College Football

Full college football TV schedule, Week 3: There are games besides Alabama-Texas A&M

Maybe you've heard Alabama and Texas A&M play this weekend. There are other games too, and here are the ones to watch.

By Peter Berkes Sep 12, 2013, 10:00am EDT

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, and probably even if you have been, you are well aware that Alabama and Texas A&M play on Saturday, and oh boy, the Tide sure gonna fix that no good Johnny Manziel kid; he needs to learn him some respect for the game, anyway I'll hang up and listen, Roll Tide, Pawl.

Contrary to popular belief, however, other games will be played as well. Here's your TV schedule for the weekend, as well as which games to watch.

As always, we'll be grouping games together by day and time slot -- Saturday Lunch, Afternoon, Evening, and Night -- and ranking those games in tiers by anticipated relative viewing quality: Best option, Plan B, Keep it in mind, and Break in case of emergency. Personal fandom obviously can make a difference, but this is trying to be as objective as possible.

Note: We've removed the games that have already happened, for your convenience.

Saturday


12 p.m. ET	16 UCLA	at	23 Nebraska	ABC
12 p.m. ET	5 Stanford	at	Army	CBSSN
12 p.m. ET	7 Louisville	at	Kentucky	ESPN
12 p.m. ET	Akron	at	11 Michigan	Big Ten Network
12 p.m. ET	Tulsa	at	14 Oklahoma	ESPN 2
12 p.m. ET	Virginia Tech	at	East Carolina	FSN
12 p.m. ET	Bowling Green	at	Indiana	ESPNU
12 p.m. ET	Western Illinois	at	Minnesota	Big Ten Network
12 p.m. ET	Georgia State	at	West Virginia	Mountaineer Network
12:21 p.m. ET	Southern Miss	at	Arkansas	SEC Network, ESPN3.com
12:30 p.m. ET	New Mexico	at	Pittsburgh	ACC Network, ESPN3.com
12:30 p.m. ET	ULM	at	Wake Forest	RSN, ESPN3.com
1 p.m. ET	Eastern Michigan	at	Rutgers	ESPN3.com
1 p.m. ET	Fordham	at	Temple	ESPN3.com
2 p.m. ET	Fresno State	at	Colorado	Pac-12 Network
2 p.m. ET	Youngstown State	at	Michigan State	Big Ten Network
3 p.m. ET	Boston College	at	USC	Pac-12 Network
3 p.m. ET	Texas Southern	at	Sam Houston State	CSN-HOU
3:05 p.m. ET	Colorado Mesa	at	Montana State	Max Media
3:30 p.m. ET	1 Alabama	at	6 Texas A&M	CBS
3:30 p.m. ET	Nevada	at	10 Florida State	ESPN
3:30 p.m. ET	Tennessee	at	2 Oregon	ABC
3:30 p.m. ET	Stony Brook	at	Buffalo	ESPN3.com
3:30 p.m. ET	Cal Poly	at	Colorado State	TheMW.com
3:30 p.m. ET	Georgia Tech	at	Duke	ESPNU
3:30 p.m. ET	Delaware	at	Navy	CBSSN
4 p.m. ET	Ball State	at	North Texas	FSN
4 p.m. ET	Wagner	at	Syracuse	ESPN3.com
4 p.m. ET	Northern Colorado	at	Wyoming
5 p.m. ET	Northern Illinois	at	Idaho	GoVandals.com
5 p.m. ET	Alabama State	at	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	ESPN3.com
6 p.m. ET	19 Washington	vs.	Illinois	Big Ten Network
6 p.m. ET	Bethune-Cookman	at	FIU	FIUSports.com
6 p.m. ET	Iowa	at	Iowa State	FOX Sports 1
6 p.m. ET	UCF	at	Penn State	Big Ten Network
6:30 p.m. ET	Southern Utah	at	Washington State	Pac-12 Network
7 p.m. ET	4 Ohio State	at	California	FOX
7 p.m. ET	Vanderbilt	at	13 South Carolina	ESPN
7 p.m. ET	Kent State	at	8 LSU	ESPNU
7 p.m. ET	Mississippi State	at	Auburn	ESPN 2
7 p.m. ET	Northwestern State	at	Cincinnati	ESPN3.com
7 p.m. ET	UMass	at	Kansas State	K-StateHD.tv
7 p.m. ET	Nicholls	at	Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN3.com
7 p.m. ET	Memphis	at	Middle Tennessee	CSS
7 p.m. ET	Eastern Washington	at	Toledo	ESPN3.com
7 p.m. ET	FAU	at	USF	ESPN3.com
7 p.m. ET	Rhode Island	at	Albany	NBCSports Regional
7 p.m. ET	Montana	at	North Dakota	Max Media
7:30 p.m. ET	Lamar	at	12 Oklahoma State	MASN2
7:30 p.m. ET	Maryland	at	UConn	ESPN3.com
7:30 p.m. ET	Kansas	at	Rice	CBSSN
7:30 p.m. ET	Western Kentucky	at	South Alabama	ESPN3.com
8 p.m. ET	21 Notre Dame	at	Purdue	ABC
8 p.m. ET	25 Ole Miss	at	Texas	Longhorn Network
8 p.m. ET	Marshall	at	Ohio	ESPN News
8 p.m. ET	Weber State	at	Utah State	ESPN3.com
8 p.m. ET	UTEP	at	New Mexico State
9 p.m. ET	Western Michigan	at	17 Northwestern	Big Ten Network
10 p.m. ET	Central Michigan	at	UNLV	Mountain West Network
10 p.m. ET	Oregon State	at	Utah	FOX Sports 1
10:30 p.m. ET	20 Wisconsin	at	Arizona State	ESPN
10:30 p.m. ET	UTSA	at	Arizona	Pac-12 Network

Lunch Shift

Best option: UCLA at Nebraska

Announcers: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, and Shannon Spake
Odds: Nebraska -4.5
Weather: Mostly sunny with a high in the mid-70s.

An early season non-conference game featuring two ranked teams in the noon time slot? Yes, this Saturday is great. UCLA is good at running the ball, and that's precisely what Nebraska is bad at stopping. Points could come in bunches -- no, bushels -- in this one.

Plan B: Louisville at Kentucky

The Cards are big favorites over the Wildcats, but watching the fanbase of the losing team melt down might be the more entertaining than seeing Teddy Bridgewater tear Kentucky's defense to shreds.

Keep it in mind: Bowling Green at Indiana

Both of these teams like to score a lot. Not sure what else you're looking for at noon on a Saturday.

Break in case of emergency: Tulsa at Oklahoma

Blake Bell will get the start for the injured Trevor Knight. If he plays well and shows a decent ability to throw the ball, Knight may not get the job back anytime soon.

Afternoon Shift

Best option: Alabama at Texas A&M

Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, and Tracy Wolfson
Odds: Texas A&M +7.5
Weather: Partly cloudy with a high in the mid-90s.

We've been looking forward to this game for almost a year. You've read all the analysis. Let's do this.

Plan B: Tennessee at Oregon

The Vols have looked good against overmatched competition so far. So have the Ducks, to be fair, but they're a liiiiiiittle bit more of a sure thing right now. An SEC team is making a rare west coast trip, so good on Tennessee for living adventurously. It will probably result in a loss, but risks are what make life spicy.

Keep it in mind: Washington at Illinois, UCF at Penn State

All four of these teams have had encouraging starts to their 2013 seasons. That's going to end for somebody here, so keep an eye on these and have your remote ready.

Break in case of emergency: Iowa at Iowa State

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: This game is only to be consumed if your hard-workin'-family-values levels are dangerously low. Be advised.

Evening Shift

Best option: Ohio State at Cal

Announcers: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, and Kristina Pink
Odds: Off at the moment, due to Braxton Miller's injury situation at time of publication.
Weather: Mostly sunny, high in the mid-70s.

We basically know what we're getting in Ohio State, but Cal has looked friskier than advertised to start the season. They'll need a better defensive effort to keep the Buckeyes within striking distance, but I'm sure Sonny Dykes and the Bears will be perfectly happy to turn this game into a shootout.

Plan B: Vanderbilt at South Carolina, Ole Miss at Texas

If the Gamecocks can't put last week's loss behind them and stumble once again, their 2013 season could be dead in the water before September is halfway over. Vanderbilt will be the underdog for sure, but they are certainly not a team to be taken lightly at this point.

Meanwhile in Austin, the townsfolk are at Mack Brown's gates with torches and pitchforks, and I don't know if Manny Diaz's dismissal will sate them. The Longhorns gave up an astounding 550 rushing yards against BYU last week, and Hugh Freeze must be licking his chops thinking about what his playmakers can do in space against this defense.

Keep it in mind: Mississippi State at Auburn

Five long years ago. Never forget.

Break in case of emergency: Notre Dame at Purdue

Bold prediction: You're not going to watch this game unless you're a Notre Dame or Purdue fan.

Night Shift

Best option: Wisconsin at Arizona State

Announcers: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, and Tom Luginbill
Odds: Arizona State -5.5
Weather: Partly cloudy with a high above 100.

Put on a pot of coffee, because this game is worth staying up late for. Neither of these teams has yielded a point to opposition so far this year, which is still impressive even when you take into account the overmatched competition. The winner of this game should be a legitimate top-20 team.

Plan B: Oregon State at Utah

The Beavers recovered nicely from their loss to Eastern Washington, but they have a much tougher task ahead of them in Utah. The Utes have quietly begun the season in a very competent manner, and could announce themselves with a big win against Oregon State. This feels an awful lot like a fork in the road for the Beavers.

Keep it in mind: UTSA at Arizona

Weird things can happen in the desert at night.

Break in case of emergency: Central Michigan at UNLV

The option is there, is all I'm saying.