College Football Previews

Preseason goals have been adjusted for TCU and Texas Tech heading into Thursday night’s Big 12 Conference showdown in Lubbock. But that doesn’t mean there will be any less intensity when the rivals meet. The visiting Horned Frogs (4-4, 2-3) have found life more treacherous this season compared with 2022, when a stretch of strong play blended with good fortune to vault the team into the national championship game. For the Red Raiders (3-5, 2-3),

Baylor brings a five-game conference home losing streak into Saturday’s visit from new Big 12 Conference rival Houston, but the Bears appear primed to snap the skid. Coach Dave Aranda said Baylor (3-5, 2-3) is on the cusp of a breakthrough behind improvement on defense. “When you look at the tape,” Aranda said, “we’re so close on so many things. There was not a lot of confusion. There was hardly any in this last game.

The bubble has burst somewhat on Kentucky’s season, but the Wildcats have found an offensive weapon with bowl eligibility just a win away. Having dropped three straight games after a 5-0 start, coach Mark Stoops will take his squad to play Mississippi State on Saturday night in a Southeastern Conference matchup at Starkville, Miss. A victory by Kentucky (5-3, 2-3 SEC) would give the school the six wins necessary for a bowl game plus snap

The Big 12 has not been kind to conference newcomers UCF and Cincinnati. In their first year in the league, neither squad has come up with a Big 12 win. That will change on Saturday when the Bearcats (2-6, 0-5) play host to the Knights (3-5, 0-5). Both programs have enjoyed glory years of recent vintage. UCF, for example, went 13-0 in 2017 and 35-4 over a three-year span that also included 2018 and 2019.

Minnesota will try to become bowl eligible when it hosts Illinois in a Big Ten Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) are looking for their third win in a row after knocking off then-No. 24 Iowa and Michigan State in their two most recent games. They sit in a four-way tie for first place in the West Division along with Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Minnesota coach P.J.

Nebraska will try to use the same formula that has led to a three-game win streak when it visits Michigan State on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich. The Cornhuskers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) have limited their last three opponents to a combined 30 points, most recently beating Purdue 31-14 at home to move within a game of being bowl eligible for the first time in seven years. Overall, they’re allowing 18.6 points per game, sixth

Duke has been put in several situations to showcase its overall improvements this season. Now comes a game against visiting Wake Forest where getting back on track will be the main storyline. Having lost three of their last four, the Blue Devils will face the Demon Deacons in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Thursday in Durham, N.C. “I have to put these guys in better positions to be successful because we don’t have much time,”

Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II is averaging 176.8 yards rushing over his last four games in the ultra-competitive Big 12, and Cincinnati’s run defense is giving up just 100.7 yards per contest this season. When the teams meet Saturday night in Stillwater, Okla., Oklahoma State’s ground game will face its biggest test since settling on Gordon as the main man when conference play began. The sophomore picked up 121 yards on 18 carries against Iowa

After absorbing an upset loss in their latest outing, the No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels will aim to bounce back when they travel to Atlanta on Saturday to face Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels (6-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) saw their unbeaten record blemished and their hopes of making the College Football Playoff diminished when they lost 31-27 to visiting Virginia last week. North Carolina was just 4-of-15 on third- and fourth-down conversions in