Conference play is revving into gear this week, and the Week 4 college football schedule has several quality games to look forward to. There are three matchups between AP Top 25 teams and a few others that have good storylines attached to them.
The Big 12 could be in for another year of unpredictable contenders, but for now, No. 16 Utah and No. 17 Texas Tech look as good as anyone in the conference. The Utes will host the Red Raiders as 3.5-point favorites in what will be the first meeting between the teams in 52 years.
In the SEC, No. 11 Oklahoma hosts No. 22 Auburn in a game between teams we think are good, but we’re not sure how good yet. The Sooners have a home win against Michigan (more on the Wolverines later) and John Mateer is among the early Heisman Trophy favorites, but there is still some lingering doubt after a 6-7 2024. There is even more doubt for Auburn, which went 5-7 last season. The Tigers, who are bringing former OU quarterback Jackson Arnold back to Norman, are 6.5-point underdogs.
If you know any Indiana fans, just ask them about ESPN College Gameday going to Florida at Miami instead of taking the trip to Bloomington for a top-20 matchup against No. 9 Illinois and see how they react. The Hoosier group chats are probably on fire this week. Regardless, it’s still a big night game at home for No. 19 Indiana. The Hoosiers are favored by 4.5 points in a game between two basketball schools that are currently better at football.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 21 Michigan heads to Nebraska as a 2.5-point favorite. The Wolverines have talent, but haven’t done much to earn a national ranking other than being Michigan. In a 24-13 loss at Oklahoma a couple weeks ago, Michigan had conservative playcalling for freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. Will he be able to let it rip against Nebraska? Between him and sophomore Dylan Raiola, there’s plenty of QB talent in this game.
As for Miami-Florida, this game does have some intrigue, but maybe not the good kind. No. 4 Miami is favored by 7.5 points, which isn’t that wide of a margin given the tenor around Florida football right now. Many people will be tuning into this one to see how bad it can get for Florida. The Hurricanes have looked really good so far, and Florida … has not. Florida was in the game at LSU on Saturday, but DJ Lagway threw five interceptions to derail the Gators. This could turn into a good hate-watch for fans of Florida’s rivals, or just people who like watching car wrecks.
Pour one out for Oregon State fans this week, who are probably bracing for the worst. It’s been a tough couple years for the Beavers, having been deserted in their conference. Saturday’s trip to Eugene could pile on with the Ducks favored by a whopping 35.5 points. The biggest FBS vs. FBS spread of the week is Florida State -45.5 against Kent State, which has lost 24 straight games to FBS opponents. Ouch.
Six AP Top 25 teams are on bye: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 12 Iowa State and No. 14 Alabama. Georgia and Alabama are both on bye before they meet in Athens next week.
Here are the odds for every game involving an AP Top 25 team, as well as some other notable Week 4 games. Odds for FBS vs. FCS games are not posted yet, but will be live later in the week.
College football Week 4 odds
All games on Saturday unless otherwise noted. Looking for game tickets? Find them here. For information on streaming, click here.
Iowa at Rutgers (Friday)
FOX
No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah
FOX
Arkansas at Memphis
ABC
Maryland at Wisconsin
NBC
Syracuse at Clemson
ESPN
SMU at TCU
ESPN2
UAB at No. 15 Tennessee
SEC Network
Oregon State at No. 6 Oregon
Big Ten Network
Kent State at No. 7 Florida State
ACC Network
No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma
ABC
Tulane at No. 13 Ole Miss
ESPN
No. 21 Michigan at Nebraska
CBS
Purdue at No. 24 Notre Dame
NBC
North Carolina at Central Florida
FOX
NC State at Duke
ESPN2
Temple at No. 18 Georgia Tech
The CW
West Virginia at Kansas
FS1
South Carolina at No. 23 Missouri
ESPN
Florida at No. 4 Miami
ABC
No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana
NBC
Georgia State at No. 20 Vanderbilt
ESPNU
Washington at Washington State
CBS
Arizona State at Baylor
FOX
Southeastern Louisiana at No. 3 LSU
SEC Network
Sam Houston at No. 8 Texas
ESPN+
Michigan State at No. 25 USC
FOX
(Photo of Fernando Mendoza and Jonathan Brady: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)