As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Nebraska @ Northwestern (ABC): The forecast for Scott Frost’s first win as Nebraska’s head coach looks cloudy. But hey, how about a distraction?
• Florida @ Vanderbilt (ESPN): I guess Florida is good? Or at least okay? Definitely better than Vandy, though.
• Iowa @ Indiana (ESPN2): There’s a Hooiser fan out there somewhere is mad that Kentucky now has both a good football team and basketball team, while Indiana arguably has neither.
• Minnesota @ Ohio State (FS1): Buckeyes.
• Oklahoma State @ Kansas State (ESPNU): Sooners.
• Tennessee @ Auburn (SEC): Hey, uh, TIgers, um, what are you doing? Everyone’s worried about y’all. The thing you’re supposed to be good at is offense, and you are not good at it this year! I had to momentarily stop to think “hey, wait a second, Tennessee might beat them”. I mean, they probably won’t, but boy howdy that’s where we’re at with Auburn right now.
• Rutgers @ Maryland (BTN): I wonder if at the Big Ten conference offices this is known as the Regret Bowl. Did the conference ultimately benefit at all from adding these teams? I’m sure they did, but still. Anyway, Terps roll.
• Akron @ Buffalo (CBSS): Speaking of MAC teams that have beaten Rutgers by 29 points, Bulls roll.

12:20: Duke @ Georgia Tech (Raycom): Okay, so now we know exactly how bad Louisville is (real bad). We also know how badly Paul Johnson hates traveling defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder (real bad). That said, or defense still looks… well, I won’t say “real bad”, but you get the idea. That said, I just hope we acquit ourselves against the Blue Devils better than we did last year.

12:30: Louisville @ Boston College (ACC/RSN): Boston College might try to see if they can break the 600 yard rushing mark that we couldn’t quite get to last week. (We probably would’ve hit it, except we were down a possession in the fourth quarter due to a 95-yard pick-six.)

2:30: Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (NBC): In case you don’t know, the corner of the Internet I hang out in has been calling Pitt to upset Notre Dame all year. So, here were are. Go Panthers.

3:30:

• Georgia @ Louisiana State (CBS): At least Georgia and Bama will play in the SEC Championship this year.
• Washington @ Oregon (ABC/ESPN2): Hey, Pac-12 you finally got a marquee game on in the daytime! Good job! Oh, wait, nevermind, you’re doing a reverse mirror with two AAC teams. Wonderful, great. At any rate, this should be a cracker of the game, even though I think Washington’s defense will allow it to prevail. But, that said, with it being at Autzen, I kinda wish it was at night, you know?
• Central Florida @ Memphis (ABC/ESPN2): I’m mostly joking above because this should also be a cracker of a game. The rest of the G5 world is sort of waiting for UCF to lose, sort in the same way most of the P5 world is waiting for Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State to lose. In the G5 scenario, it’s a bit more dire because until they lose UCF are massive favorites to return to a New Year’s Day bowl game. So, with that, I expect them to continue to prevail.
• Baylor @ Texas (ESPN): TEXAS IS BACK. Well, okay, maybe. I mean, they’ve beaten Oklahoma before and had it not being particularly indicative of anything, which still seems like the more likely scenario. The real test are games like this, which Texas should win.
• Purdue @ Illinois (FS1): Purdue: who knows? But hey, they’ll beat Illinois.
• Army vs. San Jose State (@Santa Clara, CA; ESPNU): Do you know the way to… the northern reaches of Santa Clara? Yeah, not as catchy as the original, but hey if they wanna play in the Bay Area’s soulless NFL stadium, well, I guess it works just as well as getting blown out by Army in Spartan CEFCU Stadium.
• Texas A&M @ South Carolina (SEC): Texas A&M went out and ruined a good thing (that is, Kentucky’s undefeated season). This game figures to be… really boring, honestly. Neither team is exactly full of offensive savants, and for the second week in a row it figures to pretty damp in Columbia, SC. So, I’m going with the Aggies, I guess?
• Michigan State @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): I actually still do have BTN, but I still just have it in standard definition. Will this be the one time a year I watch it for an extended period? Honestly, I figure no, because I don’t think the Spartans are really that good, whereas Penn State was still a few plays away from being a Top-5 team.
• Temple @ Navy (CBSS): Navy didn’t just lose to Air Force last week, they lost 35-7. That’s… bad. I’m going with Temple here.

7:00:

• Missouri @ Alabama (ESPN): (*distant clap of thunder*) LIGHTNING ROUND! Bama.
• Miami @ Virginia (ESPN2): Miami.
• West Virginia @ Iowa State (FS1): Unless something weird happens ’cause AMES AFTER DARK, WVU all the way.
• Virginia Tech @ North Carolina (ESPNU): VPI.
• Houston @ East Carolina (CBSS): Cougars.
• California-Los Angeles @ California (Pac12): UCLA. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

7:30:

• Wisconsin @ Michigan (ABC): I guess I really should drop of LIGHTNING ROUND (*thunder noises*) for this game, but I mean… there’s not a whole lot of evidence that Wisconsin will be able to beat any of the Big Three Big Ten East teams this year, which is bad because they both have this and Penn State on the road. I mean, geez, you can see this scenario playing out now, right? Some bounces go the wrong way, and suddenly the Badgers have 2 or 3 conference losses and things get dicey. So as to not put too fine a point on this, but Wisconsin really needs to win this game. And honestly, I don’t think they will. (*thunder noises*) LET CHAOS REIGN IN THE BIG TEN WEST (“The Immigrant Song” begins playing out of nowhere)
• Mississippi @ Arkansas (SEC): So, yeah, the Big Ten is the land of gray winter skies, snow, and beer. Add in a good portion of the population being of Scandinavian descent, and you have college football’s most metal conference. The SEC, well, the SEC is a lot of things, but I think most would agree metal isn’t one of them. And this game is about as far from metal as you can get. Anyway, Ole Miss should win this game for the first time since 2013.
• Middle Tennessee State @ Florida International (beIN): MTSU figures to seize control of the CUSA East in this one.

10:15: Hawaii @ Brigham Young (ESPN2): Hey y’all, Hawaii is 6-1 and fun again. You should watch them, they figure to win!

10:30:

• Colorado @ Southern California (FS1): Did you know the Buffs are 5-0? While it’s tough to pick them on the road, USC has, shall we say, vastly underperformed this year, so what the heck, let’s put the Pac-12 South into full chaos mode and go with Colorado here.
• Wyoming @ Fresno State (ESPNU): Yeah, Wyoming’s not good this year.
• Boise State @ Nevada (CBSS): Boise was knocked off their perch with a loss to San Diego State last weekend, but the Aztecs themselves are pretty good. They’re probably out of contention of the New Year’s Six spot, but they should still beat Nevada.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

7:00: Georgia Tech @ Louisville (ESPN): So we’re here to cover the Friday games this weekend as well, where in a down-on-their-luck squad of Yellow Jackets seek to turn their season around. And, well, we could certainly do worse than Louisville, but we’ve been bad on the road as of late and I’m still worried about the defense.

7:30: Middle Tennessee State @ Marshall (CBSS): MTSU is lucky to be 2-2, having been outscored by 45 points through four games. Marshall looks a lot better, and they’re at home.

9:00: Utah State @ Brigham Young (ESPN2): BYU’s upset over Wisconsin will continue to look weird, as they’re probably going to lose to the Aggies here.

Saturday

Noon:

• Maryland @ Michigan (ABC): Maryland and Rutgers’s addition to the Big Ten has been embarrassing to the conference, the former off the field, the latter on it. Not that prior Big Ten members have necessarily looked better, but when the TV money disappears one wonders if they might find themselves chopped off like a gangrenous limb. Taking Michigan here.
• Texas vs. Oklahoma (@Dallas, TX; FOX): The Red River Thing is back, and probably as weird as ever! As though it matters, I’m picking Oklahoma.
• Alabama @ Arkansas (ESPN): Let’s see, when will we finally get a game this season where I have a reason to write something here’s other than “Bama” or “Tide” and also not a meta-commentary on what I write here… Mizzou at home, probably not… at Neyland, hah… ah, here we go, mark your calendars for the next time the Crimson Tide will play a game that has a chance to be interesting: November 3rd at LSU.
• Kansas @ West Virginia (ESPN2): All you need to know about KU football is that they probably won’t win another game for the rest of the season but their two wins are a relative success anyway. (In other words, they should schedule Rutgers more often.)
• Northwestern @ Michigan State (FS1): The Big Ten West is on fire right now, and not in a good way. Going with Sparty here.
• Tulane @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): If The Red River Whatchamacallit gets lopsided, flip over to ESPNU, ’cause this one could be good. However, it could also be a Cincy blowout. Either way, I like the Bearcats.
• East Carolina @ Temple (ESPNEWS): Temple? Yeah, let’s say Temple.
• Missouri @ South Carolina (SEC): If the Gamecocks can score points, they can keep this one close, but I’m going with Mizzou.
• Illinois @ Rutgers (BTN): Suddenly glad I don’t get Big Ten Network anymore. As pointed on the Shutdown Fullcast (the Internet’s only college football podcast!), everything you need to know about how awful Rutgers is that they are five point underdogs. At home. To Illinois.
• Buffalo @ Central Michigan (CBSS): Everything you need to know about how awful Rutgers is, transitive property edition: Buffalo beat Rutgers 42-13 (again, at Rutgers) and then turned around and got Army’d at home. That said, CMU is awful and the Bulls should remain undefeated in the MAC.

12:20: Syracuse @ Pittsburgh (Raycom): Just to ensure that you’re not too confused when the ACC Network finally launches next year, it’s Raycom. Anyway, I’m agreement with College Football Twitter (at least, the version of it I follow): Pitt football is a superweapon that has to charge and can only be fired once per season. Therefore, they will beat Notre Dame and lose to everyone else.

12:30: Boston College @ North Carolina State (ACC/RSN): This is arguably NC State’s biggest test yet (having missed West Virginia due to the hurricane), and while they should test, BC can sneak up on you, in a manner of speaking.

3:30:

• Louisiana State @ Florida (CBS): This is usually the year’s most entertaining 9-6 game, and this one promises not to disappoint. How far along is Florida? Why is LSU ranked fifth? Answers to these questions, and… maybe more! I like LSU, though.
• Florida State @ Miami (ABC): Provided Miami actually does have the FSU thing out of their heads now, this year’s version of the ‘Noles shouldn’t present a lot of trouble for them.
• Clemson @ Wake Forest (ESPN): Yes, of course Clemson has a propensity to suffer one random ACC loss per year, but I don’t think this is going to be it.
• Iowa State @ Oklahoma State (ESPN2): It looks like the bad ol’ days for the Cyclones again.
• Kansas State @ Baylor (FS1): All you need to know about how K-State’s season is going is that, by most metrics, Kansas is better than them. It might really be the beginning of the end for Bill Synder this time.
• San Diego State @ Boise State (ESPNU): This is the best team Boise has played since they went to Stillwater. They still figure to win, but I think the Aztecs will make a game of it.
• Iowa @ Minnesota (BTN): Minnesota looked better this year, but then came a 42-13 faceplant at the hands of Maryland.
• Navy @ Air Force (CBSS): Navy’s having a bit of a down year, but I still like them over Air Force in the first leg of the battle for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.

4:00:

• Indiana @ Ohio State (FOX): Buckeyes.
• Louisiana-Monroe @ Mississippi (SEC): Rebels/Bears/Landsharks.
• Arizona State @ Colorado (Pac12): HERM has shown that he doesn’t understand how college football works (see his recent comments about not understanding that the players are generally in class when they’re not at practice), but despite this the Sun Devils are 3-2. That said, the Buffs this weekend and Stanford next weekend figure to deliver a bracing dose of reality.

5:00: Old Dominion @ Florida Atlantic (Stadium): Owls.

7:00:

• Kentucky @ Texas A&M (ESPN): Is Kentucky… good? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this possibly, but I’d be even less comfortable with picking the Aggies to win.
• Southern Methodist @ Central Florida (ESPNU): LIGHTNING ROUND! UCF.
• Connecticut @ Memphis (CBSS): Memphis.

7:30:

• Washington @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): UDub.
• Auburn @ Mississippi State (ESPN2): So it’s the 10 year anniversary of the (in)famous 3-2 game. I’ve been doing this for a long time, let’s flash back and see what I said about it:
  

  7:00: Auburn @ Mississippi State (ESPN2): I’d say there’s about a 20% chance of Auburn getting Croom’d here. Maybe lower. Nonetheless, Tigers prevail.

  Well, unlike with many of my picks on this site, I was correct. The next week, Miss State played us and scored 5 whole more points and lost badly, and Auburn lost to LSU. However, for a certain segment of the Internet college football populace, that game is known as the Baby I’m Burnin’ Game:
  
  Anyway, Auburn figures to prevail again, and probably score more than 3 points in the process.

• Vanderbilt @ Georgia (SEC): At this point, I’m just fervently hoping the national title game isn’t a rematch.
• Nebraska @ Wisconsin (BTN): I may have already used this joke, but at this point it looks more like Year -1 for Scott Frost at Nebraska.
• North Texas @ Texas-El Paso (beIN): UNT.

8:00: Notre Dame @ Virginia Tech (ABC): When I figure out how I’m supposed to pick VPI to beat anyone after they lost to Old Dominion, I’ll let you know.

9:00: Washington State @ Oregon State (Pac12): Wazzu.

10:00: California @ Arizona (FS1): This figures to be more fun than the late stages of ND-VPI, at least, so maybe get ready to check out the first half. I like the Bears here.

10:30:

• Utah @ Stanford (ESPN): Stanford seems just good enough to give UDub a shot to play Auburn again in the first round of the playoff.
• Fresno State @ Nevada (ESPNU): Fresno.
• Colorado State @ San Jose State (CBSS): Yeah, maybe stick to the Pac-12 games on this night. I like the Rams.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Notre Dame @ Wake Forest (ABC): Week 4 is pretty thin. Between that and a headache, I may be going through these even more “lightning round” style than usual. So, with that said, I don’t have a bead on either of these teams, which means I’m going with Notre Dame.
• Georgia @ Missouri (ESPN): Mizzou is off to a great 3-0 start, but… yeah.
• Boston College @ Purdue (ESPN2): Purdue has just flat looked bad this year. This looks way easier for the Eagles than it did even a few weeks ago.
• Nebraska @ Michigan (FS1): The Huskers are 0-2 and coming off a loss at home to Troy. Not what you really want going into a game in Ann Arbor, suffice it to say.
• Ohio @ Cincinnati (ESPNU): Don’t look, but the Bearcats are 3-0 and should be 4-0 after this.
• Akron @ Iowa State (FSN): Can Akron make it two P5 wins? How lucky will Nebraska look if they do beat Iowa State? We say, sure, I believe the Zips can do it.
• Navy @ Southern Methodist (ESPNEWS): Navy.
• Kent State @ Mississippi (SEC): Ole Miss?
• Minnesota @ Maryland (BTN): Outside of Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State predicting anything in the Big Ten is just fraught with issues. Maryland looked pretty good, and then they got owned by Temple.
• Buffalo @ Rutgers (BTN): Buffalo? Buffalo.
• Nevada @ Toledo (CBSS): Still really too dang early for any of this, but here’s some mid-day MACtion for you. You don’t just walk in to the Glass Bowl, etc., etc.

12:20: Pittsburgh @ North Carolina (ACC): Pitt.

12:30: Louisville @ Virginia (ACC/RSN): Virginia looks, uh, somewhat competent this year? Going to take the Cavs.

3:30:

• Clemson @ Georgia Tech (ABC): Just when I’d resigned myself to “well, at least the offense still works” we went and did… whatever that was against Pitt. Now we just have to play one of the three best teams in the country, the strength of which is their defensive line where the entire two deep will probably play in the NFL. Yeah, that’s cool…
• Texas A&M @ Alabama (CBS): Well, they played Clemson better than anyone expected and got a Top 25 ranking out of it. Hope you enjoyed your stay, Aggies!
• Kansas State @ West Virginia (ESPN): K-State, oy.
• Florida International @ Miami (ESPN2): Canes.
• Northern Illinois @ Florida State (ESPNU): I am straight up calling NIU in this one. FSU will probably still win but they look like a tire fire.
• Kansas @ Baylor (FS1): What Kansas did to Rutgers… how does that make you feel if you’re Rutgers? You just got waxed by the one of the few other P5 teams you could reliably say, “well, we’re at least we’re not Kansas”. Anyway, this game. Baylor.
• Tulane @ Ohio State (BTN): Let us all collectively cringe as the Urban Meyer Redemption Tour gets underway. Buckeyes roll.
• Virginia Tech @ Old Dominion (CBSS): VPI.

4:00:

• Connecticut @ Syracuse (ESPNEWS): ‘Cuse.
• South Carolina @ Vanderbilt (SEC): This battle for, uh, the third best team in the SEC East? Yeah, let’s go with that. I like the Gamecocks.
• Arizona @ Oregon State (Pac12): Arizona still somehow has no idea what to do with a dark horse Heisman candidate, which means I’m going with the Beavers.

4:30: Texas Christian @ Texas (FOX): Is Texas back? Well, no, they still lost to Maryland in the opener. But they dismantled USC, which is a sign of progress. Will they regress against TCU? Probably not, but I still think they’ll lose.

7:00:

• Florida @ Tennessee (ESPN): …Gators? I have no idea why, though.
• Mississippi State @ Kentucky (ESPN2): Fresh off getting a 30+ year old monkey off their back, they just to face the probably fourth best team in the SEC. It’s all good, though. Well, unless you’re a Kentucky fan, in which case the path back to (football) irrelevance looks very much in your future.
• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Pokes.
• Louisiana Tech @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): Tigers.
• North Carolina State @ Marshall (CBSS): Wolfpack.

7:30:

• Arkansas @ Auburn (SEC): This could get ugly. Arkansas is fresh off losses to Colorado State and North Texas. They may be mad, sure. But Auburn is, uh, madder. Yeah, let’s go with that.
• Michigan State @ Indiana (BTN): Is this finally the year Indiana is kinda good? I mean, they’ll probably go to 3-1 after this, but still/

8:00:

• Stanford @ Oregon (ABC): Hey, something to look forward to! Stanford is 3-0 with wins over a feisty San Diego State team and USC. Oregon is 3-0 with wins over… look it’s not important, they’re 3-0! But yeah, the Cardinal remain the other contender (along with Washington) from the Pac-12 North until further notice.
• East Carolina @ South Florida (ESPNEWS): USF.

8:30: Wisconsin @ Iowa (FOX): Still trying to figure out how Wisconsin lost to BYU. I wish I had seen, like, any of that game. I’m still completely baffled, and in shock, so I’m sticking with the Badgers on the road.

10:15: Air Force @ Utah State (ESPN2): We don’t know anything about these teams, so I’m taking the Aggies.

10:30:

• Arizona State @ Washington (ESPN): Washington, as the other contender from the Pac-12 North (other than Stanford), will remain my pick until further notice.
• Eastern Michigan @ San Diego State (CBSS): Aztecs.