Alabama-LSU headlines Saturday’s slate of college football games

All throughout the day, there are some great college football games to tune into. The No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes drew a noontime kickoff with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a game that will air on FOX (check your local listings), but after that game concludes in Columbus, your TV/computer/smartphone will probably be tuned into one the marquee games of the week.

Let’s take a look at what else is happening around the college football landscape today.

---

Noon ET games to watch

#20 Texas A&M at Auburn (ESPN)
Broadcasters: Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard and Allison Williams

Obviously, we always recommend watching the Ohio State game first and foremost, but nowadays, everyone’s got the ability to watch at least one other game, so this Saturday, make it this matchup of two SEC teams that are in similar situations.

Things both teams have in common: they lost to Mississippi State this season. Last week, the Aggies were the ones to fall victim to the Bulldogs, and now they look to get back to their winning ways on the road. Texas A&M is 3-0 at Jordan-Hare Stadium and leads the series all time at 5-3. For Auburn, a win against the Jimbo Fisher coached squad would mark the first time that the home team has won in this series since the Aggies joined the SEC.

Fun tidbit: Only two of the meetings between the schools have been decided by 10 points or less, with the last close game being an Aggies 41-38 win in 2014.

A win for either team makes them bowl eligible (both are 5-3), and gives them a little bit of momentum going into the final weeks of the season. Auburn has Georgia and Alabama left on the schedule, with Liberty smackdab in the middle. They’ll get to bowl eligibility, but a big win here would give them a two-game winning streak heading into their revenge matchup with UGA.

---

3:30(ish) p.m. ET games to watch

#6 Georgia at #9 Kentucky (CBS)
Broadcasters: Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, Rick Neuheisel and John Schriffen

A month ago, this game may not have been on the radar. But now, it’ll likely determine who gets crowned SEC East Division winner. Kentucky needed an untimed down to defeat Missouri last week, while Georgia dispatched Florida to get back into the CFP race.

Kentucky leads the nation in scoring defense at 13.0 points per game, and no opponent this season has been able to break more than 20 points against the Wildcats. Georgia comes in with the second-most explosive offense in the SEC, rounding up 38.6 points per contest.

This is the biggest game UK has played in the Mark Stoops era, and, arguably, is the biggest game they’ve played in the millenia.

#13 West Virginia at #17 Texas (FOX)
Broadcasters: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft

Last week, Texas lost to Oklahoma State on the road — thus derailing their playoff aspirations. While the Longhorns opened the door for others to sneak back into the semifinal picture, another question gets raised: Is Texas, for real, back?

Folks, we’ll find out at 3:30 p.m. ET, as West Virginia comes to Austin for a Big 12 battle. The winner of this game will cling to a spot (at least for another week) in the conference title game. Texas has not lost at home this year, while WVU’s only setback of the season happened on the road at Iowa State.

The quarterback battle of Sam Ehlinger-Will Grier will be one to watch for, as there should be points piled up on both sides. Also keep an eye out for any tomfoolery at the end of the game. Last weekend, we saw a “misinterpretation” featuring Mike Gundy and Tom Herman, and it nearly looked like a fight was about to brew on the field, too.

Either way, this game is definitely worth checking in on.

#14 Penn State at #5 Michigan (3:45 p.m. ET kick/ESPN)
Broadcasters: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor

Notice how I said above in the Texas-WVU game section that it was worth checking in on? The reason for that is because your attention in the 3:30 p.m. ET window should be glued to the Penn State-Michigan game on ESPN.

While a loss wouldn’t end TTUN’s B1G East hopes, it would for PSU. A loss for the Nittany Lions makes it an OSU-UM race to Indianapolis; a win for the James Franklin’s squad keeps them in theoretical contention for the division; though destiny is still controlled either way by the Buckeyes or Wolverines.

Penn State destroyed Michigan last season in Happy Valley after getting destroyed the year prior in Ann Arbor. Will the trend of beatdowns continue? Will Jim Harbaugh get his revenge? Will Kirk Herbstreit make it to the game on time after being in Baton Rouge for “College GameDay”? All those questions, and more, will be answered starting at 3:30 p.m.

---

Primetime games to watch

#4 Notre Dame at Northwestern (7 p.m. ET/ESPN)
Broadcasters: Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe

I’ve got this one as the upset pick of the week. Notre Dame travels to Evanston under the lights, and may very well get tripped up down the homestretch.

For Northwestern, a win would do a lot of things for them. It would give them a five-game winning streak on the season, it would give them their third-straight victory over the Irish, it would make them bowl eligible, and it would mark one of the biggest upsets in program history.

The Wildcats haven’t hosted a top-3 ranked team since 2006, when then-No. 1 Ohio State came to town. OSU won that game 54-10, but things may be different this time around for Pat Fitzgerald’s program.

#1 Alabama at #3 LSU (8 p.m. ET/CBS)
Broadcasters: Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jamie Erdahl

And we’ve arrived to the game of the week.

Part of a CBS double-header, the pairing of Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson will be in the pressbox describing the action. Alabama has seemed invincible, while LSU has slain (impressively) the reigning SEC champions, Georgia.

Tua Tagovailoa may finally need to play in the fourth quarter this week, as the Crimson Tide may not be running away from these brand of Tigers. Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow is the QB for LSU, and while his numbers aren’t close to what Dwayne Haskins has put up for the Buckeyes, he’s led the Tigers to a 7-1 record this season — with big wins over Miami, Auburn Mississippi State and UGA.

LSU coach Ed Orgeron is 0-5 all-time against ‘Bama, while Nick Saban has a record 21 wins against teams with a top 5 standing in the AP Poll.

Should be a great one in the Bayou.

---

Late night games to watch

California at No. 8 Washington State (10:45 p.m. ET/ESPN)
Broadcasters: Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy and Tom Luginbill

California stunned Washington last week at home, and now looks to go on the road to defeat the other half of the Apple Cup contingent. Washington State is in poll position as Pac-12 representative for the Rose Bowl, and are the last hope for the conference at making the playoff.

Halloween has past, but the Saturday spookies may come back to Wazzu. Last season, Cal defeated WSU, 38-3, in Berkeley. What was the Cougars ranking when they lost? No. 8. What is their ranking now, heading into the game against the Bears? No. 8.

#Pac12AfterDark has given us chaos already this season, but it can easily strike again later today.

Utah State at Hawaiʻi (11:59 p.m. ET/Spectrum Sports)
Broadcasters: Robert Kekaula, Rich Miano and Scott Robbs

For those of us who live and breath CFB, the Rainbow Warriors are in action at home against the Aggies of the Utah State variety.

Nothing beats watching college football in a half-asleep state.

---

Here’s the entire college football schedule for this Saturday: