College Football Previews

South Carolina looks to continue its domination over Vanderbilt on Saturday when the Southeastern Conference teams meet in Columbia, S.C. The visiting Commodores (2-8, 0-6 SEC) hope to stop two losing streaks: the 14-game drought against the Gamecocks (3-6, 1-5) in their annual rivalry, and this season’s current eight-game skid, the latest of which came last Saturday in a 31-15 loss to Auburn. South Carolina snapped a four-game skid with a 38-28 home win over

Two reeling teams with fading bowl hopes square off Saturday when Cal hosts Washington State in Berkeley in the last home game of the season for the Golden Bears. After starting 4-0 and ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 poll, Washington State (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) has lost five consecutive games following last week’s 10-7 defeat to Stanford at Pullman, Wash. Cal (3-6, 1-5) suffered its fourth straight loss — all against ranked teams

Iowa knows a thing or two about peaking at the right time. The Hawkeyes have won 15 of their past 16 games in the month of November and will look to improve on that impressive record Saturday when they face Rutgers in Big Ten Conference action in Iowa City, Iowa. After falling 12-10 to Minnesota in its final game of October, Iowa (7-2, 4-2) flipped a switch with the arrival of the new month to

Nebraska may be headed in the right direction, but last weekend’s loss still got coach Matt Rhule fired up. Either Nebraska or visiting Maryland will achieve bowl eligibility when they face off Saturday in Big Ten action in Lincoln, Neb. The Cornhuskers (5-4, 3-3) had won three straight before a 20-17 loss at Michigan State. While claiming his program isn’t made up of “excuse-makers,” Rhule bemoaned officiating in his team’s close losses to Minnesota and

Wisconsin will try to regain its offensive stride against visiting Northwestern on Saturday as the Badgers look to remain in contention in the Big Ten West. The Badgers (5-4, 3-3) will return to Madison after a 20-14 setback last Saturday at Indiana, their third loss in four games. Northwestern (4-5, 2-4) lost to Iowa 10-7 at Wrigley Field the same day on a field goal with 14 seconds left. Wisconsin is tied with Nebraska and

Boston College will aim for its first six-game winning streak since 2007 when the Eagles host Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday at Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Eagles (6-3, 3-2) return home looking to build on last Friday’s 17-10 win at Syracuse, an outcome that secured their bowl eligibility for the third time under fourth-year coach Jeff Hafley. “I’d be crazy to think that our guys aren’t paying attention to what’s going

Pitt and Syracuse have taken a beating in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, leaving both teams longing for a victory Saturday when they meet at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The Panthers (2-7, 1-4) have lost three straight games, including the last two by a combined margin of 82-14. They fell to Florida State 24-7 last weekend, although the game was tight until the Seminoles scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes

North Carolina State has done some heavy lifting in the past couple of weeks, and there’s little room for a slip-up. The Wolfpack visit struggling Wake Forest in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C., with some big questions, however. NC State (6-3, 3-2) has won back-to-back home games against Clemson and Miami, and those victories have allowed the Wolfpack to stay in the race for the second spot in the ACC championship

Bowl eligibility is at stake as Clemson hosts Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday in South Carolina. Both teams are coming off their fifth victories of the season as Clemson (5-4, 2-4) notched an upset of Notre Dame while Georgia Tech (5-4, 4-2) soundly beat Virginia. Somewhat surprisingly, the Yellow Jackets are still in the hunt for a berth in the ACC championship game, as they are in third place in the