College Football Previews

No. 24 North Carolina has one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the country. Duke appears in a different situation entering the annual Atlantic Coast Conference date with its neighbor. The teams meet in the Tar Heels’ home finale Saturday night when the Blue Devils try to get back to their winning ways in Chapel Hill, N.C. The winner of the game will stay in the mix for a spot in the ACC championship game.

Tulane is the highest-rated Group of Five team in the College Football Playoff rankings. The No. 23 Green Wave (8-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) can claim a New Year’s Six bowl berth for a second consecutive season if they keep winning. They face Tulsa (3-6, 1-4) on Saturday in New Orleans. Tulane has won seven straight games since a 37-20 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 9, but the last few games have been a

No. 21 Arizona, coming off three consecutive victories over ranked teams, will try to keep the momentum going when it plays a stalled Colorado team on Saturday in Boulder, Colo. The Buffaloes (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) were the darlings of the college football world through the first three weeks of the season but have won just one game since – a three-point decision at Arizona State on Oct. 7. Coach Deion Sanders’ team has lost three

Not long ago, preparing a team to play Kansas carried a different kind of challenge. The reasoning was opposing coaches had to work to convince their team to take the Jayhawks seriously. That was during a long stretch in which Kansas was one of the worst programs in the country. Not anymore, and that’s the message Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire wanted to deliver. It turns out that task wasn’t that difficult, however. The Red

Bowl eligibility will be the prize for the winning team Saturday night as BYU hosts Iowa State in Big 12 Conference action in Provo, Utah. The Cougars (5-4, 2-4) and the visiting Cyclones (5-4, 4-2) face tough remaining schedules, and this game could determine which program joins the postseason party. After Iowa State, BYU will wrap up its initial Big 12 season at home against Oklahoma (Nov. 18) and at Oklahoma State (Nov. 25). The

Two Southeastern Conference teams that desperately need a win will meet Saturday night when Mississippi State visits Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The Bulldogs (4-5, 1-5) have lost two straight and five of seven as they prepare for the Aggies (5-4, 3-3). Teams need at least six wins to be bowl-eligible. Mississippi State’s offensive struggles continued last weekend in a 24-3 loss at Kentucky. Playing without record-setting quarterback Will Rogers and standout running back

Anyone playing a drinking game in which they took a sip each time Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said “moving forward” during his Monday news conference would have been woozy within the first few minutes. Gundy is trying to distance his team from one of the most exhilarating wins in his 19 seasons as the Cowboys coach, a 27-24 victory over then-No. 9 Oklahoma last week in the last scheduled Bedlam rivalry game between the

LSU won’t know if star quarterback Jayden Daniels will be available to play on Saturday until later in the week. Daniels sustained a concussion last weekend during LSU’s loss to Alabama, so the No. 19 Tigers are getting Garrett Nussmeier prepared to play in case he needs to make the start on Saturday against Florida in Baton Rouge, La. Nussmeier has never started a college game and would have big shoes to fill with Daniels

Tennessee routed Missouri in Josh Heupel’s first two years at the helm of the Volunteers, rolling to 62-24 and 66-24 victories. The Tigers hope to offer a much tougher test this time around. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said, “Offensively we weren’t able to keep the pace and defensively we’ve got to do a consistent job of finding stops in the game. I think the pressure they put on you is that they can score so