College Football Saturday: Week 5, October 3, 2009 ... Go Hawks!

Saturday, October 3rd (Printable schedule w/ DirecTV channels) Pick, cidsports Top 25 ratings

• Arkansas State at #14 Iowa, 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 (HD) - Iowa to take out Red Wolves 35-12


• Clemson at Maryland, 11:00 a.m., ESPNU (HD) - Clemson get back on track on road


• East Carolina at Marshall, 11:00 a.m., CBSC (HD) - '09 hasn't been quite like '08 for the Pirates


• Michigan at Michigan State, 11:00 a.m., BTN (HD) - Our unranked Wolverines face first road test of '09 in a big game for both the Spartans and Wolverines.


• Northwestern at Purdue, 11:00 a.m., BTN (HD) - Big game for two rebuilding Big Ten teams!


• #23 South Florida at Syracuse, 11:00 a.m., MASN / ESPN-GP / ERTV (cable) - Agree, upset alert in the Big East as South Florida travels to Syracuse to open Big East play


• Toledo at Ball State, 11:00 a.m., ESPN-GP / ERTV (cable) - Ball State isn't the same team this season... look for them to be rocketed!


• Virginia at North Carolina, 11:00 a.m., ESPN-GP *2 / Raycom (HD) *3 / online - Not been on the Tar Heel bandwagon, but they should get back to winning today, at home!


• Wisconsin at Minnesota, 11:00 a.m., ESPN (HD) - Another Big Ten team facing first road test of '09.


• #3 Alabama at Kentucky, 11:21 a.m., ESPN-GP / SEC Network *4 - Will this game be close?


• Kansas State at Iowa State (Kansas City), 2:00 p.m., FCS - DirecTV 617 / FCS Central (cable) - Here's to Cyclones picking up the first Big 12 win of the Paul Rhoades era!


• Air Force at Navy, 2:30 p.m., CBSC (HD) - Love to see rivalry football, Go Navy!


• Florida International at Louisiana-Monroe, 2:30 p.m., ESPN-GP *2 / CSS / CST - Here's to an upset on the road in Sun Belt football!


• Florida State at Boston College, 2:30 p.m., (ABC *1 / ESPN *7) (HD) / ESPN-GP *2 - Can't go against a fellow Jesuit program, who carries the banner in the FBS for us!


• #5 LSU at #12 Georgia, 2:30 p.m., CBS (HD) / Online - Visitor has lost 5 of 7 and Bulldogs won on road last year 52-38. Payback?


• New Mexico at Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m., FSN (HD) - The Red Raiders lost the last meeting in '04, but that was on the road, so Red Raiders hope to end two game losing streak today!


• North Carolina State at Wake Forest, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU (HD) - Deamon Deacons look to win four straight at home in this series!


• #20 Penn State at Illinois, 2:30 p.m., (ESPN *7 / ABC *1) (HD) - An 0-2 is not a good formula to compete with the best in the Big Ten, so one of these contenders is out after today?


• UCLA at Stanford, 2:30 p.m., ABC *1 (HD) / ESPN-GP *2 - The Bruins go for their sixth straight win in this series to continue to spoil coach Jim Harbaugh's climb.


• Washington at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC (HD) - The Huskies are 0-7 vs. the Fighting Irish, so why am I rooting for the Huskies today?


• Western Michigan at Northern Illinois, 2:30 p.m., CSNC / ESPN-GP *2 - The other Huskies have lost three straight games in this series by a total of nine points, ouch!


• Kent State at Baylor, 6:00 p.m., FSSW - Do the Bears have a replacement for talented QB Robert Griffin, who is out of the year?


• #8 Ohio State at Indiana, 6:00 p.m., BTN (HD) - The Buckeyes look to make it 15 straight in the series, this time in Bloomington!


• Ole Miss at #22 Vanderbilt, 6:00 p.m., ESPNU (HD) - Wow, judgement day for the Rebels, since they have lost two straight games to Vandy, even at home last year 17-23.


• Oregon State at Arizona State, 6:00 p.m.. Versus (HD) - Phil Steele commented about the last visit the Beavers visited Tempe, OSU blew a 19-0 lead to fall 32-44.


• South Carolina State at South Carolina, 6:00 p.m., ESPN Classic - In '07, the Gamecocks beat the FCS-MEAC team 38-3, the only previous meeting in the series.


• Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Arlington), 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 (HD) - A SEC-Big 12 match up in Arlington, where the Sooners lost in Week 1 in a Big 12-MWC match up, so is Arlington good for the Big 12 this year?


• #13 Georgia Tech at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m., ESPN-GP / CSS / CST - An ACC-SEC match up in Sparksville, by the way, in this series the Bulldogs are 0-3 all-time.


• Tulsa at Rice, 6:30 p.m., CBSC (HD) - The Golden Hurricane seek to go to six of the last seven vs. Rice, including four straight on the road.


• Auburn at Tennessee, 6:45 p.m., ESPN (HD) - Two freshmen coaches in the SEC square off in Knoxsville, so something will have to give today.


• #11 Oklahoma at #10 Miami-FL, 7:00 p.m., ABC *1 (HD) / ESPN-GP *2 - The Sooners lost in Week 1 on a neutral field vs. BYU, so now the first real road test comes in South Beach, watch out!


• SMU at #17 TCU, 7:00 p.m., Mtn. - A rivalry game between the C-USA-MWC teams, which the Mustangs played spoiler in '05, after the Horned Frogs beat OU on the road to open season.


• UC Davis at #9 Boise State, 7:00 p.m., ESPN-GP / KTVB - This expected to be an ugly game on blue turf in Boise.


• #4 USC at #t25 California, 7:00 p.m., ABC *1 (HD) / ESPN-GP *2 - The Trojans are going for six straight in this series, but a setback could cost the Trojans for the first time, since '01.


• Colorado State at Idaho, 9:30 p.m., ESPNU - The Rams and the Vandels haven't met, since '92 ... the Rams lost @ BYU last week, while the Vandels beat Northern Illinois.

Games that haven't been scheduled for nationally available networks so far.

• Central Michigan at Buffalo, 2:30 p.m., TWS - A big game in the MAC this weekend, with the Chippewas hoping to take out the defending MAC game champs on the road.


• # 7 Cincinnati at Miami Ohio, 12:00 p.m., ESPN 360 - The Bearcats are off to a strong start in '09 and face battle of Ohio schools from Big East and MAC this week.


• #18 Houston at UTEP, 8:00 p.m. - This often is a very close and competitive game of late, so the Cougars must be careful hitting the road for the C-USA opener.


• Memphis at Central Florida, 2:30 p.m., BHSN - C-USA battle today ...


• New Mexico State at San Diego State, 7:00 p.m. - Another WAC-MWC game with bragging rights on the line ...


• Ohio U at Bowling Green, 3:00 p.m., BCSN - The Bobcats hope to ruin the Falcons Homecoming today!


• Temple at Eastern Michigan, 12:00 p.m. - Both head coaches promote defense, but will offense prevail for one of these MAC teams?


• Tulane at Army, 11:00 a.m., Tape delay at 10:30 p.m. on CBSC (HD) - Can the Black Knights get back in the win column today, after pulling off two straight vs. Tulane?


• UNLV at Nevada, 3:00 p.m. - Battle of MWC-WAC teams, with both teams are coming off losses and the Wolf Pack looking to get first win of the season.


• #6 Virginia Tech at Duke, 11:00 a.m., ESPN 360 - Some suggest a trap for the Hokies, but Duke has lost the last eight games in this series, with only one conference win in the past four seasons.


• Washington State at #15 Oregon, 8:15 p.m., OSN - Odd talk in Eugene about LeGarrette Blount coming back in November, if he meets certain team goals, distraction for Ducks?


• Wyoming at Florida Atlantic, 3:00 p.m. - The Owls host the Cowboys, who are 7-0 vs. current Sun Belt teams lifetime, so something will give today.

By the way, #1 Florida, #2 Texas, #16 Nebraska, #19 Oklahoma State,#24 Kansas and #t25 Missouri all idle today and will be getting ready for showdowns in Week 6. It should be a great start in October, as we witnessed some fireworks thus far in September in college football.

peace