @ Brigham Young (ESPNU): I just can’t help but feel bad for Idaho. I’ve always thought they were a quirky little team. They play in the KIBBIE DOME, for goodness sake! And yet, they will be adrift, a team without a conference, a rival who refuses to play them, and a non-trivial number of folks who think they should just give up on this FBS thing. And they are just plum bad this year: 123rd in scoring offense and 121st in scoring defense. BYU will almost certainly blow them out.

10:30:

• Oregon @ California (ESPN): So Cal is probably going to be 1-5 (against FBS teams) at home in their newly remodeled stadium after this game. Probably not quite the way they drew it up.
• California-Los Angeles @ Washington State (ESPN2): Multiple commentators have said that Wazzou officials should’ve known there’d be “drama” when they hired Mike Leach. Help me out here: does anyone remember any “drama” with Leach before Craig James untertook a campaign to get him fired at Texas Tech? Because I sure don’t. Anyway, they’ll probably lose this.
• Fresno State @ Nevada (NBCS): Nevada has to have this game to have any shot at the MWC title. I think they’ll give their best but Fresno should pull it out in the end. That said, this is probably the most interesting of the late games. And in how many of those games will it get down to a “pleasant” 16 degrees? Not many outside of this one, I’d wager.