Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 7 of the College Football Season

Week after week the college football schedule is providing us with great games.

Oklahoma State hosts Kansas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium, but here is a look around the country at games that should excite OSU fans (and just college football fans in general) in Week 7.

Big 12 Schedule

West Virginia at Houston — 6 p.m. Thursday on FS1
Iowa State at Cincinnati — 11 a.m. Saturday on FS1
No. 23 Kansas at Oklahoma State — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1
BYU at TCU — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Kansas State at Texas Tech — 6 p.m. Saturday on FS1

The Big 12 slate starts with what ought to be a fun one Thursday night in the Dana Holgorsen Bowl. The Mountaineers ride a four-game winning streak down to H Town for a clash with a Cougar team that is still looking for its first Big 12 win.

The Cincy Bearcats are also looking for a maiden Big 12 win and will look to do so against an Iowa State team that is just 3-3 but playing teams tougher than expected. The Cyclones have beaten Oklahoma State and TCU this year with their only Big 12 loss coming to Oklahoma in Norman.

Speaking of TCU, the reigning national runner-up is on a two-game losing streak with losses to West Virginia and Iowa State. TCU hosts BYU — the only newcomer with a conference win.

Lastly, Kansas State heads to Lubbock in hopes of a get-right game after playing poorly in Stillwater. After a rough start, the Red Raiders are back up to 3-3 and on a two-game winning streak after beating Houston and Baylor by 20+ points apiece.

Friday Night (College) Lights

Tulane at Memphis — 6 p.m. Friday on ESPN
Stanford at Colorado — 9 p.m. Friday on ESPN

Tulane and Memphis could be a sneaky fun game Friday night with both teams entering at 4-1 and both teams’ losses coming to an SEC school. They sit atop the American Athletic Conference at this point.

At 1-4 (with a loss to Sacramento State), Stanford might stink. But Colorado has gotten into a habit of playing everyone close. Plus, the happenings of this game will undoubtedly be all over social media, so you might as well watch it.

Saturday Selections

Georgia Southern at James Madison — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2
No. 8 Oregon at No. 7 Washington — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Texas A&M at No. 19 Tennessee — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
Florida at South Carolina — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network
Arizona at No. 19 Washington State — 6 p.m. Saturday on Pac-12 Network
Marshall at Georgia State — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2
No. 10 USC at No. 21 Notre Dame — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC
No. 25 Miami at No. 12 North Carolina — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Missouri at No. 24 Kentucky — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network
No. 18 UCLA at No. 15 Oregon State — 7 p.m. Saturday on FOX
NC State at No. 17 Duke — 7 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network

That’s a lot of games, so let’s go quickly on our justifications.

The morning slot isn’t all that spectacular Saturday, but for the sickos, there’s a Sun Belt clash featuring 5-0 James Madison and 4-1 (loss to Wisconsin) Georgia Southern. The Sun Belt East is sort of stacked (as far as Group of Five divisions go) with JMU, Georgia Southern, Marshall and Georgia State all at 4-1 or better.

The Cascade Clash between Oregon and Washington doesn’t need much extra hype this year. Both teams are unbeaten and both have College Football Playoff aspirations.

Texas A&M’s trip to Knoxville intrigues me because, while the Volunteers are the ranked team in this matchup, they lost to Florida (probably the best team they’ve played to this point). Meanwhile, the Aggies have two losses, but they have played a tougher schedule.

South Carolina has played three ranked foes this season and lost all of those games. Florida isn’t ranked but travels to Columbia with two losses to two now-ranked teams. Someone has to win this game.

Future Big 12 member Arizona has three losses this season: a 7-point loss to Mississippi State, a 7-point loss to No. 7 Washington and a 2-point loss to No. 9 USC. The Wildcats travel to Pullman for a battle against a Washington State squad that is coming off its first loss of the year, a 25-17 defeat against UCLA.

The other side of that stacked Sun Belt East sees Marshall (We Are Marshall, I am Marshall) play Georgia State. The Thundering Herd is coming off its first loss of the year, a 7-point game against NC State. Georgia State is also coming off its lone loss after falling to Troy by 21 at home.

Notre Dame has gone through a gauntlet thus far this season. This is the Fighting Irish’s fifth straight game against a ranked opponent. Although USC comes into this game unbeaten and the higher-ranked team, the Trojans have to travel to South Bend and will do so with a defense that has given up a combined 82 points in the past two weeks.

After a strong start to the year, Miami dropped the ball against Georgia Tech last weekend, perhaps looking ahead to this weekend’s clash with Drake Maye and the Tar Heels. North Carolina is 5-0 and averaging 36.6 points a game.

Missouri’s Cinderella run hit a speed bump last week when it fell to LSU 49-39. Kentucky joins Mizzou at 5-1 in a game that could propel the winner forward while pushing the loser down.

UCLA and Oregon State meet in Corvallis as one-loss teams in a stacked Pac-12. The winner of this game gets right back into conference championship talks while the loser is facing an uphill battle.

NC State and Duke enter their in-state rivalry at a combined 8-3 — both teams have lost to Notre Dame, and NC State also fell to a now-ranked Louisville. The rivalry aspect of this should be fun, but it should also be a good game on top of that.