Well, it’s been a long week. I don’t like delving too deeply into my personal life here, but things have been hectic. So we’re gonna skip the usual long, boring, drawn-out soliloquy and dive right into what you’re all here for: COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES!
Don’t forget to follow @WatchingFB on Twitter, and remember the Rules. Rule One: If your team is playing, they go on the Big Screen. And Rule Two: all times below are in God’s Time Zone (CST).
FRIDAY
A good one to start your weekend in the Big Ten: Purdue vs. Minnesota (6:30p, BTN). The Boilermakers started nicely but lost by a TD to Northwestern last week. Do they have enough emotional bandwidth to resist a very dangerous, wounded Golden Gophers squad who’ve performed well below expectations this season?
SATURDAY
MORNING
Big Screen: Indiana vs. Ohio State (11a, FOX) is the unexpected diamond-in-the-rough produced by the Big Ten in their self-imposed shortened season. The Hoosiers are undefeated, yes, but none of their wins (even against Penn State and Michigan!) look great right now. The Buckeyes are the first chance to see whether Indy’s for real.
Small Screen: Appalachian State vs. Coastal Carolina (11a, ESPN2) gets this spot because I love making SEC fans mad. No, come on, that’s not it. It’s because it’s legitimately one of the best games this week. Not kidding. If you haven’t been following the saga of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers this season, get caught up. They’ve been doing all the right things and winning with flair and fun. But they’ve run into an upset-hungry brick wall called App State. Let’s see how they handle it.
Watch the Score: LSU vs. Arkansas (11a, SECN)
AFTERNOON
Big Screen: Wisconsin vs. Northwestern (2:30p, ABC) should be a solid three hours. And I mean “solid” in the sense of “weighty or bulky,” because yeah, this is just going to be two teams banging heads. I say that even though the Badgers are embracing the pass more this year under capable QB Graham Mertz. My guess is that this will be won in the trenches.
Small Screen: Cincinnati vs. UCF (2:30p, ESPN) pits two Group of 5 rivals against each other. High flying offense! New Year’s Six bowl berth stakes! The Bearcats probably winning by 28 or so! As Stefon would say, this game has everything.
Watch the Score: UCLA vs. Oregon (2:30p, ESPN2), Virginia Tech vs. Pitt (3p, ACCN), Kansas State vs. Iowa State (3p, FOX)
NIGHT
Big Screen: IT’S BEDLAM TIME. Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (6:30p, ABC) is the perfect way to end any week in 2020, because it’s always off-the-rails insane, frequently a nailbiter, and usually rife with Big 12 title implications. This whole year’s been bedlam. What happens when you add Bedlam to bedlam? Only one way to bedla – I mean find out!
Small Screen: Liberty vs. NC State (6:30p, FSN) is on some podunk TV channel. I don’t care. Watch it. America loves underdog stories. Hugh Freeze has the Flames at 8-0, barreling toward a high bowl berth. NC State isn’t a pushover, though, and after a kind of disappointing season they’d probably love to spoil Liberty’s good time.
Watch the Score: Michigan vs. Rutgers (6:30p, BTN)
LATE NIGHT
Big Screen: USC vs. Utah (9:30p, ESPN) is an above average edition of #Pac12AfterDark, where things get weird and spooky. USC has pulled out two close wins against teams they should have beaten soundly so far this year. Utah hasn’t played a single game. Yes, you read that correctly. It is mid-November and Utah is just now playing football. They’ll have only 5 games to show America what they’re made of. This is probably the highest-profile one.
There you go! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, and as always, happy watching!