|
Good day, and welcome back to the Watch Grid, your weekly best-guess guide to which college football games might be most watchable in each time slot. We're getting into the really good stuff now, and not just at the headliner level: this is also the time of year when things start to go totally sideways.
As always, the Watch Grid does not rate games strictly by team quality, though it'll often end up looking that way, especially as some doomed programs fall off the radar until next year. The Watch Grid also considers factors such as likely competitiveness and messiness. You'll see an overwhelming case of this on Saturday.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
Precisely one FBS game: #16 SMU at Houston (7:30 ET, ESPN). SMU's all but clinched its best season since 1984 and could go even higher. Expect the Ponies to win comfortably against a tanking rival, but even that's of interest, right?
Also, we can recall that time almost exactly 30 years ago, when UH's Andre Ware threw for 517 yards in the first half against an NCAA-cratered SMU, part of a 95-point outburst that stands as one of FBS' last truly old-school annihilation games. SMU's been waiting a looong time to avenge that one.
(Elsewhere in important anniversaries, today is 10 years after that time Nebraska produced a minus-eight turnover ratio in an upset loss at Iowa State. Best part: the Clones recovered six of the game's eight fumbles, then turned all that fortune into nine entire points.)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25
|
|
|
USC at Colorado (9 ET, ESPN2)! If the Buffs can't score more than 31 points, they lose -- that (or something even worse) has been the case every week so far. Might need to make it more like 40 here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ET |
WATCH THIS |
Maybe watch |
It’s football |
| Noon |
Miami at Pitt, ESPN |
#13 Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State, Fox |
#21 Appalachian State at South Alabama, ESPNU |
| |
|
#5 Oklahoma at Kansas State, ABC |
Liberty at Rutgers, BTN |
| |
|
#20 Iowa at Northwestern, ESPN2 |
San Jose State at Army, CBSSN |
| |
|
Illinois at Purdue, BTN |
Bowling Green at WMU, ESPN3 |
| |
|
Mississippi State at Texas A&M, SEC |
|
| 1 |
|
|
Southern Miss at Rice, ESPN+ |
| 2 |
|
Nevada at Wyoming, local |
|
| |
|
Ohio at Ball State, ESPN+ |
|
| 2:30 |
|
WKU at Marshall, Stadium |
|
| 3 |
|
North Dakota State at South Dakota State, ESPN+ |
New Mexico State at Georgia Southern, ESPN3 |
| 3:30 |
#9 Auburn at #2 LSU, CBS |
#6 Penn State at Michigan STate, ABC |
North Texas at Charlotte, ESPN+ |
| |
|
#15 Texas at TCU, Fox |
FIU at MTSU, NFL |
| |
|
Maryland at #17 Minnesota, ESPN |
FAU at ODU, ESPN+ |
| |
|
Oklahoma State at #23 Iowa State, FS1 |
Miami (Ohio) at Kent State, ESPN+ |
| |
|
Syracuse at Florida State, ESPN2 |
Akron at NIU, ESPN3 |
| |
|
Virginia at Louisville, ACC |
UConn at UMass you cowards, NESN/Flo |
| |
|
Arizona at Stanford, Pac-12 |
|
| |
|
Indiana at Nebraska, BTN |
|
| |
|
Tulane at Navy, CBSSN |
|
| |
|
CMU at Buffalo, ESPN+ |
|
| |
|
EMU at Toledo, ESPN+ |
|
| |
|
Towson at JMU, Flo |
|
| 3:45 |
|
|
USF at ECU, ESPNU |
| 4 |
|
Hawaii at New Mexico, Spectrum |
|
| |
|
Duke at North Carolina, ACC |
|
| |
|
South Carolina at Tennessee, SEC |
|
| 7 |
|
UCF at Temple, ESPN2 |
Arkansas at #1 Alabama, ESPN |
| |
|
Troy at Georgia State, ESPN+ |
Texas Tech at Kansas, FS1 |
| |
|
Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas, ESPN3 |
Memphis at Tulsa, CBSSN |
| |
|
Weber State at UC Davis, pluto.tv |
Texas State at Arkansas State, ESPN+ |
| 7:30 |
#8 Notre Dame at #19 Michigan, ABC |
#24 Arizona State at UCLA, Pac-12 |
Boston College at #4 Clemson, ACC |
| |
|
Missouri at Kentucky, SEC |
Colorado State at Fresno State, ESPNU |
| 8 |
|
|
Louisiana Tech at UTEP, ESPN3 |
| 10 |
|
Cal at #12 Utah, FS1 |
|
| 10:15 |
|
Utah State at Air Force, ESPN2 |
|
| 10:30 |
Washington State at #11 Oregon, ESPN |
|
San Diego State at UNLV, CBSSN |
|
|
|
Why yes, that is MIAMI-PITT overshadowing games of some meaning. I'll defend myself:
-
Miami has been perhaps the country's most chaotic team this season, finding absurd ways to lose three games they should've won.
-
Pitt has been perhaps the country's most chaotic team this millennium.
-
This projects as a close one, with all the scoring being of the "just manufacture some points any weird way you can" variety, the most entertaining variety.
-
New Year's stakes could be in play. Pitt can remain near the top of the ACC Coastal and keep hoping Virginia falls, while the Canes could claw back into the race with wins over two of the leaders, having already beaten UVA. And assuming Clemson makes the Playoff, the next ACC team in the rankings will get the Orange bid, no matter how non-good that team is.
The middle slot is a reasonably priced family buffet, with watchability in almost every FBS conference. The obvious headliner is whatever nonsense Auburn-LSU issues forth this time. If nothing else, Joe Burrow's offense vs. this defense should tell us a whole lot about the viability of that other game looming up ahead.
Irish-Wolverines: guaranteed to end with people declaring -- not without merit -- that the losing team is incapable of ever winning big games. Won't that be pretty fun!
WAZZU'S OFFENSE VS. OREGON'S ... DEFENSE shuts down your Saturday. Will the Ducks carry the Pac-12 North's fading banner into another week, or will Anthony Gordon's 72 pass attempts reroute all ambitions to Pasadena? (Yes, I said Oregon's "defense.")
|
|
|
|
|
|
