College football’s weekend schedule, plus TFB’s staff picks

Georgia’s Brock Bowers dives over Tennessee-Martin safety Oshae Baker to score a touchdown in week one of the 2023 season. Bowers and the Georgia Bulldogs host South Carolina on Saturday at 2:30 on CBS. (Photo by JOHN BAZEMORE – COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Georgia’s Brock Bowers dives over Tennessee-Martin safety Oshae Baker to score a touchdown in week one of the 2023 season. Bowers and the Georgia Bulldogs host South Carolina on Saturday at 2:30 on CBS. (Photo by JOHN BAZEMORE – COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Don’t go search anywhere for Saturday’s major college football schedule, all the different networks, times, etc. We’ve got you covered right here, in one spot.

Here it is, every game, every station (do they still call ‘em stations?), every time – by the way, these are listed in Central Standard time, because thefootballbeat.com is located in east Texas, about an hour and a half from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area.

There were a pair of games on a Thursday night, oddly enough: No. 22 Miami defeated Bethune-Cookman, 48-7, and in an American Athletic Conference game, Memphis outlasted Navy, 28-24.

There were three games Friday night. Maryland routed Virginia, 42-14; Army visited the University of Texas-San Antonio and came away with a 37-29 win; and Air Force defeated visiting Utah State, 39-21.

Saturday’s schedule:

No. 3 Florida State at Boston College, 11 a.m., ABC

No. 7 Penn State at Illinois, 11 a.m., FOX

No. 14 LSU at Mississippi State, 11 a.m., ESPN

No. 15 Kansas State at Mississippi State, 11 a.m., SEC Network

Liberty at Buffalo, 11 a.m., CBS Sports Network

Louisville at Indiana, 11 a.m., Big 10 Network

Georgia Southern at Wisconsin, 11 a.m., Big 10 Network

Wake Forest at Old Dominion, 11 a.m., ESPN2

Long Island at Baylor, 11 a.m., ESPN+

Iowa State at Ohio, 11 a.m., ESPN+

Centra Connecticut at Kent State, 11 a.m., ESPN+

North Dakota at Boise State, 11 a.m., FS1

Weber State at No. 12 Utah, 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network

VMI at North Carolina State, 1 p.m., CW Network

UMass at Eastern Michigan, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Norfolk State at Temple, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Indiana State at Ball State, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Central Michigan at No. 9 Notre Dame, 1:30 p.m., Peacock

South Carolina at No. 1 Georgia, 2:30 p.m., CBS

No. 10 Alabama at South Florida, 2:30 p.m., ABC

San Diego State at No. 16 Oregon State, 2:30 p.m., FS1

No. 19 Oklahoma at Tulsa, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2

Minnesota at No. 20 North Carolina, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

Northwestern at No. 21 Duke, 2:30 p.m., ACC Network

Western Michigan at No. 25 Iowa, 2:30 p.m., Big 10 Network

Virginia Tech at Rutgers, 2:30 p.m., Big 10 Network

Florida International at UConn, 2:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network

East Carolina at Appalachian State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+

Western Kentucky at No. 6 Ohio State, 3 p.m., FOX

Louisiana Monroe at Texas A&M, 3 p.m., SEC Network

Idaho at Cal, 3 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Tulane at Southern Miss, 3 p.m., ESPNU

No. 8 Washington at Michigan State, 4 p.m., Peacock

Northern Colorado at No. 23 Washington State, 4 p.m., Pac-12

North Carolina Central at No. 24 UCLA, 4 p.m., Pac-12

Georgia State at Charlotte, 5 p.m., ESPN+

Villanova at Central Florida, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+

No. 11 Tennessee at Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN

Samford at Auburn, 6 p.m., ESPN+

North Texas at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Murray State at Middle Tennessee, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Northern Illinois at Nebraska, 6 p.m., FS1

Vanderbilt at UNLV, 6 p.m., CBS Sports Network

Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati, ESPN+

South Alabama at Oklahoma State, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Tarleton State at Texas Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Louisiana at Alabama-Birmingham, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Prairie View A&M at SMU, 6 p.m, ESPN+

Texas Southern at Rice, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Duquesne at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Stony Brook at Arkansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN+

James Madison at Troy, 6 p.m., NFL Network

San Jose State at Toledo, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Bowling Green at No. 2 Michigan, 6:30 p.m., Big 10 Network

Georgia Tech at No. 17 Ole Miss, SEC Network

BYU at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2

Akron at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Syracuse at Purdue, 6:30 p.m., NBC

Pittsburgh at West Virginia, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Wyoming at No. 4 Texas, 7 p.m., Longhorn Network

Hawai’i at No. 13 Oregon, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Network

New Mexico State at New Mexico, 7 p.m.

Sacramento State at Stanford, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Florida Atlantic at Clemson, 7 p.m., ACC Network

TCU at Houston, 7 p.m., FOX

Jackson State at Texas State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+

Colorado State at No. 18 Colorado, 9 p.m., ESPN

Fresno State at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m., FS1

Kansas at Nevada, 9:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network

UTEPat Arizona, 10 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Staff picks

Here are the games our staff picked this week. To clarify, seven members of our staff – assistant editor Clayton “Fletch” Fletcher, videographer Jacob Lucas, my lovely wife Jenna Hagler Lucas, photographer Alex Nabor, correspondents Mitchell Molandes and HIS lovely wife Shelby Thompson Molandes, and myself – pick 15 college games of MY choice every week, and it’s my choice, quite frankly, because I’m the editor and publisher of the site.

Actually, I pick the games because I have 30 years of experience doing this, and I try to pick the games I feel have the most interest.

By the way, we have a guest picker. My college-student daughter, Ashtyn, out-performed everyone last week except Fletch. Both of them went 12-3. We won’t talk about my record. I had the absolute worst performance of my 30-year career. That’s what happens when you try to pick too many upsets.

At any rate, Ashtyn’s going to join us in our selections this year, since she obviously has butt-kicking ability when it comes to this. So here goes.

No. 3 Florida State at Boston College: Apparently, Florida State’s beat-down of LSU didn’t convince our own Alex Nabor. Either that, or he believes Matt Ryan still has a little eligibility left, because Alex has BC pulling the outright upset here. Everyone else has FSU over Boston College. So 7-1 is the pick, with Alex the lone dissenter.

No. 7 Penn State at Illinois: No one buying any home-field-advantage upset here. I kind of almost did, but… nah. Everyone likes Penn State on the road. The pick is 8-0, all in favor of the Nittany Lions.

No. 14 LSU at Mississippi State: Now this one… this one is a different story. Fletch, Jacob and myself all think LSU is vulnerable on the road. The late coach Mike Leach is no longer helming the Bulldogs. But quarterback Will Rogers is still there. Rogers is a dangerous quarterback. Last year alone, Rogers threw for 3,713 yards and 34 touchdowns. Rogers holds MSU’s records for career passing yards, touchdowns and completions. And I don’t think LSU’s defense has settled in for the season yet.

If the Tigers aren’t able to take the crowd out of the game, there is a strong possibility they could be staring a 1-2 record right in the face – and leaving Davis Wade Stadium with that record Saturday afternoon. The pick is 5-3 in favor of LSU, with Jacob, Fletch and myself all taking MSU, and everyone else taking the Tigers.

No. 15 Kansas State at Missouri: Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz’s seat is not really hot at all right now. And he can make it ice cold with a win over a ranked K-State team. I like Eli, and I’m rooting for him here. I think he gets his upset. I’m taking the Tigers, but I’m the only one. The pick is 7-1, with only me in Missouri’s corner.

South Carolina at No. 1 Georgia: Believe it or not, Fletch had a moment of temporary insanity and picked South Carolina. If I could use the little “shoulder shrug emoji” here, I would. The pick is 7-1.

10 Alabama at South Florida: As I write this, I got word that Alabama has benched quarterback Jalen Milroe for the diminutive Tyler Buchner. I don’t know that you can be described as “diminutive” if you’re 6-foot-1, but compared to Milroe’s bulk, you can. If I’m an Alabama fan, this concerns me. The Crimson Tide had several problems against Texas: difficulty protecting Milroe, his own difficulty with accuracy and getting the ball out fast enough, and particular difficulty getting to the opposing team’s quarterback.

Let’s see how many of those disappear at South Florida on Saturday with a new quarterback. The pick is 8-0, unanimous, in favor of ‘Bama.

San Diego State at No. 16 Oregon State: Oh, memories. I remember when Marshall Faulk played for San Diego State. Those were the days. They are long gone. The pick: Unanimous, Oregon State.

No. 19 Oklahoma at Tulsa: UPSET ALERT. No one picked this, including me, and I don’t really think this would happen. But if I’m an Oklahoma fan, I might – MIGHT – be concerned here. The pick is unanimous, 8-0, for OU, however.

No. 8 Washington at Michigan State: Do the Trojans unify with head coach Mel Tucker suspended by the university and get this done? It’s possible. Jacob and Alex picked an upset here. They’re the only ones. The pick is 6-2, leaning Huskies.

No. 11 Tennessee at Florida: Here’s another good-old-days game. And one day, Florida will be back. But not today. Can’t see the Gators hanging with Tennessee here, not if coach Josh Heupel’s team is half as good as they were in the 2022 season. Jacob and Alex disagree with me, and thusly, the pick is 6-2 in favor of Tennessee.

North Texas at Louisiana Tech: We’ll have staff at this game to watch coaches Eric Morris and Sonny Cumbie in this battle between an American Athletic Conference program (UNT) and a Conference USA team (La. Tech). Actually should be a good one. Alex and Mitchell have North Texas picked to win in a bit of an upset. The rest of us like the Bulldogs, a 6-2 pick in favor of LA Tech. The photos from this, by Nabor, will be off-the-charts good on Sunday on the site.

Georgia Tech at No. 17 Ole Miss: The Rebels get to face former A&M quarterback Haynes King, who didn’t let the door hit him on his way out of College Station. He’s pulling the trigger now at Tech, and probably won’t have enough bullets to get this done. Leonard’s loser, in a not so close one, Georgia Tech. (Some of you are actually old enough to get that.) The pick: Ole Miss, unanimously, 8-0.

BYU at Arkansas: An odd-sounding matchup in this week of odd matchups (Alabama-South Florida AT South Florida, OU at Tulsa, Tech at Ole Miss, to name a few). We actually have a few BYU believers here: Jenna, Alex and Shelby all think they deal the ‘Hogs a loss. None of the rest of us think so. The pick: 5-3, in favor of the Razorbacks.

TCU at Houston: Everyone on the panel believes coach Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs get the ship straightened against Houston, even on the road, an 8-0 unanimous pick.

Wyoming at No. 4 Texas: Um, no. 8-0, Texas.

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