College football: What to watch Saturday on TV

Each week our national college football writer describes how he would handle the television remote on Saturday, handicapping what’s worth watching, and skipping:

MORNING

Duke (6-1) at Pittsburgh (4-4)

9 a.m., ESPNU

Duke is already bowl eligible in football and this week cracked the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings at No. 24. The Blue Devils were also picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title in basketball.

8:30 a.m.: Air Force at Army, Channel 2.

9 a.m.: Oklahoma at Iowa State, Fox Sports 1 (FS1); East Carolina at Temple, ESPNews; Northwestern at Iowa, Big Ten Network (Big Ten); Maryland at Penn State, ESPN2; Wisconsin at Rutgers, ESPN; Central Florida at Connecticut, CBS Sports Network (CBSSN); Louisiana Monroe at Texas A&M, SEC Network (SEC).

9:30 a.m.: North Carolina at Miami, KDOC.

10 a.m.: Washington at Colorado, Pac-12 Networks (Pac-12).

AFTERNOON

No. 7 Texas Christian at No. 20 West Virginia

12:30 p.m, Channel 7

This should be the wildest, craziest game of the day. If West Virginia wins, it will also end with a five-alarm response from the fire department. The shocker is how the over-under bet is only 71.5 points? The teams average 87.3 points and more than 1,000 yards per game. TCU scored 82 points last week against Texas Tech.

Florida (3-3) vs. No. 11 Georgia (6-1)

12: 30 p.m., Channel 2

No Todd Gurley? No problem, so far, as Georgia has flourished without its star tailback the last two games. Gurley will miss two more games for accepting money for autographs. Nick Chubb, Gurley’s replacement, has 569 yards and five touchdowns. Georgia has won three straight in the “cocktail party” series after losing 18 of 21.

USC (5-3) at Washington State (2-7)

1:30 p.m., Pac-12

This game is blacked out to Southern California DirecTV subscribers, which might be a blessing for embattled USC Coach Steve Sarkisian. That won’t stop many USC fans from second-guessing decisions they can’t even see. Expect this if the Trojans don’t win big: “We heard Sark coached a bad game.”

No. 3 Auburn (6-1) at No. 4 Mississippi (7-1)

4 p.m., ESPN

This is the first of what could be several playoff elimination games involving schools from the mighty SEC West. The loser here might, heaven forbid, drop three or four spots in the polls. Auburn survived a 42-35 shootout last week against South Carolina. Ole Miss lost at Louisiana State.

Arkansas at No.1 Mississippi State

4:15 p.m., ESPNU

Arkansas has lost 16 consecutive conference games but that won’t stop SEC fans from calling this a quality Mississippi State win over a program on the cusp of greatness. The only real concern for Mississippi State is quarterback Dak Prescott, who spent time in a walking boot this week after injuring his right foot in last week’s win over Kentucky. Prescott is expected to play.

Stanford (5-3) at No. 5 Oregon (7-1)

4:30 p.m., Channel 11

Quarterback Marcus Mariota is 0-4 against Stanford and Arizona — and 30-0 against everybody else. This is a must win for Oregon if it wishes to shed its image of not being able to win big games. The Ducks’ season probably will be decided the next two weeks. Utah comes next.

Noon: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech, FS West; North Carolina State at Syracuse, Prime.

12:30 p.m.: Purdue at Nebraska, ESPN2; Virginia at Georgia Tech, ESPNU, Brigham Young at Middle Tennessee State, CBSSN; Indiana at Michigan, Big Ten.

1 p.m.: Kansas at Baylor, FS1; Kentucky at Missouri, SEC; Houston at South Florida, ESPNews.

4 p.m.: Colorado State at San Jose State, CBSSN; Old Dominion at Vanderbilt, ESPNU.

4:30 p.m.: Tennessee at South Carolina, SEC; Texas at Texas Tech, FS1.

EVENING

No. 12 Arizona (6-1) at No. 22 UCLA (6-2)

7:30 p.m., ESPN

No question which school won last week’s competition against the Pac-12’s worst teams. Arizona scored an emphatic win at Washington State; UCLA needed double overtime to win at Colorado.

No. 17 Utah (6-1) at No. 14 Arizona State (7-1)

8 p.m., FS1

Utah’s big win over USC was dampened with news that leading receiver Dres Anderson will be lost for the rest of the season with an injury. Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly returned from a foot injury to lead his team to a wind-blown victory at Washington last week. Kelly did not play great, though, leaving some to wonder whether coach Todd Graham should stick with backup Mike Bercovici.

5 p.m.: Notre Dame vs. Navy at Landover, Md., Channel 2; Illinois at Ohio State, Channel 7.

7:30 p.m.: California at Oregon State, Pac-12; San Diego State at Nevada, CBSSN.

7:45 p.m.: Wyoming at Fresno State, ESPN2.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com