Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 4 of the College Football Season

After a little Big 12 appetizer last week, we get a full course Saturday.

Many teams open conference play this weekend, including the Cowboys. Here is a preview of the Big 12 this week and a quick look at a few other games around the country that stand out.

Big 12 Schedule

Houston (1-2) at Cincinnati (2-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on FS1
Kansas (1-2) at West Virginia (1-2) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2
Arkansas State (2-1) at No. 20 Iowa State (2-0) — 1 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Arizona State (3-0) at Texas Tech (2-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1
No. 12 Utah (3-0) at No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-0) — 3 p.m. Saturday on FOX
TCU (2-1) at SMU (2-1) — 4 p.m. Saturday on CW
Baylor (2-1) at Colorado (2-1) — 7 p.m. Saturday on FOX
No. 13 Kansas State (3-0) at BYU (3-0) — 9:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN

After a disappointing loss to UNLV to start the year (UNLV is now 3-0 with wins over Houston and Kansas, for what it’s worth), the Cougars have looked much better, taking OU to the wire before clobbering in-city rival Rice last week. Cincy’s lone loss to this point is to Pitt — another 3-0 team with two wins against Big 12 foes. So, this looks like it’ll be a solid matchup for the midfield of the Big 12.

Kansas and West Virginia enter Big 12 play already in a feeling of must-win. Both teams are 1-2 with their wins coming against FCS teams.

The Sun Devils have perhaps been the surprise of the Big 12 to this point at 3-0 after back-to-back seasons of finishing 3-9. Tech has put up a bunch of points in its wins but did get handled fairly soundly by a strong Washington State squad.

TCU and SMU will battle for the Iron Skillet on Saturday. The Horned Frogs lost their Big 12 opener last weekend to UCF. SMU is coming off a loss to another Big 12 team — BYU.

Baylor and Colorado aren’t right now considered among Big 12 title contenders but both have somewhat respectable losses to this point. The winner could use this momentum to become a dark horse.

BYU has taken care of business through three weeks, and now the Cougars have a chance to start Big 12 play with a bang. Provo should be rocking as the No. 13 Wildcats come to town.

Friday Night (College) Lights

No. 24 Illinois (3-0) at No. 22 Nebraska (3-0) — 7 p.m. Friday on FOX

Texas appears to be back; could this trip to the past also include the Cornhuskers being back? Highly touted freshman Dylan Raiola and Nebraska have a chance to continue their strong start to the season with a Top 25 matchup against the Illini on Friday night.

Saturday Selections

No. 11 USC (2-0) at No. 18 Michigan (2-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
Tulsa (1-2) at Louisiana Tech (1-1) — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) at No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Iowa (2-1) at Minnesota (2-1) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC

USC’s first game in the Big Ten is a highly anticipated bout against the defending national champ. The Wolverines are still retooling after losing so much from last season’s team, but this should be a decent barometer for how the Trojans can hang in their new conference.

After getting thumped last weekend, Tulsa hits the road for a game against Louisiana Tech. It’ll be interesting to see where the Golden Hurricane is at after two straight losses.

The game that stole GameDay from Stillwater, Tennessee and former OU quarterback Josh Heupel head to Norman to play the Sooners in their first SEC game. The matchup between the Volunteers’ offense (averaging 63.7 points a game) and the Sooners’ defense (giving up 11.3 points a game) will be fun. But OU’s offense has been smelly to this point in the year.

Iowa and Minnesota probably won’t score a ton of points, but someone will leave this classic Big Ten matchup with a pig trophy. The Golden Gophers haven’t given up a point since their season opener. Iowa has been better at scoring this year (would’ve been hard to get worse), but that’ll certainly be tested in Minneapolis.