As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday

6:30: Florida Atlantic @ Southern Mississippi (CBSS): FAU’s put a pretty good season together for themselves at 5-2. Southern Miss will probably just be happy to get it over with, so I’ll take the Owls.

7:00: Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech (ACC/RSN): Well, this team continues to play hard and at least get better on offense. Pitt’s defense will present a stiffer challenge than the past couple of defenses we’ve played, so it’ll be interesting to see if that progress continues.

Friday

6:00: Texas-El Paso @ North Texas (espn3.com)

7:00: Arizona State @ Arizona (“Duel in the Desert”; ESPN): Provided they’re played, this weekend could well feel more like Rivalry Week than Rivalry Week was. At a combined 0-6, this contest for the Territorial Cup figures to be about the whole season for these two schools. Neither is especially good, but the Sun Devils are less bad, so I’ll go with them.

10:00: Nevada vs. San Jose State (@Las Vegas, NV; CBSS): You may see San Jose State and scoff, but you shouldn’t – these west coast Spartans are 5-0 and beat the team Nevada lost to (Hawaii). This figures to be a fun, close game. I’ll take the Spartans.

Well, I gave the bowl predictions a shot, but given that no one really has any idea what’s going on and games are being canceled/moved constantly, it’s extremely hard to predict anything. I guess on one hand, if I’m wildly off base it’s not really my fault, but on the other hand that doesn’t make for very satisfying predictions. Also, it doesn’t help that this year would’ve been tough anyway because this season would have seen several realignments regardless as many bowl contracts were replaced and more conferences took direct control of the bowl assignment process (which makes predictions much more difficult without inside information).

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday

Noon:

• Texas @ Kansas State (FOX): So the one team that hasn’t been able to beat Tom Herman at Texas is… K-State. The Wildcats are usually good at being a bee in the bonnet, as it were, but they haven’t been able to get Texas yet. And despite everything around Texas right now, I don’t know that they will this time.
• Ohio State @ Michigan State (ABC): Sparty is playing better than anyone thought this year, but Ohio State’s potentially quixotic quest to get into the college football playoff demands that they play, and that they grind teams like Michigan State into a fine powder.
• Texas A&M @ Auburn (ESPN): If I had time to look up the shruggie emote, that’s what I would use to describe Auburn this year, and likely most years. But this year? Yeah, it’s gonna be the Aggies in this one.
• Oklahoma State @ Texas Christian (ESPN2): Still don’t know what TCU is, and they don’t either. I’ll take the Cowboys here.
• Pennsylvania State @ Rutgers (FS1): Penn State versus Rutgers shouldn’t be an interesting game, and for most people it isn’t. But when you like college football just a bit too much… yeah. I still don’t see how Penn State could lose this game, but I’ve probably said that six times this year and only been right once.
• Arkansas @ Missouri (SEC): Arkansas figures to romp here, which is still a weird thing to say.
• Nebraska @ Purdue (BTN): I think that perhaps the biggest indictment of Scott Frost at Nebraska right now is that I definitely have Purdue all the way here.
• Kansas @ Texas Tech (FS2): Kansas is still real bad.
• Toledo @ Northern Illinois (espn3.com)
• Memphis @ Tulane (ESPN+)
• Rice @ Marshall (ESPN+)

2:00:

• Ball State @ Central Michigan (ESPNU): Ball State, probably?
• Bowling Green @ Akron (espn3.com)
• Troy @ South Alabama (“Battle for the Belt”; espn3.com)
• Eastern Michigan @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)

2:30: Syracuse @ Notre Dame (NBC): Syracuse doesn’t figure to have many ways to score points against the Irish.

3:00: Louisiana-Monroe @ Arkansas State (espn3.com)

3:30:

• Florida @ Tennessee (CBS): Tennessee doesn’t figure to have many ways to score points against the Gators.
• Indiana @ Wisconsin (ABC): Well, Indiana’s best quarterback is out, but Wisconsin is also coming off a thorough(?) loss to Northwestern. If Indiana is for real, though, they gotta go up to Camp Randall and take this one. I’ll give them a fair shake to do it.
• West Virginia @ Iowa State (ESPN): WVU doesn’t seem likely to derail Iowa State’s dream season.
• Tulsa @ Navy (ESPN2): Tulsa is ranked? When did that happen? I guess I’ll take them to beat Navy then?
• Iowa @ Illinois (FS1): Iowa figures to romp here.
• Boston College @ Virginia (ACC/RSN): My gut says BC, and my heart doesn’t have a particularly strong opinion on this one.

4:00:

• Stanford @ Washington (FOX): UDub should obliterate Stanford.
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina State (ACCN): Well, we were able to take advantage of the ample opportunities Duke provided last week. NCSU figures to be less generous. It’ll be a tougher test, but I think it’s an appropriate step up in difficultly for this team. And at this point, I think that’s what we need.

5:30: Brigham Young @ Coastal Carolina (ESPNU): The next time I hear about a home-and-home scheduled for 2045 with the return in 2052, I’ll think about how BYU managed to make arrangements to fly to South Carolina on two days notice to put a ranked vs. ranked matchup. (If only they had been able to get Cincinnati!) At any rate, the Stormin’ Mormons are the deserved favorites here, but don’t sleep on this game.

6:00:

• San Jose State @ Hawaii (Team1Sports)
• Florida Atlantic @ Georgia Southern (ESPN+)

7:00:

• Oregon @ California (ESPN): The Ducks lost to an extremely up-and-coming Oregon State last weekend, but I think they’ll be able to get their bearings back against Cal.
• Colorado @ Arizona (FS1): In a statement that will make sound vastly more confident about this result than I actually am, I have the Buffs all the way here.
• Colorado State @ San Diego State (CBSS): The Aztecs have taken a few L’s this season, but the Rams should provide a soft opponent to get them back above .500.

7:30:

• Clemson @ Virginia Tech (ABC): Ah, Blacksburg at night in the late fall. The forecast? Oh, temperatures in the low 30’s with a 9mph wind gusting to 20. No chance for snow, unfortunately. Will any of this matter? Will, Trevor Lawrence figures to be in a heavy coat under the heat lamps by halftime (early 3rd quarter at the latest if they want to give him a series in the second half), so probably not.
• South Carolina @ Kentucky (SEC): Neither of these teams is good, but will it still be funny when Kentucky wins? We posit:  yes.

8:00:

• Alabama @ Louisiana State (CBS): Well, when CBS was scheduling the double-headers, this probably looked really good. Now, Mac Jones might be in race to see if he can clock less game time than T-Law tonight.
• Baylor @ Oklahoma (FOX): The Sooners aren’t great, but they are pretty good, and should be able to dispatch the Bears.
• Miami @ Duke (ACCN): Miami is #10? Huh, okay, sure. Even if they weren’t, they’d still have a walkover against this Duke team. Cutcliffe’s gotta retire after this year, right?

9:00: Fresno State @ Nevada (FS2): My gut says Nevada, and for this one, my heart agrees.

10:30:

• Oregon State @ Utah (ESPN): Okay, Beavers, you’ve got the upset win over your most hated rival down. Now you have to go to a team that is currently 0-2 but they’ve still been much more consistent than you have the past several years. I have no idea who will win this, but it would be more fun if the Beavers do, so let’s go with them.
• California-Los Angeles @ Arizona State (FS1): I’ll favor UCLA since they have played 4 games to Arizona State’s 1. That’s about it.
• Wyoming vs. New Mexico (@Whitney, NV; CBSS): Wyoming.

Sunday

Noon: Western Kentucky @ Charlotte (espn3.com)

7:30: Washington State @ Southern California (FS1): USC hasn’t played in a few weeks, but I still figure they’ll get to 4-0 in sometime primetime Sunday night football in the weirdest way possible. I don’t know how they’ll do it against Wazzu, but I’m sure they’ll find a way.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Pennsylvania State @ Michigan (ABC): Whoo boy, what to make of this game of the country’s largest combined set of missed expectations? I have no idea, and neither do you, but I do like Michigan’s chances for some reason? I can’t really articulate why, but that’s where I’m at.
• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State (FOX): Also, a quick programming note. After this weekend’s games, since it’s supposed to be Rivalry Week and all, I’ll take a stab at the bowl predictions. But I have as of yet not even done the base amount of research needed to determine if that’s something I can even reasonably predict as of yet. Otherwise they may only appear in their final form where I predict the games. Anyway, for this game Oklahoma State should be able to move on from Bedlam sufficiently to beat Texas Tech.
• Kentucky @ Florida (ESPN): Today has like two SEC games that are normally played in, like, September and always generate an enormous amount of overreaction. Oh, right, because Florida should be playing Florida State this weekend. So dumb. Anyway, Florida should roll.
• Maryland @ Indiana (ESPN2): Maryland’s much more, well, game this year but the Hoosiers appear to have taken the next step. Indiana all the way.
• Bowling Green @ Ohio (ESPNU): Ohio, sure, why not?
• Vanderbilt @ Missouri (SEC): Well, Mizzou should win, but Vandy’s Sarah Fuller could make history if she sees game action in this game. (Of course, I haven’t seen if Vandy has any other kickers on the roster that made the trip to Columbia. Like, we should have a pretty good idea if she’s going to kick or not!)
• Kent State @ Buffalo (CBSS): Buffs, sure, I haven’t had any time to watch MACtion this year, and it sure does show on this one time they’re actually playing on the weekend.
• North Carolina State @ Syracuse (ACCN): I have to assume NC State will win this game, because otherwise I don’t know know anything.
• Ball State @ Toledo (espn3.com)
• Georgia Southern @ Georgia State (“Modern Day Hate”; espn3.com)
• Northern Illinois @ Western Michigan (ESPN+)
• Southern Methodist @ East Carolina (ESPN+)

1:00:

• Texas-El Paso @ Rice (espn3.com)
• Miami @ Akron (espn3.com)

3:00:

• North Texas @ Texas-San Antonio (Stadium)
• Louisiana @ Louisiana-Monroe (“Battle on the Bayou”; espn3.com)
• South Alabama @ Arkansas State (espn3.com)
• Coastal Carolina @ Texas State (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Auburn @ Alabama (“The Iron Bowl”; CBS): Well, the SEC at least knows how to play its within-conference rivalry games. This is a game that is as close to my heart as any rivalry game, having grown up in Alabama cheering for the Tigers. I don’t particularly have any affection for the Plainsmen anymore, but I still want them to beat Bama just ’cause (also, it would completely through the college football universe into chaos). That said, well, I can’t predict them to beat Bama, that just doesn’t make sense.
• Pittsburgh @ Clemson (ABC): The college football Internet definitely isn’t saying nearly as much about the Pitt Superweapon at this point… but that’s just the right time for them to strike! Well, I mean, probably not unless like Trevor Lawrence is just incredibly rusty and throws 5 picks or something.
• Northwestern @ Michigan State (ESPN): Northwestern are Big Ten frontrunners, so they should be able to easily dispatch Sparty, right? Right?
• Troy @ Appalachian State (ESPN2): I don’t have a good read on this game. I’ll be honest, even for Saturdays I’ve been doing tailwheel training and haven’t been watching as many games as I normally would be. But! This Saturday, I will be on the couch, with multiple screens. And while my gut tells me App State is the favorite here, well, I’ll probably have this on at some point.

4:00:

• San Jose State @ Boise State (FOX): San Jose has definitely been better this year, but Boise is still the team to beat in the Mountain West until proven otherwise.
• Rutgers @ Purdue (FS1): I think Rutgers might be a favorite in this game? I dunno, that feels weird to say, so I’ll stick Purdue.
• Mississippi State @ Mississippi (“The Egg Bowl”; SEC): OOH BOY NOW HERE’S A RIVALRY GAME. So much in Mississippi rides on this game. Plus, you’ve got two fresh new coaches, and Miss State finally showed signs of life last week against Georgia. Meanwhile, Ole Miss plays offense with record-setting abandon and an enthusiasm inversely proportional to how they play defense. This game should rightfully be at night instead of in the afternoon, ’cause this one is gonna be LIT y’all. I’ll take Ole Miss to win on some crazy play like a Hail Mary at the end.
• Louisville @ Boston College (ACCN): BC? Sure, yeah, that sounds right.

5:00: San Diego State @ Colorado (Pac12): Don’t let anyone tell you that college football can’t schedule something on short notice. This is also the first game on the Pac-12 Network all year! Huh. Anyway, the Aztecs figure to give the Buffs some trouble in this game, but I’ll still favor the Buffs here.

7:00:

• Louisiana State @ Texas A&M (ESPN): Let’s not forget too quickly. Yes, LSU blew the doors off ’em last year. But just two years ago (just two!) was the game that caused the NCAA to change the overtime rules after five overtimes because they went to seven (7!) overtimes before LSU won. And then there was a fracas afterward! I’m telling y’all, this may not be a formal rivalry yet, but I think this game has all the makings of one. That said, LSU is kinda bad this year and TAMU isn’t, so I think the Aggies may be able to exact some revenge.
• Kansas State @ Baylor (ESPN2): This is a game that you could watch, but I wouldn’t. I like… K-State? Sure.
• Memphis @ Navy (CBSS): At this point, Navy should be able to run over, around, and through Memphis and win this.
• Duke @ Georgia Tech (ACC/RSN): Hey, we’re probably back in action today! Finally! While Duke is one of our longest running opponents (3rd all time behind Georgia and Auburn), it still stings a little that we could travel to play in upstate New York this season but not host a team like an hour drive away. Absolutely asinine. At any rate, I hope that we’ve had a chance to lick our wounds and examine some of the things that have gone wrong on the season as it looks like it will resume from this point.

7:30:

• Utah @ Washington (ABC): Speaking of Pac-12 scheduling ingenuity, it’s not the Apple Cup, but it’s a game that will actually probably be harder for the Huskies, but I’ll still favor them to win.
• Georgia @ South Carolina (SEC): We won’t play them this year, but them losing this game is always hilarious and also, just in general: TO HELL WITH GEORGIA.

8:00:

• Arizona @ California-Los Angeles (FOX): Zona isn’t very good, so I’ll go with UCLA, which after three years actually seems to kinda-sorta be running a Chip Kelly offense?
• Texas Christian @ Kansas (FS1): TCU.
• Virginia @ Florida State (ACCN): FSU is not good and they will lose this game.

11:00: Nevada @ Hawaii (Team1Sports)

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

Noon:

• Iowa State @ Texas (ABC): Well, Rivalry Week isn’t what should be this year, but what is this year? 2020. Anyway, this could be be a fun one… provided Texas doesn’t play well and plays up/down to their opposition as usual. I have the Longhorns here.
• Massachusetts @ Liberty (espn3.com)

1:00: Nebraska @ Iowa (“The Heroes Game”; FOX): Well, none of the actual Big Ten rivalries are being played this weekend, but hey we’ll take the manufactured one. That said, should be Iowa all the way here.

3:30: Central Florida @ South Florida (“The War in I-4”; ESPN): UCF by a mile.

4:00:

• Wyoming @ Nevada-Las Vegas (FS1): We’ll get to the more interesting games here in a bit, but first this should a chance to get a good luck as some up-and-comers. I have Wyoming here.
• Central Michigan @ Eastern Michigan (CBSS): Even the MAC isn’t playing their top-line rivalries. I usually associated most big rivalries more with Thanksgiving weekend than being the last game of the season, but I guess outside of the SEC many conferences don’t see it that way. Maybe that’s an indication of where I’m from more than anything else. That said, in this game, I’ve got Central here.

4:30: Stanford @ California (“The Big Game; FOX): Ah, here we go, some rivalries! Stanford has… not been good this year. Neither has Cal really, as they’re both 0-2! I just still like their chances better.

7:30: Oregon @ Oregon State (ESPN): This game is, understandably, looking for a new name. In the meantime, I think this could actually be close. We’ll find out how good Oregon actually is. I expect the Ducks will win, but it may be closer than they’d prefer.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Clemson @ Florida State (ABC): Like with many of their ACC rivals, this there was a time when this game was a circle-it-on-the-calendar event. Not anymore. Clemson should wax the ‘Noles.
• Indiana @ Ohio State (FOX): I WANT TO BELIEVE… that Indiana can be competitive in this game. But Ohio State is just, like, really good.
• Florida @ Vanderbilt (ESPN): Gators all the way in this one.
• Appalachian State @ Coastal Carolina (ESPN2): Here’s the real intrigue for the noontime slot. App State has long been the emblem of fun G5 football that occasionally pokes one of the big boys in the eye. This game could well be the passing of a torch, or at a minimum the announcement that App now has more company in that tier. I like Coastal here.
• Illinois @ Nebraska (FS1): I think Nebraska might win this one?
• Arkansas State @ Texas State (ESPNU): Y’all, it’s been a long week. In addition to, well, everything else, I’ve also been dealing with ants. They are very annoying, and I have bought strong chemicals in attempt to convince them to go away. Hopefully that works. In meantime, I have no idea who’s going to win this game. I’ll go with the Bobcats at home.
• Louisiana State @ Arkansas (SEC): Y’all… y’all… Arkansas might win this game.
• Georgia Southern @ Army (CBSS): Triple option versus triple option! Southern doesn’t seem all that good this year, though, so I’ll take Army.
• East Carolina @ Temple (ESPN+)

2:00:

• Rice @ North Texas (espn3.com)
• Florida International @ Western Kentucky (espn3.com)

3:00: Texas-San Antonio @ Southern Mississippi (ESPN+)

3:30:

• Wisconsin @ Northwestern (ABC): Northwestern is currently undefeated. Unless this game gets called off after we go to print, they will not be after this game.
• San Diego State @ Nevada (CBS): That’s right, we’ve got the Mountain West on the prime CBS afternoon slot! (And you thought the Masters being on last weekend was weird.) So this one could well be pretty interesting. Nevada may be back after a few years in the wilderness, while SDSU has been a MWC power for most of the past decade. This one could be fun, but I’ll stick with the Aztecs.
• Cincinnati @ Central Florida (ESPN): Unstoppable force vs. immovable object, who will give? Well, probably UCF. Cincy will be far and away the best defense they’ve played, and the Bearcats can probably do enough on offense to win. Which is probably exactly how they’re drawing it up.
• California-Los Angeles @ Oregon (ESPN2): Ducks.
• California @ Oregon State (FS1): Bears.
• Georgia State @ South Alabama (ESPNU): Panthers.
• Iowa @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): Hawkeyes… wait, that’s not really an animal. That’s like, a part of an animal? I’m not sure I really internalized that until now. How does this not come up as an exceedingly weird mascot? I guess being an animal part still wins out over the “Crimson Tide”s and “Cardinal”s of the world.
• Middle Tennessee State @ Troy (espn3.com)

4:00:

• Kansas State @ Iowa State (“Farmageddon”; FOX): One’s got wheat, the other’s got corn, and they meet, it’s FARMAGEDDON. Iowa State is K-State’s all-time second most played program (behind only Kansas). Thanks to conference realignment, K-State will become Iowa State’s most-played rival in three seasons since Mizzou and Nebraska have fled for greener pastures. (That’s right, Iowa State has played K-State 36 more times than Iowa.) And it’s still the 8th-longest rivalry, and likely soon to be 7th since Clemson-South Carolina probably won’t play this year. It’s been around a while! So, as for the game… well, the Cyclones should win.
• Kentucky @ Alabama (SEC): Bama.
• Virginia Tech @ Pittsburgh (ACCN): Virginia Tech has made no sense, so I suspect they will win this game to continue to ensue that status.

7:00: Tennessee @ Auburn (ESPN): Auburn has been all over the place this year, but not so much so that they’d lose to Tennessee.

7:30:

• Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma (“Bedlam”; ABC): Oklahoma State comes in as a 10 point favorite, but the saying still holds: “It’s Bedlam! Anything can happen and then Oklahoma will win.”
• Mississippi State @ Georgia (SEC): This might be the least pleasurable game to watch that will end 21-3 ever, and not just because Georgia will win.
• Missouri @ South Carolina (SECA): Well, South Carolina’s gone and done it, they fired Will Muschamp. Why now? Who knows, I guess they like paying him to not coach more than to coach. I still favor them here.
• Michigan @ Rutgers (BTN): I… Michigan might lose this game, y’all. Might.
• Liberty @ North Carolina State (ACC/RSN): Well, Liberty’s already beaten one mediocre ACC team, I guess they’ll probably make it two.

8:00: Arizona @ Washington (FOX): UDub.

10:30: Southern California @ Utah (ESPN): USC apparently believes in giving their fans a finish, because their first two games this year have been insane. That said, the Utes are probably better than either of the Arizona schools, and they always play with a chip on their shoulder. They should be able to close it out.

11:00: Boise State @ Hawaii (CBSS): And to wrap it up, Boise heads for the warm climes of Hawaii. A tropical escape sounds pretty good right now, I gotta say. Plus, they’ll probably win!