Ohio State vs. TCU isn’t the only exciting game on today’s college football schedule

Oh, things are getting serious today! Yes, the Buckeyes are finally playing an opponent with a pulse; yes, the Tiger Bowl is happening down on The Plains; yes the week’s most entertaining game might be Boise State at Oklahoma State, but honestly, who cares?

It is the day that we have all been waiting for. It is like the college football equivalent of Christmas, or Tax Day, or a four-hour visit to the dentist that includes all four wisdom teeth being pulled and a root canal. It’s Rutgers vs. Kansas Day!

Since the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes don’t kick off until 8 p.m. ET against the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs, there is plenty of time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the other games for a while. Despite the much-anticipated, long-awaited Scarlet Knights and Jayhawks matchup, the noon window doesn’t bring a ton of excitement to the table. However, there are some early opportunities to scout Ohio State’s upcoming opponents.

At noon on FS1, No. 11 Penn State will host the Kent State. While I wouldn’t expect to see the Flashes put up much of a fight in Happy Valley, it should be a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with the Buckeyes’ next major opponent after TCU. OSU and PSU play in State College, Penn., on Saturday, Sept. 29.

If you’d prefer to flip the TV to a more immediate Buckeye opponent, too bad, because Ohio State’s next foe, the Tulane Green Wave, isn’t playing on television today. Instead, they will be traveling to UAB to play the Blazers at 1 p.m. ET in a game broadcast on the Facebook... what is this world coming to?

However, once you get through the dregs of the opening timeslot, things get exciting, because at 3:30 p.m. ET, you’ve got a pair of ranked-vs.-ranked matchups, and two Big Ten contenders hosting teams looking to rebound coming off of losses.

On CBS, we’ve got the Battle of the Tigers as Joe Burrow and the No. 12 LSU Tigers head over to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face the No. 7 Auburn Tigers in a major SEC West matchup. Then, we’ve got the aforementioned most exciting game of the day (non-OSU vs. TCU edition, obviously), as No. 17 Boise State travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on mulletless Mike Gundy’s No. 24 Oklahoma State Cowboys.

A little closer to home, No. 6 Wisconsin hosts BYU, and No. 19 Michigan hosts SMU.

As we get closer to the Buckeyes’ gametime, at 7 p.m. ET over on ESPN, the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will look to knockoff Ole miss in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels are inexplicably 2-2 vs. the Tide since 2014, but I can’t imagine a scenario in which ‘Bama doesn’t win this one by at least three touchdowns.

Kicking off at the same time as the Buckeyes, just three hours south on I-35 in Austin, will be No. 22 USC and Texas. These two storied programs have quite the history against each other. Neither has looked especially impressive so far this season, but it could be a statement game for either program, if they end up winning comfortably.

We’ve also got some other fun, ranked Pac-12 After Dark options as the No. 10 Washington Huskies visit the Utah Utes, and the No. 23 Fighting Herm Edwardses, a.k.a. the Arizona State Sun Devils, will go on the road to Herm’s alma mater, San Diego State. I don’t expect upsets in either game, but you never know what types of craziness will happen when the sun goes down out west.