Week 4 college football viewer's guide: Loaded Saturday slate features 6 games between ranked teams, including Texas at Tennessee

Week 4 is the biggest weekend of the 2026 college football season.

Saturday features six matchups between teams ranked in the AP Top 25. Four of those come in the SEC and the other two are in the Big Ten. We won't filibuster any longer. Here are the games to watch this weekend.

The winner gets to be called UT for the rest of the year. The loser has to find another acronym.

It's the biggest game of young Tennessee QB Faizon Brandon's career and he's shown why he won the starting QB job as a true freshman through the first three games. Brandon has yet to throw an interception and has nine total touchdowns; he's thrown for six and rushed for three.

Two of those games have come against Furman and Kennesaw State , so it's hard to judge just how good the Volunteers offense actually is this season. But it's a promising sign that Tennessee has been able to dominate its opponents on the ground no matter who it has played. In a 45-24 win over Georgia Tech , the Vols rushed 45 times for 299 yards.

That takes pressure off Brandon; he was 10-of-21 passing for 148 yards and two scores against the Yellow Jackets. Is that run game sustainable against the Longhorns? Teams are averaging just 3.4 yards a carry against Texas this season and Ohio State had 94 yards on 31 carries.

Auburn transfer Cam Coleman hasn't caught more than four passes in a game so far the season for Texas, but he's scored twice against both Texas State and UTSA. Arch Manning is averaging under seven yards an attempt through the first three games of the season and Tennessee's opponents have thrown for just 453 yards all season.

The Rebels' status as an underdog isn't a sign of disrespect to a top-five team. Rather, it's more about how good Florida has looked through the first three weeks of Jon Sumrall's tenure.

The Gators were the clear better team in their win over Auburn as Jadan Baugh has established himself as one of the best running backs in the country. Baugh has 458 yards and eight touchdowns already this season and is averaging 8.5 yards every time he carries the ball. Teams haven't been afraid to run the ball against Ole Miss so far this season, either. Charlotte's 33 attempts are the fewest of any Ole Miss opponent and LSU rushed for 172 yards and two scores in the Rebels' 32-24 win in Week 3.

It's also a potential letdown spot for Ole Miss. The game against LSU was such a focal point since the schedule was released that it's only natural to think the Rebels won't be as up for this game. Will that be rooted in any basis in reality? We'll know on Saturday.

We may also need to wait until Saturday to know about Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy 's status. He re-injured his surgically repaired left shoulder in the win over LSU and missed the end of the game. JT Lindsey was effective in Lacy's absence, but Ole Miss is a much better football team with its star on the field. Having Lacy out there and effective helps Trinidad Chambliss share the playmaking burden.

This game has all the potential in the world to satiate your desires for old-school football. The over/under of 38.5 is the lowest of any game offered at BetMGM in Week 4.

No one is giving up fewer points per game than Iowa through three weeks. The Hawkeyes have shut out Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa — at least Michigan doesn't have "north" in its name — and allowed 13 points to Iowa State in Week 2. Those three teams have put up just 177 yards per game.

Hank Brown has taken over as Iowa's starting quarterback after a competition with Jeremy Hecklinski that went all the way to Week 1. The former Auburn QB is 45-of-62 passing for 473 yards and three touchdowns. Those are explosive numbers compared to the passing offense that Iowa has had in recent seasons.

The biggest question may actually come at running back, where both Kamari Moulton and L.J. Phillips missed the Week 3 win. Moulton and Phillips are the Hawkeyes' top running backs. Iowa didn't need them against its FCS foe, but will need at least one available on Saturday.

Michigan's offense finally broke free in the second half of a 52-17 win over UTEP in Week 3. After scoring 30 points over the first two weeks of the season, the Wolverines nearly matched that number with four touchdowns in the third quarter alone.

Will that game be a turning point for an offense that had looked stuck for the better part of 10 quarters? There are few questions about the Michigan defense. The ceiling for the Wolverines will be entirely determined by just how good the offense can be.

Some of the luster disappeared from this game as both teams lost in Week 3. Texas A&M's home loss to Kentucky was entirely unexpected. And it wasn't a fluke, either. The Wildcats bossed the Aggies .

Texas A&M lost receiver Terry Bussey for the season with a right leg injury on the opening kickoff. That puts more pressure on Mario Craver and Isaiah Horton to be the primary playmakers for an Aggies passing game that looks to need a robust support system around quarterback Marcel Reed . Craver and Horton have combined to catch 31 of the 62 completions Reed has thrown this season and all but one of his touchdown passes.

Reed emerged as Texas A&M's quarterback in this game two seasons ago as he came off the bench to rush for three scores in a 38-23 win. This season, he's completing less than 60% of his passes.

Sam Leavitt is still looking for his first great game as LSU's starting quarterback. Leavitt has thrown at least one interception in each of the Tigers' first three games and has five interceptions to just three touchdown passes. He's supplemented that total with six rushing touchdowns, but Leavitt needs to be a better passer for the Tigers' playoff hopes to become reality.

And the playoff is going to be a central theme of this game. The loser will drop to 2-2 and likely have no path to the postseason with another loss.

This is another game with some serious playoff implications, especially for an Oregon team that already has a loss thanks to that Week 2 defeat at Oklahoma State.

Even if it'd be a victory over a .500 Oregon team, a win would be a defining one for this Big Ten version of USC. The Trojans haven't threatened to be in the top tier of the conference since making the move from the Pac-12. Yes, there was a home win over Michigan in 2025, but that Wolverines team finished with five losses.

As always, there are still questions about the USC defense. The Trojans shut out Fresno State in a dominant Week 1 performance. But they've otherwise allowed 26 points in each of the other three games and 75 points combined over the past two weeks. The 35 points Rutgers scored in Week 3 was just seven fewer than the Scarlet Knights ' combined total over the first two weeks of the season.

If Oregon's offense has the same tells that it allegedly did against Oklahoma State, former TCU coach Gary Patterson's unit can tee off. But if the Portland State game was some much-needed corrective action, the Ducks could easily be the third straight team to drop 30 or more against the Trojans. If that happens and USC still wins, QB Jayden Maiava is going to get a lot of Heisman love. Through four games, Maiava is completing 76% of his passes for 1,173 yards and 12 TDs to just one interception.

Clemson (1-) at Cal (10:30 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN): We've got some serious ACC-after-dark potential with this one. Cal CB Kingston Lopa added a fifth interception against Wagner in Week 3 and will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing freshman Tait Reynolds in his first road start. Reynolds was much better after Clemson's win over North Carolina resumed following a lengthy weather delay.

Oklahoma at No. 2 Georgia (-14) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Sooners are big underdogs as their offense has struggled so far this season. Tackle Michael Fasusi is unlikely to play along with star defensive lineman David Stone . That could be a recipe for disaster against a Georgia team that has dominated everyone it has played so far this season. Will Gunner Stockton 's run of throwing more touchdowns than incompletions this season continue?

Boise State (-7) at Western Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2): The midday slate is absolutely loaded this week. The College Football Playoff committee is going to pay close attention to this matchup of Broncos if Boise State and Western Michigan end up as two of the top non-power conference contenders in November. A home upset will go a long way to validating WMU's Week 1 loss — or "loss" if you prefer — to Michigan.

No. 15 Utah (-8) at Iowa State (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox): Given the roster overhaul that went on at Iowa State this offseason, oddsmakers are giving the Cyclones some credit. Opposing offenses are averaging just 226 yards per game against Iowa State this season. Utah is averaging more than that per game on the ground alone.

No. 19 Missouri at No. 24 Mississippi State (-6) (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Putting this game outside the top five shows just how loaded this weekend is. Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor 's star turn will only get brighter with a big game against Mizzou and a win will be further evidence that this hot September isn't going to be a mirage for the Bulldogs. Last year, MSU started 4-0 before losing seven of their final eight regular-season games.