It's the bye week for BYU, but not for us as fans.  In particular, with BYU 5-0 and ranked, it's starting to get a lot more interesting and meaningful to watch other teams.  Unfortunately, it's not that great a week, but here's the best games to watch in each TV window.

Pre-Saturday Games

Honestly, nothing great, but three that are at least decent, the best of which is Houston @ TCU (Friday 5:30 PM, ESPN), and only because Houston is a future opponent.  It's not likely to be close (TCU is favored by 16.5), but it'll be interesting to see if Houston is shut out for a 3rd consecutive game.

Other options include

• Michigan St @ #6 Oregon (Friday 7 PM, FOX): This is the game most of the country will be watching, as both Oregon and Michigan St are big names and Oregon is highly ranked.  That said, it's not particularly relevant and unlikely to be a good game - Oregon is favored by 24.
• Syracuse @ #25 UNLV (Friday 7 PM, FS1): This one is probably actually the most interesting... UNLV is likely the top G5 contender, they have the whole ongoing story with their quarterback AND it has the closest line of the pre-Saturday games.  As a BYU fan, I feel I should watch Houston, but this is honestly the more appealing game.

Saturday Morning (Up until Noon Mountain)

Woof!  This window normally has some good games.  And today it just doesn't.  By default I'll say the best is SMU @ #22 Louisville (10AM, ESPN).  Every BYU fan should be rooting for SMU in this one, both to bump up our resume and knock Louisville off of our tail.  Right now SMU has only 1 loss and is receiving votes, so if they could get ranked, it would be great for our resume.  Sadly, Louisville is favored by 7, but Vegas has been known to make mistakes at time.

Other games to watch:

• #9 Mizzou @ #25 Texas A&M (10AM, ABC) is the only ranked-on-ranked match in this window - or all day. It's not particularly relevant, but should be a good game (aTm favored by only 2). On the one hand, we want Mizzou to lose and to make it more likley the Big 12 gets two playoff teams... but honestly, if Texas A&M beats Mizzou, that's probably not enough to bump BYU ahead of Mizzou, but might get A&M above BYU.  Just a mess all around
• It gets real ugly after those top two options, but the third is Pitt @ North Carolina (10AM, ESPN). Pitt is 4-0 with meaningless victories over Kent St and Youngstown St, but has also beaten 2 Big 12 teams.  North Carolina was just embarrassed by JMU.  For conference prestige, we don't want our teams losing to the the dregs of the ACC, so it's slightly better that Pitt be good.  And they're favored by 3.

Saturday Afternoon (Noon-3 Mountain)

The lackluster matchups continue on into the afternoon, where we're lucky to at least have conference affiliation making one game notable.  That game is West Virginia @ Oklahoma St (2PM, ESPN2) where Oklahoma St gets a chance to try to put their season back together after starting conference play 0-2.  It should be noted that they rebounded from an ugly start last year and are a future opponent.  Realistically, we're rooting for them to keep looking terrible and disjointed....but somehow get the win as a future resume boost.  Okla St favored by 2 means there's a real possibility it plays out that way

After that one, there just isn't much, with the best options being:

• Iowa @ #3 Ohio St (1:30 PM, CBS): This is a stretch for relevance, but the idea is that Iowa St beat Iowa, so Iowa beating Ohio St would be good. Granted, Ohio St is favored by 20.5, so the odds of that actually happening are...not great.  But Iowa has thrown a wrench into Ohio St plans before (2017), so here's hoping
• Rutgers @ Nebraska (2PM, FS1): Similar logic here - Nebraska beat Colorado, so we want Nebraska to win, to help make the Big 12 look better.  Like I said, it's a stretch.  But maybe it'll be an enjoyable game anyway.  Rutgers is undefeated and Nebraska is favored by 7.

Saturday Prime (3-5:59 Mountain)

If you've been hoping this is where the games finally get good....sorry to disappoint.  It's still college footbal and even irrelevant, mediocre college football is a good day. My choice here (assuming you can get it on the SEC Network) is UCF @ Florida (5:45 PM, SECN).  UCF is a future opponent who has definitely shown flashes and while Florida isn't the pelt they used to be, anytime a Big 12 team can beat an SEC team, that's a good thing for the conference. 

Other options include:

• Baylor @ #16 Iowa St (5:30 PM, FOX): Right now, BYU almost has to lead any conference power rankings.  The one possible exception is Iowa St.  And the goal at this point is clearly to make it to the CCG, so Iowa St losing would be a nice step to that result.  Plus, we played and beat Baylor, so it's better that they not be terrible.  Iowa St is heaivly favored, by 11.5, but it's a conference game
• #10 Michigan @ Washington (5:30 PM, FOX): Michigan already has a loss (an ugly one to Texas), but victories over Fresno St, Arkansas St, Minnesota and #11 USC have them ranked ahead of BYU.  A loss here would hurt the resume of both Michigan AND USC, both of whom are ranked ahead of BYU.  And it's a real possibility as well, with Washington favored by 2.5
• #11 USC @ Minnsota (5:30 PM, BTN): Speaking of USC... a loss here would help BYU move up in the rankings  This one is less likely, but not an impossibility, as USC is favored by only 8.

Saturday Evening (6-8:30 Mountain)

After a day of BYU-less, generally less relevant or entertaining football, the night is finally our reward.  The Big 12 seems to be taking over the PAC after dark spot, and this means we finally get some more interesting/relevant games.  There's only 5 games in this window, but two of them are probably my favorite games of the day.  The clear #1 is Texas Tech @ Arizona (9PM, FOX).  Texas Tech hasn't played top Big 12 teams yet.... but they are 2-0 in conference.  And Arizona seems reborn after the bye.  They were struggling before then, but clicked offensively and defensively against Utah.  They're also our next opponent.  With Arizona favored by 6, it's a nice chance to see if they're living up to preseason expectations (a few weeks late) or if they just took advantage against a struggling Utah team.

Another game not to be missed is:

• Kansas @ Arizona St (6 PM, ESPN2): Speaking of teams that entered with preseason expectations and then fell flat, Kansas is 1-4 and looking ugly.  But there's still talent there.  And ASU is a poor man's BYU, predicted to be at the bottom of the conference and then playing well above expectations.  So this will tell us a lot about both.  Which is important since both are on our schedule for next month.  Like I said, this might be my second favorite game of the entire day.
• The other three games aren't great but you could watch either #8 Miami @ Cal (8:30PM, ESPN) in the hopes that Cal pulls a miracle and beats Miami (favored by 8) to really mess up the ACC playoff path .... or tune into Duke @ Georgia Tech (6PM, ACCN) simply because Duke is currently undefeated. They've not been impressive and haven't gotten ANY votes though, so really, just stick to those top two options in this window.