RATING THE TV GAMES

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Order some pizza

** Channel-surf ... or get out of the house

* A fine time for chores

*

** No. 11 Michigan (5-1) at Purdue (3-4), 9 a.m., ESPN: The Wolverines should be wary: Coach Lloyd Carr is 0-2 at West Lafayette, Ind. LINE: Michigan by 3.

* Northwestern (2-5) at No. 20 Penn State (4-2), 9 a.m., ESPN2: Northwestern wasn’t very good even before starting quarterback Brett Basanez broke his leg. LINE: Penn State by 25.

** Nebraska (5-2) at Oklahoma State (2-4), 9:30 a.m., Fox Sports Net: This isn’t the Big 12 game we wanted to watch: ABC has Iowa State at Oklahoma at 12:30, but USC takes precedence here. LINE: Nebraska by 8.

** No. 21 Mississippi (5-1) at No. 24 Alabama (4-2), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2: Ole Miss will be a big hit if the Rebels follow up their 17-14 victory over Florida by beating ‘Bama. LINE: Alabama by 11.

*** No. 22 Washington (4-2) at No. 19 USC (4-2), 12:30 p.m., Channel 7; KMPC (1540), KPLS (830), XPRS (1090, Spanish): Trojans offer to spring for the hotel room if Huskies’ 12th man wants to make the trip. LINE: USC by 8.

** Auburn (4-2) at Florida (4-3), 3:45 p.m., ESPN: Seen on the Web site fireronzook.com: “Due to Zook surpassing even our expectations lately, you may experience a delay in loading this site ... “ LINE: Florida by 8.

*** No. 8 Texas (5-1) at No. 17 Kansas State (5-1), 4 p.m., Fox Sports Net: For the first hour, anyway, this qualifies as a big game. Prepare to change channels. LINE: Kansas State by 2.

** UCLA (4-2) at Cal (4-3), 4 p.m., TBS, KXTA (1150): This officially becomes a check-the-score-only game when the World Series comes on at 5 p.m. LINE: UCLA by 3.

* South Carolina (5-2) at No. 14 Louisiana State (5-1), 4:45 p.m., ESPN2: Come on, Lou Holtz against a team without its injured starting quarterback, or the Fall Classic? LINE: Louisiana State by 8.

* Vanderbilt (1-5) at No. 6 Georgia (6-0), 7 p.m. (delayed), Channel 57 (KJLA): Yes, Georgia is one of the 10 unbeatens. And the Bulldogs will be 7-0 before this broadcast airs. LINE: Georgia by 26.

*** No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 18 Air Force, 7 p.m., ESPN: Monitor the score while watching the Angels and Giants, then switch over after the baseball game if Notre Dame is behind or it’s close. LINE: Air Force by 3.

* Tulsa (0-6) at Hawaii (4-2), 9 p.m., Fox Sports Net 2: We’d rather watch the tide go out than watch this football game. LINE: Hawaii by 30.

* Rice (2-4) at Texas El Paso (1-5), 12:30 a.m. (tape), Fox Sports Net 2: Please, couldn’t someone show us the tape of Oklahoma-Iowa State instead? LINE: Rice by 13.