Barring a few contests here and there, typically involving Brigham Young or Notre Dame, it's conference play the rest of the season. The Pac-12 has been there for the past two weeks while conferences like the Big Ten and SEC essentially started league play last week.
In short, the only cupcakes left on the schedule for Power Five programs are those with names like Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, or Washington State.
This week has only two games featuring ranked teams playing against each other. One is in the Big Ten and the other is in the Pac-12. The programs: Michigan, Northwestern, California, and Utah. Who saw that coming in the preseason?
Anyway, here's your viewing guide for the weekend around Ohio State's noon kickoff against Maryland.
Thursday
Southern Methodist at Houston (ESPN2, 8 p.m.). I think this was the game for which we were waiting after last year's coaching carousel landed Ohio State's offensive coordinator in Houston and Clemson's offensive coordinator in Southern Methodist.
To the best of my knowledge, Houston-SMU is not a designated rivalry game. However, Tom Herman is treating it like one. Houston's football staff taped SMU-themed jerseys to the floor of the locker room so that the players may walk over them when they are in their practice facility.
If this practice seems familiar, it should. Urban Meyer did the same thing with Brigham Young jerseys for his two years as Utah's coach.
Houston is a 26-point favorite and has college football's attention for a full hour before Washington-USC. In other words, this might be the game that finally gets Houston enough votes to enter the AP Top 25.
Washington at USC (ESPN, 8 p.m.). It will always be a strange to see a program of USC's tradition and prominence playing on a Thursday night.
Football fans who are in their mid-30s may remember this series constituted a change of guard in the late 1980s and early 1990s. USC upset no. 6 Washington in the Coliseum in 1986, a loss which cost the Huskies a share of the Pac-10 championship. USC won the next three games in the series en route to three Pac-10 championships under Larry Smith and three Rose Bowl berths.
The 1990 game became the signature game that constituted this change of the guard. No. 5 and defending Rose Bowl champion USC entered Husky Stadium with a swagger in its walk, expecting to manhandle no. 21 Washington (which had just struggled the previous week at Purdue, which would win just two games in 1990). However, this game was all Washington. The Huskies mauled USC and its "robo QB", Todd Marinovich, en route to a 31-0 victory. Todd Marinovich's comment after the game became the birth of an epoch for Washington football. Asked about the loss to Washington, Marinovich sighed and said, "All I saw was purple, that's all. No numbers, just purple."
Washington won the Pac-10 that year and withstood an Iowa rally in the Rose Bowl to win 46-34. The next year, Washington was the Coaches Poll national champions.
The series has been all USC of late, minus two victories for Washington in 2009 and 2010.
Friday
Southern Mississippi at Marshall (CBS Sports, 7:30 p.m.). These two teams might be the best right now in the Conference USA, though that may not say a whole lot. Southern Mississippi is the only team above .500 in the C-USA West. Marshall is 4-1, but has a loss to Ohio on its record.
NC State at Virginia Tech (ESPN, 8 p.m.). Are we past the point of hoping Virginia Tech does well (to make us look good) and to the point of wanting to see how bad it could get in Blacksburg? Virginia Tech has two straight losses right now at East Carolina and at home to Pitt.
Michael Brewer, who was injured in the season-opener against Ohio State, is clear to practice and may appear in this game.
Saturday
Duke at Army (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). Michie Stadium is always a treat. Plus, Duke may win the ACC Coastal again this year.
New Mexico State at Ole Miss (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). How fortunate for Ole Miss to have New Mexico State on the schedule this year, which is arguably the second worst team in the country.
Illinois at Iowa (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Illinois fans want to make this a trophy game. I can understand why. Hang around Champaign long enough and you'll find that what few Illinois football fans are there think of Michigan and Ohio State as their main rivals. This is curious, because Michigan and Ohio State fans forget that Illinois is in the same conference. In other words, Illinois wants a rival that will pay attention to it and Iowa might be nice enough to oblige.
Baylor at Kansas (FOX Sports 1, 12 p.m.). Oh god, don't bother...
Oklahoma vs. Texas (ABC, 12 p.m.). Texas is a 17-point underdog in this game and that feels somewhat generous. A loss in the Cotton Bowl drops Texas to 1-5 with games left to play at West Virginia and at Baylor.
Maryland at Ohio State (BTN, 12 p.m.). This is your personal game of the week and, curiously, the first game of Ohio State's season to be played at noon. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this game.
Indiana at Penn State (ESPN, 12 p.m.). I'm going to be rather annoyed if Penn State makes this look easy. The Nittany Lions are tentatively an eight-point favorite.
Tulane at Temple (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). Temple is still undefeated and likely the team to beat in the American Athletic Conference.
Georgia Tech at Clemson (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Clemson might make the playoff this year, provided it can avoid a monumental "Clemsoning" somewhere along the way. It hosts Florida State next month in what should be its only difficult game remaining on the schedule. An ACC Championship Game would be against either Duke or North Carolina, which should not be that difficult.
Meanwhile, this might be a lost season for the reigning Orange Bowl champion Yellow Jackets, who are looking at a 2-4 start to this season.
Georgia at Tennessee (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Georgia was just manhandled by Alabama last week and Tennessee lost at home to Arkansas, putting Bert back in the win column. Feel the excitement of SEC football on CBS!
Syracuse at South Florida (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). I mean, you could watch this if you wanted...
Navy at Notre Dame (NBC, 3:30 p.m.). Notre Dame hopes to rebound from a disappointing end to the rain-soaked game in Clemson last week. There's a "moral victory" in there somewhere, but it ultimately rings hollow for a Notre Dame team that now has additional work to do to vie for the playoff.
Navy, though, is riding high. It beat Air Force, 33-11, in Annapolis. Unless Army does something spectacular, which it really hasn't done since 1996, that effectively gives Navy the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.
Northwestern at Michigan (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). This is the first of two games this week featuring two ranked teams. Who knew that it would feature the two programs responsible for last year's atrocity of a contest. That game was arguably the worst Big Ten game since the 2004 Iowa-Penn State game.
Wisconsin at Nebraska (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Wisconsin plays Iowa and Nebraska in back-to-back games, a natural and enjoyable pairing of Wisconsin opponents that Barry Alvarez was oddly content to forgo for the failed Leaders and Legends experiment.
Minnesota at Purdue (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). Purdue has just one win this season and none against an FBS team. Still, it feels like this might be a win for the Boilermakers, who had a similar, inexplicable win over Illinois last season.
South Carolina at LSU (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). LSU was a two-touchdown favorite before the game was moved to Baton Rouge yesterday because of the flood damage in Columbia. A loss would drop South Carolina to 2-4. It still has a trip to Texas A&M (its other SEC West opponent) and home games against Florida and Clemson on the schedule.
Connecticut at Central Florida (WatchESPN, 3:45 p.m.). Central Florida is 0-5 this season. If you live in the Orlando area, there's still a bar giving away free beer until the Golden Knights get that first conference win.
This was previously scheduled for ESPNU, though it could be a TV casualty of the LSU-South Carolina game.
Oregon State at Arizona (FOX Sports 1, 4 p.m.). Arizona lost its last two games (UCLA, at Stanford) by a combined 64 points and is an 8.5-point favorite in this game. Hopefully that gives you a sense of the quality you can expect from this contest.
Troy at Mississippi State (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Mississippi State joins in-state rival Ole Miss in a conference reprieve. It hosts 1-3 Troy, a 30.5-point underdog.
Washington State at Oregon (Pac-12 Network, 6 p.m.). Oregon got back in the win column last week against Colorado after getting trashed at home by Utah. While the win may have been cathartic, it's still Colorado. This is still Washington State, which lost to an FCS team at the start of the season. Its only two wins this year are at Rutgers, and against Wyoming.
Boise State at Colorado State (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). Boise State is a 17-point favorite in Fort Collins. The game may not excite, but Boise State may again be the Group of Five representative in the "Big Six" bowl games this year.
Arkansas at Alabama (ESPN, 7 p.m.). Back when Arkansas thought itself charmed and thought Bert was the guy to lead the Hogs to the promised land, this game in Fayetteville last year was a game that Arkansas should have won. This should have knocked Alabama from the playoff picture before Ohio State had to take initiative to do it.
Now, Alabama is roaring back to form and Arkansas is wilting. The Tide is a 17-point favorite this game for exactly the reason it smashed Georgia last week. Alabama is built to defend pro-style offenses that place emphasis on the run game. Arkansas will play right into Nick Saban's hands.
Oklahoma State at West Virginia (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). West Virginia conceded 44 points in a 20-point loss at Oklahoma last year, but the Mountaineers' defense might be the star of this show for this team. The Mountaineers' defense leads the Big 12 in points per drive allowed (1.07), turnover percentage (23.2), and third-down conversion rate.
Oklahoma State is no slouch on defense either. The Cowboys lead the nation in sacks. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers gave up seven sacks to Oklahoma last week.
It's any wonder the over/under on this game is 58.5.
Texas Christian at Kansas State (FOX, 7:30 p.m.). Kansas State is on its honest-to-god fifth-string quarterback and is preparing to play a lineman at quarterback if needed. And, still, Kansas State may find a way to make this close for Texas Christian. K-State nearly beat Oklahoma State last week in Stillwater.
Florida at Missouri (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Florida is favored in this game for the first time since 2012.
East Carolina at Brigham Young (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.). This might be a subtle gem of a game. East Carolina is one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference and Brigham Young, minus a major letdown in Ann Arbor, is an exciting team to watch.
Miami at Florida State (ABC, 8 p.m.). This is ABC's primetime game of the week.
Honestly, do we care about this series anymore? Maybe this underlines my West Coast origins and Midwest sympathies, but I never found this series to be all that enthralling. Yes, I know it was arguably the best football rivalry of the 1980s and 1990s. I'm just not sure we should invest anything in this rivalry going forward. Florida State found itself under Jimbo Fisher, but Miami hasn't been anything worth discussing for the past decade.
College football fans have rattled a few sabers, namely in the form of hype about a return of Chip Kelly to the coaching ranks at Miami. However, he seems an unlikely candidate at this point since, as a "mad scientist", he genuinely does not enjoy recruiting. The likely candidates to replace Al Golden are all Miami retreads like Rob Chudzinski, Mario Cristobal, Butch Davis, and Tommy Tuberville. I honestly dare Miami to return Butch Davis to Miami too. He did nothing at UNC despite having similar endowments at Chapel Hill as he would have at Miami.
Yes, I know what I said. Miami is no better of a job than North Carolina notwithstanding Miami's fertile recruiting grounds. Miami is a gateway, not a destination, in college football. It's no more than a simple five-hour drive for a prospect who wants to play at the state's flagship school in Gainesville, or a relatively straightforward flight for a prospect who wants to leave the area to play for Nick Saban at Alabama.
Florida State is a nine-point favorite this game, which seems generous. I'm more interested in whether this game could beat Arizona-UCLA for the lowest-rated primetime game ever.
Michigan State at Rutgers (BTN, 8 p.m.). Rutgers reinstated Leonte Carroo yesterday, just a day after a judge dismissed a simple assault charge against him.
All the same, Michigan State is a 14-point favorite in Piscataway.
Colorado at Arizona State (Pac-12 Network, 10 p.m.). Arizona State turned its season around last week with a decisive win against UCLA in the Rose Bowl. It hopes to let the momentum roll through a homestand against Colorado. The Buffaloes may not be bad. It had been on a three-game winning streak before Oregon did Oregon things to it.
California at Utah (ESPN, 10 p.m.). Would you believe this is the only other game this week featuring two ranked teams? It's been a bizarre season already.
No. 5 Utah is on the verge of a playoff berth at this pace. It's also a 7.5-point favorite for the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
No. 23 California is also unbeaten. Its quarterback, Jared Goff, may now be the open favorite for the Davey O'Brien Award and could be the first quarterback selected in the 2016 NFL Draft. It's 5-0 for the first time since 2007, though, in that season, California did not obtain bowl eligibility until November. The Bears finished that regular season with just one win of its final seven games.
You can expect something similar this year. California next visits UCLA, hosts USC, plays at Oregon, hosts Oregon State, plays at Stanford, and hosts Arizona State to finish its season. This will be a critical game for the Bears.
Wyoming at Air Force (ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.). Your two late-night viewing options may not excite, but they are here anyway. Wyoming is 0-5, looking for its first win at 2-2 Air Force. Air Force's two losses this season were at Michigan State and, last week, at Navy.
Utah State at Fresno State (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.). 2-2 Utah State travels to 1-4 Fresno State. The real intrigue may be Fresno State's depleted roster. Tim DeRuyter just dismissed inside linebacker Michael Lazarus from the team, the second linebacker dismissal in the past two months. DeRuyter's had an attrition issue ever since his arrival.
San Diego State at Hawaii (MWC Video/Oceanic, 11:59 p.m.). Hawaii football after dark on the islands. You know you want to...
