College Football Week 13 TV schedule: How to binge-watch
Thursday
Mississippi State at Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN
While this game doesn’t mean a ton, it’s a rivalry, which means it could get a little weird, like it did last year. On top of it being a rivalry, this is a pretty cool matchup. Ole Miss has a top ten offense, and Mississippi State has a top ten defense. That’s exciting and interesting, and while I think Mississippi State runs away with it, there could be some wackiness on the lone Thursday night pick.
One sentence sell: Relax after all that food with a nice strength-on-strength matchup.
Friday
Houston at Memphis, 12:00 p.m. EST, ABC
This game, while it’ll be fun on its own, is one of those games with conference title implications. Because SMU lost to Memphis last week, the winner of this game wins the AAC West, and will go to Orlando to play the defending national champs next weekend. While Houston is without D’Eriq King, this should still be an offensive battle, and a solid warm-up for a full day of Friday football.
One sentence sell: It’s pretty much the only good Noon game on Friday.
Virginia at Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m. EST, ABC
I don’t have a ton to say about this one, and I think Virginia is going to win, but I will say, there’s a pretty big reason to watch this one. Whichever fanbase loses is going to be extremely unhappy about it, for wildly different reasons, and in this column we love anxiety driven football games like this one.
One sentence sell: If Bryce Perkins is playing, it could be a very long day for Virginia Tech’s defense.
UCF at USF, 4:15 p.m. EST, ESPN
The battle on I-4 was a delight last year, as UCF and USF combined for nearly 100 points and went punch for punch all game long. I don’t think it’ll be that close this year because UCF is awesome and USF is, well, struggling, but it should still be fun. UCF might be looking for style points, so if you want to see somebody drop 60, this might be the game to watch.
One sentence sell: UCF is extremely good and worth watching.
Oklahoma at West Virginia, 8:00 p.m. EST, ESPN
The second of three games with title implications on Friday, this is probably the most entertaining of the bunch. West Virginia and Oklahoma are pretty easily the best two offenses in the Big 12, and neither one has any intention of playing defense at any time. That means we should get a duel between Kyler Murray and Will Grier for a spot in the Big 12 title game against Texas (as long as Texas doesn’t do anything dumb).
One sentence sell: FRIDAY NIGHT SHOOTOUT.
Washington at Washington State, 8:30 p.m. EST, FOX
The third and final game of the day with title implications, is of course, the Apple Cup. This game is jam-packed with narrative, be it Mike Leach’s inability to get past Chris Petersen, Wazzu’s continuous collapses down the stretch each of the past few years, or the actual matchups of the game. We’ll focus on the latter. Wazzu’s offense against Washington’s defense is awesome, and you should watch it.
One sentence sell: We could have playoff Mike Leach if Wazzu wins.