Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The athlete‘s college football newsletter. Sign up here to get Until Saturday delivered directly to your inbox.

Before we begin our regular weekend preview, the realignment has once again crashed the party. Here’s what you need to know.

Is the Pac-12 back?

Four schools join the league

Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State And State of Fresno (all from the Group of 5 Mountain West Conference) will join the nearly defunct Pac-12 in 2026, the conference announced today. The expansion gutted the conference last summer and State of Washington And State of Oregon as the only remaining members. The addition of four schools signals progress in rebuilding the Pac-12, but it still needs to reach eight members to remain an FBS conference.

We’ll dive deeper into what that means next week, but here’s a taste of what we’re covering today: the impact on the College Football Playoff (is an automatic bid more important than TV money?) and other conferences (is the ACC vulnerable?) and which programs might be next in line (obvious targets like MWC members Air Force and UNLV, or the push into Texas with UTSA and North Texas?).

Also listen to our podcast “Until Saturday” where the crew explains today’s moves.

Friday Night Lights

Big 12 vs. Big 12 non-conference game

With so many exciting Friday night games this season, it’s time we devoted a section to Friday night TV (you can find the full Week 3 schedule here). All times ET:

• UNLV at Kansas (7:00 p.m., ESPN). In this week’s oddly specific predictions, Manny Navarro predicts that the Rebels will surpass 200 yards in the running game and beat the Jayhawks.
• No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State (8 p.m., Fox). As a game between two of the best teams in the Big 12, this should have implications for the conference title. But… it’s not actually a conference game. Arizona and Kansas State scheduled these home-and-away games back in 2016 and agreed to keep them as part of their nonconference schedules after realignment. Arizona is on a nine-game winning streak – the longest active winning streak in the FBS.

Saturday table

The schedule looks relaxed … for now

This weekend’s schedule is fairly light — no ranked games late at night — but if Northern Illinois taught us anything last week, it’s that we should never rule out an unexpected thriller. Here’s a look at how all the ranked teams will face off on Saturday. The darker the highlight, the more exciting the suspense.

Early

Most important game: No. 16 LSU at South Carolina. College GameDay is taking place in Columbia, SC, for the first time in 10 years. No one is quite sure what to make of the Gamecocks after they knocked off Old Dominion in Week 1 and knocked off Kentucky in Week 2. Meanwhile, LSU is also a bit of an enigma, especially after they needed a 21-point third quarter to pull away from FCS Nicholls last week (QB Garrett Nussmeier threw six touchdown passes in the win). LSU is a touchdown favorite, but I’d expect a close result here.

Most underrated game: No. 4 Alabama vs. Wisconsin. The last time Alabama made this trip was in 1928, when the Crimson Tide took a 24-hour train ride to Madison. Nearly a century later, Big Ten vs. SEC play is similarly exciting. The Badgers’ first two appearances haven’t inspired much confidence, but Alabama has some weaknesses, too. Will the Crimson Tide bounce back after a lackluster win against USF, or will Luke Fickell pull off one of the greatest wins in Wisconsin history?

Afternoon

Most important game: No. 9 Oregon vs. Oregon State. This window offers the possibility of a Pac-12 rematch. The Beavers have an ideal opportunity — and at home — to take advantage of an Oregon team that isn’t living up to expectations. The Ducks needed a last-second field goal to beat Boise State last week, and the offense isn’t as electric as it has been in past seasons. Oregon State beat Idaho State and San Diego State with ease, but this will be their biggest challenge yet.

Most underrated game: Washington State vs. Washington, at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington (3:30 p.m., Peacock). The Apple Cup rivalry features two teams in a rebuilding phase. New Huskies coach Jedd Fisch must pick up the remains of last year’s runner-up (his team is a 4.5-point favorite). Mississippi State transfer quarterback Will Rogers has been consistent through two games, while Wazzu quarterback John Mateer has shown his ability as a dual-threat player, setting a program record for most rushing yards by a quarterback with 197 yards against Texas Tech.

Night

Most important game: No. 1 Georgia at Kentucky. Let’s remember the last time Georgia traveled to Lexington… the 10-0 Bulldogs survived a 16-6 loss that was far too close for comfort. This year, it should be more lopsided. Wildcats QB – and former Georgia backup – Brock Vandagriff was limited to 30 passing yards against South Carolina. Georgia’s 34-3 win over Clemson in Week 1, meanwhile, may be more impressive than we originally thought.

Most underrated game: Colorado vs. Colorado State (7:30 p.m., CBS). We have another in-state rivalry in the overnight window, and this one is loaded with emotion. Colorado State WR Tory Horton said this week the Rams “should have killed” the Buffs in the double-OT thriller in Boulder that Deion Sanders’ team won last week. With the Rams playing at home this year, they will look to avenge the rivalry that Nebraska claimed against the Buffs last week. Colorado safety Shilo Sanders will be out with a broken arm, but the Buffs still enter the contest as touchdown favorites.

Need tickets to games? Click here. Watch the games on Fubo.

Best bets

Surprises to watch out for

I asked again The athlete‘s Austin Mock for three of his best picks this weekend. Here’s what he told me:

• LSSU -7 (-110): South Carolina’s offense had a slow start to the season, barely beating Old Dominion before rebounding against an overrated Kentucky team. LSU will prove too efficient on offense for the Gamecocks to stay in the frame.
• Texas A&M at Florida under 47.5 (-110, 3:30 p.m., ABC): Florida struggled offensively against Miami two weeks ago and will now face a similar defense at Texas A&M. As for the Aggies, their offense looked completely lost in their opener against Notre Dame. I don’t expect either offense to shine on Saturday.
• TCU moneyline (+110) (UCF at TCU, 7:30 p.m., Fox): UCF is 2-9 over the past two seasons against Power 4 opponents that didn’t advance from the Group of 5. I’m not much of a trend forecaster, but that doesn’t give me confidence that UCF should be considered a favorite on the road against a solid TCU team.

Read the rest of Austin’s best tips for Week 3 here.

Until the surprise special on Saturday (1-0): Tulane 21 (+13.5) at No. 15 Oklahoma 16

I’m 1-0 on upset specials after Syracuse QB Kyle McCord threw four touchdowns in the Orange’s 31-28 win over Georgia Tech (his second straight week doing so). This week, I’m picking Tulane against an Oklahoma team that looked vulnerable against Houston last week. The Sooners’ offense sputtered a bit the first two weeks as first-year starting QB Jackson Arnold was still adjusting to the system behind a shaky offensive line. The Green Wave are never an easy opponent; they’re on a 10-game road winning streak (their last regular-season road loss was at Memphis on Nov. 27, 2021). Let’s make that 11.

Quick snapshots

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer joined the Until Saturday podcast this week to talk about Jalen Milroe’s development, GM Courtney Morgan’s strengths (like attention to detail and relationship building), and more.

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty leads the nation in yards rushing (459), rushing touchdowns (nine) and forced missed tackles (22) through two games. Chris Kamrani has the story behind the early Heisman favorite.

Do you like this? Sign up for our other newsletters! Scoop City 🏈 | The Bounce 🏀 | Full Time ⚽ | The Windup ⚾ | Prime Tire 🏁 | The Pulse 📣

(Top photo: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)