College Football Previews

Stanford tries to build off the largest comeback victory in program history when it hosts No. 25 UCLA in a Pac-12 Conference game Saturday night. The Cardinal (2-4, 1-3) rallied from a 29-0 deficit to stun Colorado 46-43 in double overtime last Friday in Boulder, Colo. The victory ended a seven-game conference losing streak for Stanford and instilled a level of confidence that first-year coach Troy Taylor has been hoping to see. “We’re going to

Alabama may not be the power program it usually is, but the No. 11 Crimson Tide still have plenty to play for this season. Alabama (6-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) takes aim at its sixth consecutive victory when it battles No. 17 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Crimson Tide lead the SEC West by a half-game over No. 19 LSU (4-1 SEC). A victory over the Volunteers (5-1, 2-1) would assure Alabama of

The Michigan State football program appears to be in disarray, yet the Spartans can salvage their season by defeating their heated rival in East Lansing on Saturday night. The Spartans have lost their past four games heading into their annual showdown with No. 2 Michigan. The skid includes a fourth-quarter collapse against Rutgers last week in which Michigan State squandered an 18-point lead. The Spartans haven’t won a game since head coach Mel Tucker was

Oklahoma State and West Virginia have found success in a different way this season. The programs historically have relied on their offenses, but the Cowboys and Mountaineers are in the bottom half of the Big 12 in points per game in 2023. Despite their offensive inconsistency, both teams are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play thanks to improved defenses. Points might be at more of a premium than usual when the programs meet Saturday

Pitt made a quarterback change and it worked out, at least for the short term. Wake Forest might go down that path. The teams meet Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C., looking for upticks as they begin the second half of their schedules. Pitt (2-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) has tried something new, and that could be a winning formula after a dismal opening month of the season. “We talk about playing together and staying together,” Panthers

Nebraska and Northwestern are both hoping to pick up where they left off before a bye week when they meet in a Big Ten Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) pulled out a 20-7 win at Illinois before taking last weekend off, while Northwestern (3-3, 1-2) edged FCS school Howard 23-20 on Oct. 7 in its latest contest. The Cornhuskers will continue to start Heinrich Haarberg at quarterback. He

No. 8 Texas looks to get back on the winning track when it travels to battle Houston on Saturday as the teams renew their rivalry and square off for the only time as members of the Big 12 Conference. It’s the 26th all-time meeting between the programs, the first since 2002 and the first time as conference opponents since the Southwest Conference dissolved after the 1995 season. Texas leads the all-time series 16-7-2 and has

Washington State and No. 9 Oregon will both try to rebound from difficult losses when they meet in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday afternoon. Which defeat was more devastating remains to be seen. The Ducks fell 36-33 at then-No. 7 Washington last Saturday as Camden Lewis’ last-second, 43-yard field-goal attempt sailed just wide of the right upright. Meanwhile, Washington State was blown out 44-6 by Arizona the same day in Pullman, Wash. It was the second

If a rivalry game with Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy implications wasn’t enough to get Air Force fired up, perhaps a spot in the national rankings will do the trick. The No. 22 Falcons find themselves among the top 25 teams in the country for the first time since 2019, and they will look to keep climbing on Saturday when they face Navy in Annapolis, Md. Air Force (6-0) moved into the rankings thanks to a 34-27 victory