Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 11 of the 2026 College Football Season

We made it.

Football season is officially back, as Week 1 of the 2026 season gets going on Thursday evening. Here is a look at the Big 12 slate for the weekend and some of the better games from a national perspective.

Big 12 Schedule

Bethune-Cookman at UCF — 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN+
Colorado at Georgia Tech — 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN
Idaho at No. 21 Utah — 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPNU
Long Island at Kansas — 7 p.m. Friday on ESPNU
Oregon State at No. 23 Houston — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Coastal Carolina at West Virginia — 11 a.m. Saturday on TNT
SEMO at Iowa state — 12 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Baylor vs. Auburn (Atlanta) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Boston College at Cincinnati — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Oklahoma State at Tulsa — 2:45 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU
Abilene Christian at No. 12 Texas Tech — 6 p.m. Saturday on FS1
Nicholls at Kansas State — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Utah Tech at No. 14 BYU — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Northern Arizona at Arizona — 8:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Morgan State at Arizona State — 9 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+

After TCU went across the pond and looked rather uninspiring in a loss to North Carolina, the Big 12 has three games against Power Conference foes in Week 1. The league could use some wins for perception’s sake.

Colorado-Georgia Tech: Year 4 of the Prime Era of Colorado football gets going Thursday night in Atlanta.

The Buffaloes went 3-9 last season. At Big 12 Media Days, Deion Sanders sounded more confident in this group. Julian Lewis, a former Top 50 recruit, is set to take over at QB. He played sparingly last season, throwing for 589 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in four games last season.

After going 9-4 last season, Georgia Tech enters this game as a 6.5-point favorite. The Yellow Jackets lost long-time starting QB Haynes King to the NFL after he threw for 7,907 yards and 55 touchdowns in three seasons with Georgia Tech. In his place steps Alberto Mendoza, younger brother of former Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza.

Baylor-Auburn: This is the Big 12 game with the most eyeballs on it going into the weekend.

After winning the Big 12 in 2021, Baylor has gone a combined 22-28, which has put Dave Aranda on the hot seat. The Bears did, though, bring in DJ Lagway to start at quarterback. Lagway was the No. 3 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class. It didn’t quite come together for him at Florida, as in two seasons he threw for 4,179 yards, 28 touchdowns and 23 picks. If he can realize his potential in Waco, look out.

Auburn, a 7.5-point favorite, is under new leadership in Alex Golesh, who comes over from USF. Golesh brought quarterback Byrum Brown with him after Brown threw for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns last season while also running for 1,008 yards and 14 more scores.

Boston College-Cincinnati: Cincinnati enters its Week 1 matchup against the ACC’s Boston College as a 7.5-point favorite.

The Bearcats went 7-6 last season — Scott Satterfield’s third year in charge. In that time, Satterfield has taken Cincy from three wins to five wins to seven wins. With Brendan Sorsby gone to Texas Tech, Cincy brought in JC French from Georgia Southern after French threw for 2,929 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.

Boston College was picked 15th (of 16) in the ACC preseason poll. It’s the Eagles’ third season under Bill O’Brien, who went a combined 9-16 in his first two seasons. It looks like Saginaw Valley State transfer Mason McKenzie will start at QB for BC. He’s a dual-threat, who threw for 4,301 yards, ran for 1,673 yards and accounted for 49 total TDs across 25 games at Saginaw Valley.

Other Games to Watch

Tarleton State at Bowling Green — 11 a.m. Saturday ESPN+
Liberty at James Madison — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU
Boise State at No. 2 Oregon — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
Tulane at Duke — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network
Arkansas State at Memphis — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Clemson at No. 11 LSU — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
UCLA at Cal — 9:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Washington State at No. 17 Washington — 3 p.m. Sunday on NBC
Wisconsin at No. 4 Notre Dame (Green Bay) — 6:30 p.m. Sunday on NBC
No. 24 Louisville at No. 9 Ole Miss (Nashville) — 6:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC
No. 19 SMU at Florida State — 6:30 p.m. Monday on ESPN

It’s not the most-electric Week 1 slate ever, but football is back. And if you sift hard enough, you can find some excellent action.

Clemson-LSU: Two of the sport’s larger-than-life coaches will meet in Week 1, and while either of these teams could likely rebound from an early loss, it wouldn’t exactly be ideal.

Clemson has certainly taken a step back from its national title-winning ways, but the Tigers have still averaged 8.7 wins a season the past three years. That step back is oft attributed to Dabo Swinney’s resistance to the poral, but Clemson dipped its toe in those waters this offseason, finishing with the No. 56 portal class (per 247Sports).

But few have hit the portal as hard as LSU. Lane Kiffin is seeking NFL preseason players for goodness sake. 247Sports ranks LSU’s portal class top nationally, which included three five-star transfers and 14 four-star transfers (Clemson had 11 transfers total).

LSU is and should be the favorite, but this is one of the better perceived games of the weekend.

Louisville-Ole Miss: Louisville enters the year as a somewhat trendy pick in the ACC, while Ole Miss returns perhaps the best backfield duo in the country in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, but the Rebels don’t return the guy who orchestrated their offense last season — Lane Kiffin.

Ole Miss is a 6.5-point favorite, as of writing. Clemson-LSU will probably demand more headlines, but this looks to be the better game.

Rivalry Games in Week 1: With Washington and Washington State no longer sharing a conference, the Apple Cup will be contested on Week 1. The Huskies are notable favorites, but the last time this game was played in Seattle, the Cougars left victorious.

The Battle of the Blue Ridge, a lesser-known rivalry between Liberty and James Madison, looks to be even more competitive. The two schools are less than a two-hour drive from each other. Last year was the first time since 2014 that this game was played, and JMU took it 31-13. The Dukes are 6.5-point favorites entering Saturday.

Pac-12 After Dark Returns: UCLA and Cal once shared the Pac-12, and now neither are in the conference. They’ll play a late-night game Saturday that should be a good one.

As of writing, UCLA is a 1.5-point favorite. The Bruins are starting anew with former JMU coach Bob Chesney at the helm. Chesney went 21-6 in two seasons coaching the Dukes. Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele can sling it. He threw for 3,454 yards as a freshman last season.

FCS Upset Alert: Tarleton State is an FCS team with FBS aspirations. The Texans went 12-2 last season (with now-OSU running back Tre Page on the roster), beating FBS Army. In 2024, Tarleton State went 10-4. Bowling Green was picked ninth in the MAC. The Falcons are 2.5-point favorites but are on upset watch.