Today's Schedule of Games

“They’ll remember what you do in November.”  This is a week full of meaningful games across the college football landscape.  Michigan is also back in action after the bye, er, improvement week.   

Here are some of today’s highlights:

At Noon on CBS: #1 Ohio State at Rutgers.  It’s November so we’ll be keeping an eye on Ohio State from here on out.  They’re the #1 team, don’t you know?  Rutgers is actually pretty decent this year, and Schiano knows how to play defense (except against Michigan).  But Rutgers won’t have an answer for Marvin Harrison because NOBODY EVER FREAKING DOUBLE COVERS THAT GUY.  It’s like some unwritten rule.  OSU will win and stay *snort* #1.

Also at Noon on FOX: #23 Kansas State at #7 Texas.  Texas still has the best win by far in college football and they are regrouping after being tripped up by Oklahoma.  They will still likely be without injured QB Quinn Ewers.  Maalik Murphy – who looked good against BYU – will be taking his place.  Kansas State has won 3 straight and is on a roll.  The winner stays alive for the Big 12 title race.  This is the kind of game where K-State always gets counted out.  Guilty.  I’m counting them out and picking Texas.          

Also at Noon on ESPN: Texas A&M at #10 Ole Miss.  Ole Miss is still alive in the SEC West (barely, Alabama has the tie-breaker head-to-head win over them).  Texas A&M played Alabama and Tennessee pretty well, losing both by single digits.  It should be a competitive close game, but I’ll go with Lane’s guys and Ole Miss in the end.        

In the Afternoon at 3:30 PM on FOX: #11 Penn State at Maryland.  Hey look!  We can scout both of our upcoming opponents in one game.  Does the NCAA know about this?  If you are Penn State, you are scared to death about this game.  You don’t want to be here, your focus is on Michigan.  You just want to get it over with.  But one of these days Taulia is going to giveth more than he taketh away.  If he does, Maryland can get away from Penn State pretty quickly.  And they don’t have the offense to catch up.  But PSU has enough defense to keep that from happening, and Taulia is still gonna Taulia.  Penn State squeaks out a win.     

Also at 3:30 PM on CBS: #12 Missouri at #2 Georgia.  Missouri is pretty good.  But they’re not Georgia-good.  And they lost to the only really good team they played – LSU.  They’ll hang around for a little while but then Georgia will kick into that extra gear they have when they feel like using it, and dominate Missouri.  Thus giving the middle finger to the CFP pollsters that demoted them from #1.   

Also at 3:30 PM on ABC: #9 Oklahoma at #22 Oklahoma State.  I thought that Bedlam was supposed to be on Rivalry Week?  Does nobody care about Big 12 Tradition anymore?  Oh, yeah . . . that.  This is the last Big 12 Bedlam.  You know Oklahoma State wants this bad.  Give the Sooners a jilted-lover sendoff they won’t forget.  I think they’ll do it, and beat Oklahoma one last time.

In the Evening at 7:30 PM on NBC: Purdue at #3 Michigan.  There is nothing to do but win big and break the media narrative that sign scouting was some big game-changing advantage.  Even if it supposedly gave us a 3 touchdown advantage per game (a ridiculous assumption), we’re still undefeated even if you dock us those 21 points per game in all of our games.  At some point, media, just come out and say you don’t like Harbaugh and are trying to get rid of him, and this is the best excuse you got.  Michigan will refuse to cooperate with the narrative, and will win big.                       

Also at 7:30 PM on ABC: #5 Washington at #20 USC.  There will be like 1,000 points scored in this game.  By halftime.  Washington is the favorite, but USC / Lincoln Riley / Caleb Williams thrive on this type of track-meet game.  They will finally get their shit together after a rough October, and outrace the Huskies for the W. 

At 7:45 PM on CBS: #14 LSU at #8 Alabama.  The Big One in the SEC West.  Like USC, LSU can score points.  Like USC, LSU gives them right back.  That’s not going to work against Alabama and their defense full of 5-stars.  Alabama has been inconsistent on offense throughout the season, but Jalen Milroe has been coming on the last few weeks.  He’ll keep Alabama in touch with LSU until the Alabama defense takes matters into their own hands in the later stages of the game.  Alabama wins and lurks in the SEC for Georgia. 

Finally, your Pac-12 After Dark Special - meaningless crazy football just for the fun of it:       

At 10:30 PM on FS1: #19 UCLA at Arizona.  I’m going to just leave what I put here last week, replacing “Oregon State” with “UCLA”:  Arizona may be the most Pac-12 After Dark Special-est of all the Pac12 teams.  You don’t ever want to find yourself facing an underdog Arizona, on the road, late at night, in a Pac-12 After Dark Special game.  Weird juju happens down there.  It will happen again, and Arizona will take out #19 UCLA.                                  

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2023:

AWAY                  HOME           TIME         TV

NOON:

1 Ohio State  @  Rutgers   12:00 PM   CBS

23 Kansas State  @  7 Texas   12:00 PM   FOX

Texas A&M  @  10 Ole Miss   12:00 PM   ESPN

15 Notre Dame  @  Clemson   12:00 PM   ABC

UConn  @  17 Tennessee   12:00 PM   SECN

Arkansas  @  Florida   12:00 PM   ESPN2

Wisconsin  @  Indiana   12:00 PM   BTN

Nebraska  @  Michigan State   12:00 PM   FS1

Jacksonville State  @  South Carolina   12:00 PM   ESPNU

Campbell  @  North Carolina   12:00 PM   ACCN

AFTERNOON:

Kennesaw State  @  Sam Houston   1:00 PM   ESPN+

Arizona State  @  18 Utah   2:00 PM   PAC12

Georgia Tech  @  Virginia   2:00 PM   CW NETWORK

Navy  @  Temple   2:00 PM   ESPN+

Army  @  25 Air Force   2:30 PM   CBSSN

Florida Atlantic  @  UAB   3:00 PM   ESPN+

UTSA  @  North Texas   3:00 PM   ESPN+

South Florida  @  Memphis   3:00 PM   ESPN+

Louisiana  @  Arkansas State   3:00 PM   ESPN+

12 Missouri  @  2 Georgia   3:30 PM   CBS

4 Florida State  @  Pittsburgh   3:30 PM   ESPN

9 Oklahoma  @  22 Oklahoma State   3:30 PM   ABC

11 Penn State  @  Maryland   3:30 PM   FOX

Virginia Tech  @  13 Louisville   3:30 PM   ACCN

24 Tulane  @  East Carolina   3:30 PM   ESPNU

Illinois  @  Minnesota   3:30 PM   BTN

Iowa  @  Northwestern   3:30 PM   Peacock

Merrimack  @  Massachusetts   3:30 PM   ESPN+

Houston  @  Baylor   3:30 PM   BIG12|ESPN+

UCF  @  Cincinnati   3:30 PM   FS1

James Madison  @  Georgia State   3:30 PM   ESPN2

Coastal Carolina  @  Old Dominion   3:30 PM   ESPN+

Auburn  @  Vanderbilt   4:00 PM   SECN

Charlotte  @  Tulsa   4:00 PM   ESPN+

UL Monroe  @  Southern Miss   4:00 PM   ESPN+

Hawai'i  @  Nevada   4:00 PM   

Georgia Southern  @  Texas State   5:00 PM   ESPN+

California  @  6 Oregon   5:30 PM   PAC12

EVENING:

Louisiana Tech  @  Liberty   6:00 PM   CBSSN

Middle Tennessee  @  New Mexico State   6:00 PM   ESPN+

Marshall  @  Appalachian State   6:00 PM   NFL NET

UNLV  @  New Mexico   6:00 PM   

21 Kansas  @  Iowa State   7:00 PM   ESPN

BYU  @  West Virginia   7:00 PM   FS1

Utah State  @  San Diego State   7:00 PM   FS2

Purdue  @  3 Michigan   7:30 PM   NBC

5 Washington  @  20 USC   7:30 PM   ABC

Kentucky  @  Mississippi State   7:30 PM   SECN

SMU  @  Rice   7:30 PM   ESPNU

14 LSU  @  8 Alabama   7:45 PM   CBS

Miami  @  NC State   8:00 PM   ACCN

Western Kentucky  @  UTEP   9:00 PM   ESPN+

Stanford  @  Washington State   9:00 PM   PAC12

LATE NIGHT:

16 Oregon State  @  Colorado   10:00 PM   ESPN

Boise State  @  Fresno State   10:00 PM   CBSSN

19 UCLA  @  Arizona   10:30 PM   FS1