Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 9 of the 2026 College Football Season

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The weather is starting to cool, which means the football is getting more important.

Here is a look at some of the best games around the Big 12 and the country for the last weekend of October.

Big 12 Schedule

Baylor (4-3) at UCF (4-3) — 6:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN
No. 22 Arizona (6-1) at No. 13 Texas Tech (6-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Kansas State (4-3) at Colorado (2-5) — 1 p.m. Saturday on TNT
Arizona State (4-3) at No. 8 BYU (6-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Kansas (3-4) at TCU (3-4) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1
No. 6 Utah (7-0) at Cincinnati (5-2) — 2:45 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
No. 24 Oklahoma State (5-2) at Iowa State (3-4) — 6 p.m. Saturday on FOX

Arizona-Tech: The Wildcats have been lurking in the Big 12 title discussion. They have a tough close to the season, starting with this trip to Lubbock.

Arizona has one loss this year — on the road against BYU. Over the next three weeks, the Wildcats will get Tech and Utah (Nov. 14).

Texas Tech is coming off its first loss of the year, as the Red Raiders got stumped by Cincy 37-24 last week. Tech still has a trip to Stillwater left after this game.

So, the loser of this game will see their Big 12 title hopes take a notable dip given they still have a tough test remaining.

Utah-Cincy: The Bearcats went from losing to West Virginia to beating Texas Tech. Both of Cincy’s losses have come on the road, so Utah is entering a dangerous spot traveling to Nippert Stadium.

The Utes hadn’t been super tested until last week when they hosted and beat Houston in a Top 15 matchup. Could this be a letdown spot?

Baylor-UCF: Baylor moved on from Dave Aranda this past weekend, meaning they’re going to the Bounce House with an interim coach in Joe Klanderman.

Both of these teams are in a spot to potentially make a bowl needing just two wins in their last five games. UCF seems the most positioned to do that, but they’ll have to recover from the high of beating BYU last week. If Baylor doesn’t win here, getting to six wins is going to be tough because the Bears close the year with games at BYU, against Tech and at Houston.

Other Games to Watch

FAU (5-2) at North Texas (5-2) — 6:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN
No. 17 Florida (5-2) at No. 3 Georgia (6-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Minnesota (5-2) at No. 4 Indiana (7-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
No. 2 Ohio State (6-1) at USC (6-2) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC

There aren’t a ton of obviously must-watch games this weekend, which probably means it’ll be chaotic.

FAU-UNT: This is a big game in the American, as the Mean Green are 3-0 in conference play to FAU’s 2-1. FAU’s only losses are to Florida and Army, while UNT has lost to Indiana and Texas State. So, both of these teams are in the fight for an American title. Boise State (Pac-12) is the favorite among the G6 to make the playoff, but should the Broncos slip up, the American champ will almost certainly be in contention.

Florida-Georgia: After back-to-back losses, the Gators got back in the win column by beating Texas in Austin. And then Florida got a week off heading into this one.

The Gators have had some big wins — beating Ole Miss and Texas — but they’ve also gotten blown out in their two Ls to Missouri and South Carolina. So depending on what Florida team steps off the bus, this could be a fun one or a Georgia blowout.

The Bulldogs are coming off their first loss of the year, a head-scratching home loss to Auburn. You have to imagine Kirby Smart has had an intense few weeks of practice leading into this game.

Minnesota-Indiana: The Gophers have had some big wins this year, as it seems every week I see PJ Fleck crowd surfing in his locker room. Although Indiana hasn’t looked as dominant this season as last, the Hoosiers’ only loss is to the team currently ranked second in the AP Poll in Ohio State.

Ohio State-USC: Speaking of the Buckeyes, they head to Los Angeles as the noise surrounding Lincoln Riley and the Trojans continues to grow louder. USC had a dumbfounding loss in Wisconsin last week, and the Trojans still have games against No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Indiana and No. 7 UCLA to play.