Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 6 of the College Football Season

The college football season is flying by; it’s already Week 6.

It’s a bye week-heavy weekend for a lot of college football teams, but there are still more than a handful of games that could have an impact on the Big 12 and College Football Playoff races. Here is an Oklahoma State’s fan’s guide to the weekend.

Big 12 Schedule

Houston (1-4) at TCU (3-2) — 6:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN
West Virginia (2-2) at Oklahoma State (3-2) — 3 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Baylor (2-3) at No. 16 Iowa State (4-0) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
UCF (3-1) at Florida (2-2) — 6:45 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network
Kansas (1-4) at Arizona State (3-1) — 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2
Texas Tech (4-1) at Arizona (3-1) — 10 p.m. Saturday on FOX

It’s a relatively quiet week in Big 12 country, but it’s another week for teams to step up into the dark horse realm of the conference’s title race.

The action starts Friday when Houston makes the trip up to Fort Worth to play a TCU squad that just went to Lawrence and won. The Cougars have been shut out in their past two games.

Iowa State has steadily sneaked up the pecking order after beating Houston 20-0 last weekend. The Cyclones need to keep this run of form going because they finish the year with a trip to Utah before hosting Kansas State. So, best to stack wins now.

UCF could get some Sunshine State bragging rights in Gainesville this weekend. With Florida and Florida State struggling, this could be a chance to climb the rungs of the state in terms of notoriety.

Kansas is having a dismal start to the season. The only team KU has beaten to this point is Lindenwood. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils have started better than many expected, but they are coming off a loss in Lubbock.

Speaking of said team in Lubbock, the Red Raiders are headed to Arizona for a matchup of teams that are unbeaten in Big 12 play (Arizona lost to K-State but in a nonconference game). Neither of these teams have to play Kansas State (in Big 12 play) or Utah this season, so a win here could propel either into a contender for the Big 12, especially with how topsy turvy this league has been so far.

Other Games to Watch

Syracuse (3-1) at No. 25 UNLV (3-1) — 8 p.m. Friday on FS1
No. 9 Missouri (4-0) at No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC
SMU (4-1) at No. 22 Louisville (3-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Army (4-0) at Tulsa (2-3) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU
Iowa (3-1) at No. 3 Ohio State (4-0) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS

UNLV is slowly turning into a story of the season. The Rebels lost quarterback Matt Sluka to an NIL dispute (welcome to 2024). But UNLV went out last weekend without Sluka, and quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams led the Rebels to a 59-14 win against Fresno State where Williams threw for three touchdowns and ran for another.

After a season-opening loss to Notre Dame, Texas A&M has won four in a row. Meanwhile, Mizzou is an undefeated top 10 team.

SMU started its ACC journey with a win against Florida State last week. The Mustangs have the chance to pull off a difficult turnaround with a trip to play the ranked Louisville Cardinals.

Army is unbeaten and has a chance at making the College Football Playoff if it can keep rolling and win the American. The Black Knights are in the 918 this weekend. Tulsa has lost three of four.

It’s that time of the year where Iowa plays a team with a pulse and will probably get throttled. But, the Hawkeyes have averaged 32 points a game to this point in the season.