WAKE UP! 2026 Week 4 College Football Viewing Guide, Schedule, and Unwatchable Filth

WAKE UP! THERE’S FOOTBALL TO WATCH!

Welcome to Week 4 of the 2026 college football season and, man, is it a huge one in the SEC, where six conference games feature ranked teams, and four of them are are ranked-versus-ranked. It’s a good thing televisions are like ninety bucks at Walmart; you’re going to need more than one today.

Here’s your schedule, for the 10th year, courtesy of CFB Grid. All times in God’s right and proper Central time zone — and if it were Standard time, it would be perfect.

Must See TV

No. 23 Texas A&M @ No. 10 LSU: Hard to believe, but one of these preseason Top 10 teams and alleged national title contenders will walk into October, the SEC’s most hellish month, with two losses in conference play already. Is this what each spent $200 million dollars on? I doubt it. And there’s plenty of criticism to go around — just take your pick: LSU’s unsteady passing game, the Aggies weak secondary and suddenly suspect interior defensive line, poor preparation, etc. Someone is going to leave with the honeymoon well and truly over.

No. 4 Ole Miss @ No. 22 Florida: Pete Golding, elite coach. Let that sink in. Dude is now 5-1 vs. ranked teams, has beaten both Louisville and LSU this season, and now heads to Florida as an underdog. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. As flaky as the UF pass rush is, and given the holes in the secondary, Trinidad Chambliss could have a field day. Then again, we’ve not seen Pete go on the road in this kind of truly hostile environment either. And between Baugh, Philo’s accuracy, and the Swamp crowd, UF might just surprise some folks.

No. 1 Texas @ No. 14 Tennessee: Speaking of hostile crowds, for my money, none are worse or louder than Neyland. The Horns come in with an Arch Manning who’s struggled in big games, and a suddenly banged-up running game. Can the Vols’ own devastating backfield make hay against the best defensive front all year? Can true freshman Faizon Brandon do likewise against a great Texas secondary if the running game fails? How will the Horns respond when the the stripes go against them for three hours, instead of getting home flags? There are a lot of questions to answer here, and it’s all set against the backdrop of the distraction a Presidential visit to Knoxville poses.

South Carolina @ No. 8 Alabama: This is literally in in the Must-See category because we’re homers and this is a pro-‘Bama site. Expect a good deal of fireworks offensively, and look to see two things: 1. If LaNorris Sellers can ever live up to his hype against a quality team, and whether Keelon Russell takes another step in his developmental journey. And, 2. Which team is the real one. Is USC last week’s first half USC, which looked dominant? Or is it the second-half collapse version? Reverse that for Alabama, who have been turning on the jets out of the locker room and devastating opponents. He with the defense that rebounds best wins this one.

No. 20 Oregon @ No. 12 USC: One of these teams is a decided fraud, but will we actually know if the winner is not at the end of the game? I’m not so sure. No one has done less with more than Lincoln Riley, but Dan Lanning isn’t too far behind himself, though to his credit he does have a conference title. Lots of offense, plenty of terrible defense. It’s like the Pac 12 never even left us.

K State @ Cincinnati: In the race to catch Texas Tech in the Big 12, the Utah schools always come to mind, and upstart Houston perhaps. But is it possible we are sleeping on both the Bearcats and Wildcats? Kansas State’s offense has been stellar after the change in coaching staffs, while Cincy has reinvented themselves as a stout defensive team with a balanced offense that gets the job done. Quietly, a very important game.

Throw It On The Spare TV:

Oklahoma @ No. 2 Georgia: Figures to be everything that Alabama-South Carolina will not — a low-scoring slobberknocker of stellar defense. We already know the OU offense is garbage, but what do we actually know about the Bulldogs? Not much after their early schedule. Can the Sooners get off the mats in Athens? Or does Venables’ seat grow incandescent if OU has a third straight miserable performance? We answer a lot of questions with this one.

No. 17 @ No. 18 Iowa: Almost everything about OU/UGA applies here. Get ready for three yards and a cloud of dust, throws to the tight end, and sexy punting. Michigan has lived dangerously all year. Can their luck hold in Iowa City? One suspects not, if they get behind by 10 points or so. Underwood isn’t built like that. The Hawkeyes’ offense has shown encouraging signs of life, but then again, they’ve not entered conference play, where the bad things usually happen to UI.

No. 19 Mizzou @ No. 21 Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have toyed with some very friendly secondaries this season, and the hope if you’re Mizzou is that your own stout running game and better defense can keep Kamario Taylor on the sidelines. This won’t get the media attention of the “big games,” but it’s a big one nevertheless, and especially for ‘State, which hosts ‘Bama next week: Is this team for real, is what we’re all asking.

Commercial Check-in:

Vandy @ Auburn: Call it morbid curiosity, but someone has to be the SEC’s worst, right? The ‘Barn is shockingly a double-digit favorite too.

UCLA @ Maryland: The Bruins have looked fantastic, getting off to a red-hot 3-0 start. But they’ve not played on offense this good, and the cross-country West-East trip usually spells a loss for the West Coast teams. And this one will be played at 9:00 a.m. Los Angeles time. Mike Locksley could use a good home win.

Unwatchable Filth:

Central Michigan @ No. 6 Miami: The Hurricanes can begin their season any week now, right? Per the advanced stats, the Chippewas have the the 123rd ranked defense, and are 117th in passing alone. And Sagarin has them rated 130th overall. Time for Darian Mensah to pad those Heisman numbers some more against another woeful team. All I know is that I won’t be watching a second of this buy-game trash.

That’s it for Week 4. It’s an important in the SEC especially, and by the end of the evening we should know much more about the state of this conference, currently the nation’s best and deepest as we enter the October gauntlet.

Have a great day, and Roll Tide