Every week, I put this together....and every week people don't watch the BYU game. Halfway through the season we've had 4M total viewers - meaning we're on pace for fewer than we'd normally get in Independence season. We're 6-0, ranked and in the driver's seat for a conference title and playoff bid.  And yet, we're not in the Top 50 in viewership. We're #11 in viewership among teams in the Big 12.  We're eligible for all the same TV windows as the rest of the teams in the conference...but we either aren't maximizing those windows or network executives would rather have other teams in those windows.  So for this week, my plea is this:  Watch the BYU game!  I'll give you a list of other interesting games, but we need to start improving BYU's TV numbers.  Overall though, there's some fun games this week

Pre-Saturday Games

A weak pre-Saturday slate is rescued by Oklahoma St @ #13 BYU (Friday 8:15 PM, ESPN).  Last week, Utah/ASU got 1.3M in this slot.  Given that Oklahoma St draws a lot better than ASU and that we're undefeated and excited while Utah is currently gloomy and frustrated, I'd hope we can get at least 1.5M.  We have a bit more competition on the day, but those games don't really overlap and I think our game is a better one anyway.  Should certainly be closer.  BYU favored by 9 doesn't portend a particularly close game, but it's a lot closer than any other ranked game.  And the only game that will really be in direct competition is a MWC game on CBSSN.

Other options include

• #2 Oregon @ Purdue (Friday 6 PM, FOX): So this is the biggest competition for viewers, even if it's not at the same time.  Only because of Oregon.  Purdue is terrible, Oregon is favored by 28.5, this will not be an enjoyable game.  But Oregon has cemente themselves as a marquee brand that can draw viewers any time.  Luckily, this game should end very shortly into the start of the BYU game.
• Florida St @ Duke (Friday 5 PM, ESPN2): Florida St is another marquee brand and this one should be interesting.  Duke is 5-1, FSU is 1-5.... and yet Duke is barely favored by 3. Hopefully this can whet the appetite for the BYU game because this one will end before we ever start. 

Saturday Morning (Up until Noon Mountain)

This window has been a dead zone the past few weeks.  But this week we've finally got some exciting matchups here.  Nothing amazing, but probably 4+ games with some interest for us.  As we've exceeded expectations, the national picture matters more, so I'll say the best option in this window is #6 Miami @ Louisville (10AM, ABC).  Miami is ranked ahead of us.  Louisville is good enough to potentially beat them (especially with Louisville at home, Miami is only favored by 4.5)...plus any Louisville win boosts the resume of SMU, which helps us.  Clear rooting interest in this one

Other possibilities:

• Arizona St @ Cincinnati (10AM, ESPN+): I won't argue with anyone who views this as the #1 game.  It's still another month until we play Arizona St and I'd expect ASU's injured QB to be back by the time we play them...but it's still a future opponent.  And both of them are currently 2-1 in conference with Cincy favored by 5, so it could push someone ahead (or behind) in the conference race.
• Nebraska @ #16 Indiana (10AM, FOX): The interest here basically comes down to the very real chance that Indiana loses and departs the ranks of the unbeaten.  Nebraska is 5-1 and while Indiana is favored by 6.5, Nebraska is also easily the top opponent they've played
• Virginia @ #10 Clemson (10AM, ACCN): It's tempting to argue Auburn @ #19 Mizzou (10AM, ESPN), which should be a much closer game (Mizzou favored by only 4.5) and a chance to expose Mizzou as a pretender... but ultimately Mizzou is already behind us.  Clemson is ahead of us.  They're a LOT less likely to lose (favored by 21.5), but it's just so much more meaningful that I'll be paying more attention to this one.

Saturday Afternoon (Noon-3 Mountain)

Speaking of national games, top choice here is easily #7 Alabama @ #11 Tennessee (1:30 PM, ABC). Should just be a high-profile, good close game (Alabama favored by 3) between two talented teams.  And as a bonus, whichever one loses will drop behind BYU. That means no built-in rooting interests, but is a nice reality. This is a nice case where the most interesting game nationally also has some relevance to us.  But overall, there's just a lot of interesting games here, so this is the time to fire up the 4-in-1 

Like I said...lots of other games to watch:

• Houston @ Kansas (1:30 PM, ESPN+) is the antithesis of Alabama/Tennessee.  Nobody nationally cares about this one.  It's a race to the bottom to see who the worst Big 12 team is.  Kansas is favored by 5, even htough their best/only victory this season was over Lindenwood.  And yet, it's of interest to us as BYU fans since these two terrible teams are both on our schedule to close out the season.
• Baylor @ Texas Tech (2 PM, ESPN2): Easy rooting interest here. Baylor is 2-4 and hasn't been good, but we have a win over them.  Texas Tech is 5-1, but more importantly 3-0 in conference so some of our current top competition.  And as it turns out, the spread (Texas Tech by 6.5) seems to indicate this one could turn into an upset
• Colorado @ Arizona (2 PM, FOX): This will draw huge ratings because it's Colorado.... but we'll almost certainly be rooting for Arizona.  Both because Colorado has the better conference record and because we beat Arizona
• #12 Notre Dame @ Georgia Tech (1:30 PM, ESPN): Notre Dame is ranked one spot ahead of BYU and is playing a quality 5-2 opponent on the road.  They've beat better teams than GaTech (which is why they're favored by 11.5), but they've also lost to worse teams
• #24 Michigan @ #22 Illinois (1:30 PM, CBS): Not particularly relevant, but worth mentioning as a ranked-on-ranked matchup for two quality teams on a major network in a game that should be close - Michigan favored by 3.5.  

Saturday Prime (3-5:59 Mountain)

There's a clear top game here and I don't care about relevance, you can't argue against #5 Georgia @ #1 Texas (5:30 PM, ABC).  Despite Georgia's loss to Alabama, these are two of the top teams in the country.  Texas is home and favored by 5, but Georgia isn't going to give up easily.

More BYU-relevant under-the-radar options:

• UCF @ #9 Iowa St (5:30 PM, FS1): Given the Georgia/Texas matchup and this being on FS1, nobody besides UCF and Iowa St fans will be watching...and maybe also BYU fans.  Right now Iowa St is apparently considered the top team in the conference, just ahead of BYU.  And UCF is a future opponent.  So there's a lot to be learned here.  Iowa St favored by 13.5, so it's be a surprise if UCF won, but I think that's likely the hope of BYU fans....even if we don't want UCF playing well when they match up with us.
• #17 Kansas St @ West Virginia (5:30 PM, FOX): As above, this game will struggle to compete with Georgia/Texas, but it should be a better game (K-State favored by only 2.5) as well as a clearer rooting interest.  No doubt we want K-State to win here, especially since we have the tiebreaker over them in conference.

Saturday Evening (6-8:30 Mountain)

Utah has fallen apart the past few weeks and is in a bit of a spiral.  But there's also talent there and Whittingham has been a successful coach for a long time.  If they can rally and get it together, they could certainly be a threat to BYU in a rivalry game. But that only happens if they start putting it together ASAP with TCU @ Utah (8:30 PM, ESPN). Utah is favored by 3.5, and I imagine most here will be rooting against them - both due to the rivalry, but also in the hopes that they don't find their footing.

That's the top option, but if you're against watching Utah, here's some other options:

• #21 SMU @ Stanford (6 PM, ACCN): Stanford isn't good and this game likely won't be close (SMU favored by 16.5), but the more that SMU can win, the better it looks for us.  An upset loss to Stanford of all teams would be pretty painful.
• UNLV @ Oregon St (8 PM, CW): Basically there were only 4 games in the late window, so it was this or a mediocre MWC team against a terrible MWC team.  At least both of these teams have winning records.  Between that, a close spread (UNLV by 6.5), and the ongoing story with UNLV's QB leaving, that's enough to get the 3rd recommendation for this window.