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College football viewing guide Week 9: RANKED ROAD TRIP MADNESS

THIS IS MARCH OCTOBER.

NCAA Football: Oregon State at Washington Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

A full 14 ranked teams play away this week, three of which are facing off against other ranked opponents. If Week 9 feels like the first ranked road trip test weekend of the season, that’s because it is.

Now that we all know what every FBS program’s head coach is earning this year, every matchup from here on out this season becomes a hilarious, if pointless, showdown of WHO’S EARNING THAT CHECK BETTER. Charlie Strong, for instance, is very probably coaching for his job Saturday as he welcomes No. 8 Baylor into Austin (2:30 p.m. CT, ABC and live streaming at WatchESPN) for one last attempt to convince Longhorn nation that he’s definitely worth his $5.2 million. Now read that sentence with a straight face.

Here’s what else we’re paying attention to while not paying attention to Auburn-Ole Miss. As ever, head on over to Jason Kirk’s watchability grid for the full weekend’s viewing advice.

Early Saturday games

No. 2 Michigan at Michigan State

11 a.m. CT, ESPN (live streaming at WatchESPN)

There are two reasons to keep this on in the background: (1) Last year’s installment in Ann Arbor ended on the second craziest play of the season (behind 4th-and-25, of course) and pushed Sparty past the Wolverines in dramatic fashion; (2) assuming something like that doesn’t happen again, a very, very, very angry Jim Harbaugh certainly has it in him to dump 85 points on Mark Dantonio’s club and thereby single-handedly vaporize Dantanio from B1G coaching forever.

Saturday afternoon games

No. 4 Washington at No. 17 Utah

2:30 p.m. CT, FS1 (live streaming at FOX Sports Go)

BIG TIME TEST for the CFP-hopeful Huskies on the road against a nifty Utah squad that’s playing spectacular football right now. College Gameday will be in the house, and there’s a high likelihood that this one comes all the way down to the wire. Taking Utah +10.5 in this game feels like free money.

No. 14 Florida “at” Georgia

2:30 p.m. CT, CBS (live streaming at CBS Sports)

If it’s Halloween weekend you can bet your ass that these two teams will be doing whatever it is they do in Jacksonville every damn year. Or, you could just head on down to Gainesville and catch THE FEST, since all of the students are out of town for a few days and Hot Water Music threatens a reunion show every year that never materializes. Whatever, somebody will definitely win this game.

Miami at Notre Dame

2:30 p.m. CT, NBC (live streaming at NBC Sports)

The Irish are 2-5 and Brian Kelly has only himself to blame, even if that’ll never happen. Kelly’s gonna get shitcanned when the season ends and he’ll still show up for work the next day out of pure, incredulous spite. Sorry, dude, we already changed the locks.

Samford at Mississippi State

2:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network (live streaming at WatchESPN)

BULLDOG BOWL. This places you under no obligation to watch this game, but maybe flick it on late in the fourth quarter for some possible (probable???) schadenfreude. Spooky!

Saturday evening games

No. 7 Nebraska at No. 11 Wisconsin

6 p.m. CT, ESPN (live streaming at WatchESPN)

Can Nebraska remain undefeated on the road in Madison? Are we ready for the specter of an 8-0 Nebraska?

No. 3 Clemson at No. 12 FSU

7 p.m. CT, ABC (live streaming at WatchESPN)

TAKE LOTS WITH ALCOHOL.

#Pac12AfterDark

Stanford at Arizona

10 p.m. CT, FS1 (live streaming at FOX Sports Go)

Complete Saturday schedule

Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016
Matchup Time (ET) TV / Streaming
(2) Michigan at Michigan State 12:00 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
(5) Louisville at Virginia 12:00 p.m. ABC/ESPN2 (RM) / WatchESPN
(10) West Virginia at Oklahoma State 12:00 p.m. FOX / FS Go
(24) Penn State at Purdue 12:00 p.m. ABC/ESPN2 (RM) / WatchESPN
Duke at Georgia Tech 12:00 p.m. RSN / ACCNExtra
Kansas State at Iowa State 12:00 p.m. FSN / FS Go
Kent State at Central Michigan 12:00 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Kentucky at Missouri 12:00 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
Minnesota at Illinois 12:00 p.m. BTN / BTN2Go
UCF at Houston 12:00 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
UConn at East Carolina 12:00 p.m. ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
Wagner at UMass 12:00 p.m. ASN/NESN / ESPN3
Boston College at NC State 12:30 p.m. ACCN / ACCNExtra
(4) Washington at (17) Utah 3:30 p.m. FS1 / FS Go
(8) Baylor at Texas 3:30 p.m. ABC / ESPN3
(14) Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville, FL) 3:30 p.m. CBS / CBSSports.com
Army at Wake Forest 3:30 p.m. RSN / ACCNExtra
Cincinnati at Temple 3:30 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Maryland at Indiana 3:30 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
Miami (FL) at Notre Dame 3:30 p.m. NBC / NBCSports.com
Miami (OH) at Eastern Michigan 3:30 p.m. ASN / ESPN3
Northwestern at (6) Ohio State 3:30 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Samford at Mississippi State 3:30 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
Texas Tech at TCU 3:30 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic 3:30 p.m. ASN/MASN
SMU at Tulane 4:00 p.m. ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
Arizona State at Oregon 5:00 p.m. Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Georgia State at South Alabama 5:00 p.m. ESPN3
(7) Nebraska at (11) Wisconsin 7:00 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
(13) Boise State at Wyoming 7:00 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Kansas at (16) Oklahoma 7:00 p.m. FS1 / FS Go
Marshall at Southern Miss 7:00 p.m. ASN/MASN
Middle Tennessee at FIU 7:00 p.m. ESPN3
North Texas at UTSA 7:00 p.m. KMYS-CW 35
Rice at Louisiana Tech 7:00 p.m. CampusInsiders
ULM at Arkansas State 7:00 p.m. ESPN3
(15) Auburn at Ole Miss 7:15 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
(18) Tennessee at South Carolina 7:15 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
New Mexico State at (9) Texas A&M 7:30 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
(3) Clemson at (12) Florida State 8:00 p.m. ABC / ESPN3
Old Dominion at UTEP 8:00 p.m. CUSA.TV
Tulsa at Memphis 8:00 p.m. ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
UNLV at San Jose State 10:30 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Washington State at Oregon State 10:45 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Stanford at Arizona 11:00 p.m. FS1 / FS Go
New Mexico at Hawaii 12:00 a.m. Oceanic PPV