Your Week 7 Viewing Guide

By Vico on October 15, 2015 at 1:30 pm
October 3, 2015: Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones (9) celebrates a first half touchdown reception during the Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Texas A&M Aggies game at Kyle Field, College Station, Texas.
Photographer: Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire
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Ohio State will don all-black on Saturday night in the Horseshoe against Penn State. This game will also serve as the backdrop for Eleven Warriors' Gold Pants Social and Black Saturday Banger on gameday.

Make it a priority to attend those events. The schedule around Ohio State's primetime against Penn State is stacked too. The Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC all have games this week featuring two ranked teams playing against each other. Heck, the Pac-12 even has their tilt on Thursday night.

Your weekly viewing guide follows. Our apologies to Arkansas State and South Alabama, who played on ESPN 2 on Tuesday night. A 29-point fourth-quarter rally allowed Arkansas State to beat South Alabama.

THURSDAY

Auburn at Kentucky (ESPN, 7 p.m.). It's weird to see SEC football on Thursday night, but that's probably where these two programs belong. Trivia question: which of these two teams has the worse overall record and is still looking for its first conference win three games into the conference schedule. The answer may surprise you!

Western Kentucky at North Texas (CBS Sports, 7:30 p.m.). North Texas is 0-5 and suffered what has to be the worst loss ever to an FCS program last week. The 66-7 loss to Portland State led to Dan McCarney's immediate dismissal. Mike Canales is used to this thing, though. He was the interim coach for five games in 2010 after Todd Dodge was fired midway through the season.

UCLA at Stanford (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). This is the first game of the week featuring two ranked teams and a curious Thursday night selection.

Both the Bruins and the Cardinal are 4-1 this season. Both are even separated by just three spots in the AP Poll. However, one program is doing better than the other at the moment. The Cardinal is 3-0 in league play with those three wins all coming in double digits. The Bruins, however, are reeling from a 38-23 home loss to then-floundering Arizona State. Injuries have taken a toll on this team, starting with Eddie Vanderdoes and continuing with Myles Jack. Jack even disenrolled from UCLA to focus on rehabilitation and his upcoming professional career.

Stanford's a touchdown favorite on the Farm. I expect it to cover too.

FRIDAY

Cincinnati at Brigham Young (ESPN, 8 p.m.). Friday night is loaded too. This will be the first of four games on the evening. Brigham Young was living a charmed life before a one-point loss at UCLA. This was followed a by 31-0 shutout in Ann Arbor. The Cougars may be out of the running for a Group of Five selection to the New Year's Six.

Houston at Tulane (ESPNU, 9 p.m.). Houston is now ranked in Tom Herman's first year as Cougars' head coach. It's also a tentative favorite to win the American Athletic Conference West. Houston should be a favorite in its remaining league games before the November 14 showdown against Memphis.

Memphis is undefeated as well. Houston could be gunning for that Group of Five spot in the New Year's Six.

Boise State at Utah State (CBS Sports, 9 p.m.). Boise State is also ranked (no. 21) and we're also accustomed to seeing it play on Friday night. Boise State can be considered the tentative favorite to secure that Group of Five spot in the New Year's Six. No one in the Mountain West poses a serious challenge to the Broncos. In fact, Boise State has two more wins than the next best teams in the conference. That group includes 3-2 Utah State, which would be effectively eliminated from Mountain West "Mountain" Division with a loss.

UNLV at Fresno State (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.). These teams are a combined 3-9 this season and 1-4 in the Mountain West. Still, this game is here if you want it.

SATURDAY

South Florida at Connecticut (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Both Connecticut and South Florida are chasing unbeaten Temple in the American Athletic Conference East Division. A loss is effectively curtains for the losing team.

Tulsa at East Carolina (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). Nothing about this contest fosters much excitement, though East Carolina is not a bad squad. The Pirates have a win over Virginia Tech and a narrow loss at Florida on their résumé.

Purdue at Wisconsin (BTN, 12 p.m.). Wisconsin is a 21-point favorite in this game against a Purdue program approaching historic levels of futility in its entire history.

Texas Tech at Kansas (FOX Sports 1, 12 p.m.). Oof, hard pass.

West Virginia at Baylor (FOX, 12 p.m.). West Virginia handed Baylor its only loss of the regular season last year. Baylor, a 21-point favorite in this game, will look to return the favor.

Iowa at Northwestern (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Northwestern is licking its wounds as it prepares for this game, but who would have thought both sides would be ranked for this game? Iowa's actually a slight favorite entering this game.

Ole Miss at Memphis (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). It's unusual for an SEC team to have back-to-back non-conference games in October. Most save those non-conference games for late November. Unlike New Mexico State, Memphis is no slouch. The Tigers are undefeated and are arguably the best team in the American Athletic Conference.

This game will be played at the Liberty Bowl, but expect the stadium to be overflowing with Ole Miss fans. Memphis is an hour-and-a-half drive from Oxford.

Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). Mississippi State is also playing its second consecutive non-conference game in October. It will also be playing league games the rest of the way through the schedule.

Louisville at Florida State (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Florida State is no. 11 and 5-0 while Louisville is 2-3 with terrible quarterback and offensive line play. Somehow, Florida State is only a touchdown favorite.

Air Force at Colorado State (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). Colorado State is missing Jim McElwain, who is now at Florida. Air Force is no slouch, though. The Falcons might be the last barrier between Boise State and an undefeated conference schedule in the Mountain West.

Virginia Tech at Miami (FL) (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). When ACC officials gerrymandered those peculiar (and still terribly unintuitive) Atlantic and Coastal divisions over ten years ago, I think it banked on this game being one of the marquee events of the ACC football schedule. How myopic.

Alabama at Texas A&M (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Alabama is no. 10 and Texas A&M is no. 9 in a game that promises a lot of intrigue.

Just how good is Texas A&M? It looked the part in the season-opener against Arizona State, beating the then-no. 15 Sun Devils by three touchdowns. However, that win hasn't aged well as Arizona State's season tanked. It has beatdowns against Ball State and Nevada in which the Cardinals and the Wolfpack combined for 50 points in losing efforts. It needed overtime to beat Arkansas in a game in which a competent fourth quarter from Bert would've been enough to subdue the Aggies. In its last game, Texas A&M beat Mississippi State by 13 points. However, Mississippi State was a common preseason pick for a last-place finish in the SEC West, given the attrition from last year's roster to this year.

Did we write off Alabama too soon? Nick Saban thinks so. The Crimson Tide responded from the home loss to Ole Miss with a shutout of UL-Monroe and a 38-10 win over Georgia in Athens. That said, it too was in a deficit against Arkansas late in the second half before finishing with a 27-14 win.

Alabama is a four-point favorite at Kyle Field.

Oklahoma at Kansas State (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). "Soonering" has become the new "Clemsoning". Though Oklahoma is a 4.5-point favorite in the Little Apple against Kansas State, that might continue. Kansas State was in prime position to beat Texas Christian last week despite fielding its fifth-string quarterback.

Rutgers at Indiana (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). The things that are technically Big Ten football games these days. The good news for Rutgers' fans is Kyle Flood returns to the sidelines. I'm not sure that's necessarily "good news," but perhaps Flood knows better than to instruct his quarterback to spike a football on fourth down.

Michigan State at Michigan (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). Michigan is having a season far exceeding expectations right now. It has shut out its last three opponents — the first time an FBS team has done that since 1995 (Kansas State). Even those optimistic about Harbaugh's turnaround were expecting a transition year in 2015.

Indeed, Michigan enters this game as a touchdown favorite over Michigan State, which most analysts pegged as being undefeated before entering Ohio Stadium on Ohio State's senior day.

Nebraska at Minnesota (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Minnesota is a 1.5-point favorite this game, which I'm sure sits well with Nebraska fans who still long for the 1990s. The over-under this game is 46. I'm inclined to bet on the under.

Vanderbilt at South Carolina (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). The post-Spurrier era starts in Columbia, ostensibly because Spurrier did not want to have a winless full league schedule to his name for his last year. South Carolina is 0-4 in the SEC and is just a three-point favorite at home against Vanderbilt. It still has to visit Texas A&M, Tennessee, and host Florida and Clemson.

Oregon State at Washington State (Pac-12 Network, 4 p.m.). Washington State will look to sweep both Oregon schools for the first time since 2006.

Florida at LSU (ESPN, 7 p.m.). No. 8 Florida will break in a second-string quarterback against no. 6 LSU. Will Grier, who had been excellent this season for the undefeated Gators, is banned for the year, pending appeal, for use of PEDs.

LSU is a 7.5-point favorite at home.

Boston College at Clemson (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). This is homecoming in Clemson and the last of a three-game homestand for the Tigers. The next home game for Clemson will be on November 7, against Florida State, ostensibly to decide who wins the ACC Atlantic Division (and, really, the ACC).

Texas Christian at Iowa State (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). It should be concerning for TCU fans that the Horned Frogs were down three touchdowns in Manhattan last week against Kansas State team on its fifth-string quarterback. However, that second half rally for a conference win on the road does say good things about TCU's resolve.

Central Florida at Temple (CBS Sports, 7:30 p.m.). Central Florida is still looking for its first win this season. Temple, meanwhile, is by far the best team in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. The next loss for Central Florida (i.e. this Saturday) eliminates UCF from bowl eligibility.

USC at Notre Dame (NBC, 7:30 p.m.). USC picked a whale of a week to have the Steve Sarkisian story blow up.

However, this isn't new territory for interim coach Clay Helton or USC. The Trojans were led by interim coach Ed Orgeron in 2013 when the USC narrowly lost to Notre Dame in South Bend. Helton, who took over as interim coach when it became apparent to Orgeron he was not going to get the full-time job, led USC to a 45-20 bowl win over Fresno State to end that season.

Missouri at Georgia (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Georgia is a 16-point favorite this game, but its confidence is reeling after two consecutive losses. Georgia message boards should be a fun read if Missouri actually wins this game.

Penn State at Ohio State (ABC, 8 p.m.). This is ABC's primetime game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this game.

Arizona at Colorado (FOX Sports 1, 9 p.m.). Colorado is on a two-game skid, having lost its last two games by a combined 42-point margin. Arizona just ended a two-game skid with a 44-7 win over Oregon State. Before that, Arizona had lost its last two games by a combined 64-point margin.

Arizona State at Utah (ESPN 10 p.m.). No. 4 and tentative playoff-participant (if the season ended today) Utah is a seven-point favorite, but the bigger intrigue may be the coaches. Dennis Erickson has been with Utah since 2013 as a running backs coach and associate head coach, but is looking to help his team score its first win against Arizona State as a Pac-12 member. Meanwhile, head coach Kyle Whittingham is emerging as a candidate for USC's head coaching job as USC looks to finally finish the epilogue and close the book on the Pete Carroll era.

Oregon at Washington (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.). Washington was 15-3 against Oregon under Don James (1975-1992). The series has been all Oregon of late with Washington's last win coming in 2003. The average margin of victory for Oregon over that time, rounded, is 44-18. However, Washington is a two-point favorite this game because that's where Oregon is heading under Mark Helfrich.

San Diego State at San Jose State (ESPNU, 10:30 p.m.). These are nominally the top two teams in the Mountain West's West Division, though that's not saying much. Both are 3-3 this season and the only teams in the division with a conference record above .500 so far.

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