Believe it or not, with all of the attention the game in Tuscaloosa Saturday night is getting, there actually are other college football games scheduled.
And for your convenience, here’s the list, along with the game times and the networks (or streaming services) on which they air, when applicable.
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 10 a.m., ACC Network
Ball State at No. 1 Georgia, 11 a.m., SEC Network
Youngstown State at No. 5 Ohio State, Big Ten Network
Delaware at No. 7 Penn State, 11 a.m., Peacock
No. 10 Notre Dame at North Carolina State, 11 a.m., ABC
No. 12 Utah at Baylor, 11 a.m., ESPN
Troy at No. 15 Kansas State, 11 a.m., Fox Sports 1 (FS1)
Nebraska at Colorado, 11 a.m., FOX
Delaware State at Army, 11 a.m. CBS Sports Network
Purdue at Virginia Tech, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Holy Cross at Boston College, 11 a.m., ESPN+, ACC Network
James Madison at Virginia, 11 a.m.
South Carolina State at Georgia Tech, noon, ESPN+, ACC Network
New Hampshire at Central Michigan, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+
Eastern Illinois at Bowling Green, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Charleston Southern at No. 25 Clemson, 1:15 p.m., ACC Network
Eastern Kentucky vs. Kentucky, 2 p.m., ESPN+, SEC Network Alt.
Southern Utah at BYU, 2 p.m., ESPN+
UNLV at No. 2 Michigan, 2:30 p.m., CBS
No. 20 Ole Miss at No. 24 Tulane, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 23 Texas A&M at Miami, 2:30 p.m., ABC
Iowa at Iowa State, 2:30 p.m., FOX
Richmond at Michigan State, 2:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
UTEP at Northwestern, 2:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
Western Michigan at Syracuse, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+, ACC Network
Miami (Ohio) vs. UMass, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Texas State at Texas-San Antonio, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Wagner at Navy, 2:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Southern Illinois at Northern Illinois, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Texas Southern at Toledo, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Kent State at Arkansas, 3 p.m., SEC Network
Marshall at East Carolina, 3 p.m., ESPNU
Cal Poly at San Jose State, 3 p.m.
Portland State at Wyoming, 3 p.m.
Tulsa at No. 8 Washington, 4 p.m., PAC-12 Network
Austin Peay at No. 9 Tennessee, ESPN+, SEC Network Alt.
Southeast Louisiana at South Alabama, 4 p.m., ESPN+
Appalachian State at North Carolina, 4:15 p.m., ACC Network
Southern Methodist University (SMU) at No. 18 Oklahoma, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Lafayette at No. 21 Duke, 5 p.m., ESPN+, ACC Network
New Mexico State at Liberty, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Duquesne at West Virginia, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Alabama-Birmingham at Geogria Southern, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Ohio at Florida Atlantic, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Louisiana at Old Dominion, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Morgan State at Akron, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Fordham at Buffalo, 5 p.m., ESPN+
North Texas at Florida International, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 5:30 p.m., CW Network
No. 11 Texas at No. 3 Alabama, 6 p.m.
No. 13 Oregon at Texas Tech, 6 p.m., FOX
Jacksonville State at Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m., ESPN+
UConn at Georgia State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m. ESPN+
Middle Tennessee at Missouri, 6 p.m., ESPN+, SEC Network Alt.
Houston Christian at Western Kentucky, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Central Florida at Boise State, 6 p.m., FS1
Houston at Rice, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Florida A&M at South Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Memphis at Arkansas, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Idaho at Nevada, 6 p.m
Grambling at LSU, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+, SEC Network Alt.
No. 19 Wisconsin at Washington State, 6:30 p.m., ABC
McNeese at Florida, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU
Charlotte at Maryland, 6:30 p.m., NBC
Arizona at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network
Temple at Rutgers, 6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
Furman at South Carolina, 6:30 p.m.
UCLA at San Diego State, 6:30 p.m., CBS
Air Force at Sam Houston State, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Nicholls at TCU, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Lamar at Louisiana Monroe, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Tennessee Tech at New Mexico, 7 p.m.
Idaho State at Utah State, 7 p.m.
Southern Miss at No. 4 Florida State, ACC Network
UC Davis at No. 16 Oregon State, 8 p.m., PAC-12 Network
Eastern Washington at Fresno State, 8 p.m.
Stanford at No. 6 Southern Cal, 9:30 p.m., FOX
Auburn at Cal, 9:30 p.m., ESPN
Oklahoma State at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m., FS1
UAlbany at Hawai’i, 10:59 p.m.
In addition to the monster game in Tuscaloosa between ‘Bama and the Longhorns, Texas A&M plays at Miami in a solid non-conference game. Both Arizona programs – Arizona and Arizona State – step out of conference to take on Mississippi State and Oklahoma State. North Carolina takes on Appalachian State, a program with the reputation of being a giant-killer. And we might find out if Utah is as good, and Baylor as bad, as they looked last week – they play each other in Waco.
The staff of thefootballbeat.com (minus a couple of us) have tried to pick the outcomes of 15 of Saturday’s games: associate editor Clayton “Fletch” Fletcher, photographer Alex Nabor, videographer Jacob Lucas, correspondents Jenna Hagler Lucas, Mitchell Molandes, Shelby Thompson Molandes, and myself.
Here are the 15 games and our picks. And these won’t buy you a cup of coffee with 50 cents, as that saying once said. Coffee hasn’t cost 50 cents in 35 years. It’s more like $7 at Starbucks.
Nebraska at Colorado: Matt Rhule is in his first year as coach at Nebraska. Deion Sanders is in his first year as coach at Colorado. Rhule’s team played in one of the most entertaining games of the week last weekend and lost. Colorado played in one of the most entertaining games of the week last week and won. The difference in this one: Colorado has Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Nebraska has – well, they don’t.
THE PICK: Colorado, unanimously, 7-0.
Notre Dame at North Carolina State: The Fighting Irish fought in Ireland last week against an overmatched Navy team. This week, the competition is stepped up. And it’s a true road test with an honest-to-goodness home-crowd advantage for the other team.
THE PICK: 6-1, with everyone except me taking Notre Dame. I’m taking NC State.
Utah at Baylor: Utah quarterback Cam Rising was injured in the Rose Bowl last year and has been rehabbing since. He missed the season opener against Florida, a home game that the Utes won impressively, 24-11. And some are writing off this contest after Baylor was upset by Texas State last week. I personally say, to quote a certain former coach, “Not so fast, my friend.”
THE PICK: Four of us have taken Baylor (Myself, Jenna, Jacob and Alex), and the other three have taken Utah. So 4-3 Baylor is the official pick.
Texas A&M at Miami: How many times have we been told in the last five years that “Miami is back,” and “Texas is back.”
Well, Steve Sarkisian really does appear to have Texas “back,” at least as a Big 12 Conference title contender. Miami, in my personal opinion, needs to actually win something to be declared “back;” having a turnover chain, or hubcap, or whatever that is, doesn’t get it. That being said, I wouldn’t be stunned to see them take down A&M today. I would be mildly surprised.
THE PICK: Jacob says take Miami in the flat-out upset. The rest of us are on A&M, so 6-1 A&M.
Ole Miss at Tulane: Not many believe in Tulane’s ability to defend New Orleans.
THE PICK: Mitchell likes Tulane, and the rest of us are taking the Rebels. 6-1 Ole Miss is the pick.
Iowa at Iowa State: Brock Purdy has no more eligibility left and is now quarterbacking the San Francisco 49ers. But coach Matt Campbell didn’t go to the draft, and didn’t graduate.
THE PICK: Mitchell and Shelby are saying Iowa leaves with a win. The rest of us say Iowa State gets it. So 5-2 is the pick.
Appalachian State at North Carolina: Four words for App State today, in their bid to take down another big program: Drake May. Not today.
THE PICK: North Carolina, but 4-3, not nearly as strong as I thought. Jenna, Jacob and Shelby have all picked App State to get it done. The rest of us have the Tarheels.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh: It’s early, but Cincinnati could impress a lot of people by getting a road win here over a talented Pitt team.
THE PICK: Myself and Jacob take Pitt, everyone else takes Cincy, and the official pick is 5-2.
Texas at Alabama: I’ll save the drama.
THE PICK: Believe it or not, a unanimous pick, all 7-0 for Alabama. Wow.
Oregon at Texas Tech: Tech went on the road and dropped a contest at Wyoming. It might be the biggest upset of the day if they can take down Bo Nix and the Ducks. For the record, Nix went 23-of-27 for 287 yards and three touchdowns against – well, against Portland State.
THE PICK: Jenna and Mitchell say Tech rambles over the Ducks. The rest of us say Oregon escapes Lubbock with a win. So 5-2 Oregon is the pick.
Central Florida at Boise State: The Gus Bus rides from Orlando to Iowa.
THE PICK: Four of us say UCF (myself, Fletch, Jacob and Alex) and three of us say Boise.
Arizona at Mississippi State: To me, a strange matchup. Not sure where the interest in signing this series came from. If I’m Arizona, I’m wary of playing a night game in Starkvegas. (No, it’s not the real name of the city; it’s actually Starkville. Someone years ago started that Starkvegas silliness, and I’m making things worse by referring to it here).
THE PICK: Mitchell takes Arizona in an upset, and the rest of us say State. The pick is 6-1, State.
Stanford at Southern Cal: Heisman Trophy-winner Caleb Williams and the Trojans get a rival early in the season. Let’s just say Jim Harbaugh hasn’t coached at Stanford in a long time.
THE PICK: Mitchell again picks the upset, with Stanford over USC. The rest of us are all on the Trojans. The pick is 6-1, USC.
Oklahoma State at Arizona State: The Cowboys take the Mike Gundy Show on the road to Arizona State, and believe it or not, we have a dissenter. It’s Jacob.
THE PICK: Oklahoma State is the pick, 6-1, with Jacob being the lone voice for Arizona State.
Auburn at Cal: Auburn under new coach Hugh Freeze is the great mystery of the season. But no one other than me believes in Cal to get this done.
THE PICK: I’m on Cal, and everyone else says Auburn. The pick: 6-1 Auburn.
