Thought the past few weeks of football were wanting for big games? This is the week for you. The past four weeks of college football typically had just one game pitting ranked teams against each other. This week has six games between top-25 programs in the country, including a big one in the Big Ten on ABC's 8 p.m. slot.
Meanwhile, Ohio State opens conference play this season with Maryland for Maryland's first Big Ten home game. In honor of this week's opponent, the honorary TV Guide for the week features The Muppets. Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, is a graduate of the University of Maryland. There is a statue of him with Kermit the Frog on campus.
Here is your viewing guide for this weekend.
Thursday
Central Florida at Houston (ESPN, 7 p.m.). The quality of Houston football cratered when Kevin Sumlin departed for Texas A&M. However, Central Florida, after a 12-1 Fiesta Bowl championship season, isn't what it was last year. Last year's game was one of the tightest UCF played en route to a perfect conference season.
Arizona at Oregon (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Can you name the three remaining undefeated teams in the Pac-12? UCLA is one. Arizona and Oregon are the other two. Both play tonight.
Oregon is the no. 2 team in the country and, for the most part, playing like a team that should make for a consensus selection into the first college football playoff. It may be worth asking why Washington State was able to do what it did in its last game, but that's a topic for another day.
Arizona won big in an upset of Oregon last year.
Arizona's start was as hot as anyone else in the Pac-12. At least, it was as exciting. Arizona won its last three games by a combined 14 points, outlasting UTSA, Nevada, and beating California on a Hail Mary.
If this sounds like it ends with Oregon running over Arizona, that'd be a safe pick. Oregon is favored by over three touchdowns. But, do recall that last season's contest in Tucson ended with Arizona winning by 26.
Friday
Louisville at Syracuse (ESPN, 7 p.m.). No, it's not basketball season and, no, it's not a Big East game. It's ACC football.
San Diego State at Fresno State (CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.). Friday is typically a boring night for college football. Fans are fortunate to get three decent games staggered through the night to watch while you're drinking at the bar.
Utah State at Brigham Young (ESPN, 10:15 p.m.). The no. 18 Cougars host in-state rival Utah State in your Friday finale.
BYU won last year's contest by 17 points after Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keeton went down with a season-ending ACL injury. That injury was since aggravated and may sideline Keeton for this year's contest.
Saturday
Texas A&M at Mississippi State (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Noon on Saturday is way too early for this much CLANGA.
An unreasonably high mid-season ranking is old hat for Mississippi State of late.
Texas A&M's rise in the rankings has been meteoric so far. A fringe top-25 team in the preseason, the Aggies are no. 6 in the country and appear in most mid-season projections for the College Football Playoff.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State is no. 12 in the country, which doesn't feel right. This happens with Mississippi State, which skyrockets in the rankings if, for no other reason, than to justify a game against Alabama as a game between "two top-15 teams".
Mississippi State went from unranked (and with just 29 overall points in the AP) to no. 12 in the country in two weeks (with one of those being a bye). Is beating this year's LSU team in Baton Rouge that much of a quality win? Wisconsin almost (and should have) beat them in Houston in Week 1 and Wisconsin couldn't throw a football into the ocean from the beach.
Ohio State at Maryland (ABC, 12 p.m.). This is your personal game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of Ohio State's first Big Ten game of the season.
Iowa State at Oklahoma State (FOX Sports 1, 12 p.m.). Iowa State has just one win on the season (at Iowa). It lost to North Dakota State by 20 and Baylor by 21. Expect a similar margin of defeat here.
Southern Methodist at East Carolina (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Southern Methodist hasn't been this bad since it returned from the death penalty in 1989. East Carolina is favored by almost six touchdowns. I think it will cover too.
It took a 50-yard field goal to secure a 30-28 win in Tennessee's last win over Florida in 2004.
Florida at Tennessee (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). Tennessee has not defeated Florida since 2004. Florida, though, has not been this hopeless since the end of the Zook experiment in 2004.
Tennessee is on the rise, hosting this game, and Florida is as weak as it has been in a decade. Should Tennessee get that elusive win over the Gators, it might be the last time we see Muschamp on the sidelines for Florida.
Purdue at Illinois (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Illinois is a ten-point favorite over Purdue. Illinois should never be a double-digit favorite over anyone. Such is Purdue football, at the moment.
North Texas at Indiana (BTN, 2:30 p.m.). Indiana's last non-conference game of the season will be against a North Texas team that beat an FCS opponent 77-3 in its last game.
Wake Forest at Florida State (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). Six weeks into the season, it's apparent that Florida State is not the team it was last year. Fortunately, most of the ACC is garbage and Wake Forest may be the worst of the heap.
Alabama at Mississippi (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). The 3:30 p.m. slot on Saturday may be the most exciting we will see of any time slot the rest of the season. This will also be the second of three games between top-15 teams in the SEC on the day.
For as bad as Alabama has been in stretches after Bear Bryant retired to the point when Nick Saban took the Alabama job, Ole Miss has never capitalized. The series history is somewhat staggering too.
Nick Saban has a guy on staff to assist in directing the football operations of watching Ole Miss' sidelines to deduce play calls.
Both teams have played each other 57 times. Ole Miss has just seven wins over Alabama since 1907. The two didn't play each other between 1945 and 1963, despite being charter members to the same conference and just 165 miles separating the two schools.
In that stretch, Ole Miss has a winning streak no longer than one against Alabama. The last win came in 2003, when Eli Manning was quarterback for the Rebels.
Ole Miss cornerback Cody Prewitt upped the ante on this game by saying he doesn't think Alabama is as strong as it was in previous seasons. Perhaps he's right? If so, Alabama has everyone thinking the emperor has clothes. They're the new no. 1 in the Coaches Poll.
One intriguing angle to this game concerns Tyler Siskey, a guy Nick Saban hired from Ole Miss' staff ostensibly just to steal Ole Miss' signals during a game.
Oklahoma at Texas Christian (FOX, 3:30 p.m.). This game pits no. 4 at no. 25, the third game of the day featuring top-25 teams.
The Horned Frogs have been a difficult task for Bob Stoops since that shocking upset win in Norman in 2005. Since joining the Big XII, Oklahoma has struggled to beat the Horned Frogs by a combined ten points in the last two encounters
TCU also has the best defense Oklahoma may face all season. The Horned Frogs are second in the country in total defense (218 ypg).
Baylor at Texas (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). Baylor is a 17-point favorite this game and Texas is kicking players off its team left and right. If Brigham Young did what it did to Texas in Austin, there is no reason to think Baylor can't either.
Texas plays Oklahoma next. Charlie Strong may start 2-4 as Texas' head coach.
Stanford at Notre Dame (NBC, 3:30 p.m.). This is the fourth game on Saturday between top-25 teams and maybe the dark horse for the game of the afternoon.
Through four games this season, Stanford's defense has been as advertised. It has conceded just 26 points on the season, has posted two shutouts, and is the country's best total defense so far (198 ypg). However, Stanford's offense isn't quite where David Shaw wants it to be, which would explain the loss at home to USC in Week 2.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame looks quite potent. It's averaging 444 yards of offense a game while being the country's fourth-best scoring defense.
Wisconsin at Northwestern (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Fun fact: Wisconsin last won in Evanston in 1999, Ron Dayne's Heisman Trophy year.
North Carolina State at Clemson (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). With Deshaun Watson at the helm, there's hope that Clemson's offense can return to what it was with Tajh Boyd as the senior three-year starter. However, the concern is Clemson's defense again. NC State can score points.
Navy at Air Force (CBS Sports Network, 3:30 p.m.). This is the first of the service academy series for the Commander-in-Chief trophy.
Vanderbilt at Georgia (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Poor Vanderbilt.
LSU at Auburn (ESPN, 7 p.m.). This is the fifth game on Saturday between top-25 teams and the third between top-15 teams in the SEC West.
LSU was Auburn's lone regular season loss last year en route to a berth in the final BCS Championship Game. Auburn is hoping some home-cooking will result in some measure of revenge.
It's also the start of a brutal stretch for Auburn to end the season. After this game, Auburn travels to Mississippi State, hosts South Carolina, travels to Ole Miss, hosts Texas A&M, travels to Georgia and, after an FCS cupcake, travels to Tuscaloosa to end the season.
Texas Tech at Kansas State (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). Texas Tech's quarterback, Davis Webb, may not play in this game. Texas Tech, for all its glitz and glamor, may not make it to a bowl game either.
These two are not long for Ann Arbor.
Michigan at Rutgers (BTN, 7 p.m.). If you had asked me in August that this would be no layup for Michigan, I would've looked at you funny.
Alas, that's where Michigan is. Given everything else going on right now in Michigan football, a loss here may be curtains for Brady Hoke.
Arizona State at USC (FOX, 7:30 p.m.). Earlier this week, I mentioned how the fifth week of the season may have reduced the Pac-12 South to a two-team race between UCLA and USC. With just one loss, Arizona State is still well alive. However, without Taylor Kelly, Arizona State is fighting to stay afloat.
Miami at Georgia Tech (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.). Quick: name the two remaining undefeated teams in the ACC. Florida State is one. Would you have guessed Georgia Tech is the other?
South Carolina at Kentucky (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). I'm sure we're all glad ESPN pulled Brent Musburger off ESPN duties to watch the worst of the SEC play glorified ESPNU games.
Ameer Abdullah has rushed for over 200 yards in three of five games this season.
Nebraska at Michigan State (ABC, 8 p.m.). This sixth and final game of the day featuring top-25 teams is a Big Ten contest. It's also a plausible preview of the Big Ten Championship Game.
All else equal, this looks like a game of an immovable object against an unstoppable force. However, Michigan State's defense has shown to be movable against Oregon. Games against chumps like Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan, and Wyoming are just not credible signals about where Michigan State is defensively at the moment.
That said, Michigan State's offense may have become a quiet strength of the entire team. Considering the opposition, still, but Michigan State is averaging 517 yards of offense a game. It's third in the country in scoring offense and had success against Oregon.
That's good for Michigan State, but bad for Nebraska. Nebraska has been faking it on defense since Ndamukong Suh left for the NFL.
The Cornhuskers will hope to hang with Michigan State on the heels of its offense. Ameer Abdullah is possibly the most valuable player to a team in the country. The offense is averaging 572 yards a game with him as the featured piece.
Utah at UCLA (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Saturday's finale for you night owls on the East Coast will feature UCLA hammering Utah. UCLA is great. Utah is not. This should be a straightforward contest for the Bruins.
