College Football Week 4: TV, Live Stream Coverage and Best Games for Top 25 Schedule

The number of serious College Football Playoff contenders is dwindling by the week.

Week 4’s trio of marquee games will help narrow down the contenders for the first-ever 12-team playoff even more.

Five teams ranked between No. 11 and No. 20 in the latest AP Top 25 take part in those contests. The sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are the only Top 10 squad involved in a marquee matchup.

The Big 12 title race will come into picture in Stillwater, where the Oklahoma State Cowboys host the Utah Utes.

At the same time, the Michigan Wolverines’ playoff hopes will be on the line in a home matchup with the USC Trojans.

Tennessee visits the Oklahoma Sooners in the main primetime matchup. The loser of that game will knocked down the hierarchy of SEC contenders.

Saturday, September 22

Marshall at No. 3 Ohio State (Noon ET, Fox)

NC State at No. 21 Clemson (Noon ET, ABC)

Arkansas State at No. 20 Iowa State (2 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Kent State at No. 10 Penn State (3:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

Miami (Ohio) at No. 17 Notre Dame (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

Georgia Tech at No. 19 Louisville (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Buffalo at No. 23 Northern Illinois (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

UCLA at No. 16 LSU (3:40 p.m. ET, ABC)

No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State (4 p.m. ET, Fox)

Vanderbilt at No. 7 Missouri (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 8 Miami at South Florida (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Bowling Green at No. 25 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Georgia Southern at No. 5 Ole Miss (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

UL-Monroe at No. 1 Texas ((8 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

No. 13 Kansas State at BYU (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The Utah-Oklahoma State game is the most important Week 4 game in the context of the CFB Playoff.

The Big 12 is likely going to get one or two playoff spots depending on things shake out in the SEC and Big Ten.

The majority of the at-large bids may end up in the SEC with the way all of the top programs in that league have started.

That puts more emphasis on the Top 25 games in the Big 12, where the conference champion will be one of the top four seeds in the playoff.

Utah can be a playoff contender when quarterback Cam Rising is healthy, but there are already concerns about him this season. He missed last week’s game with a finger injury.

Oklahoma State should have a slight edge at home, but its defense has been shaky to start the season and it barely survived an upset bid from the Arkansas Razorbacks in Week 2.

The Cowboys have the best collection of talent, led by running back Ollie Gordon, but with a healthy Rising, the Utes can keep the game close.

An Oklahoma State win would set up an even bigger matchup next week with the Kansas State Wildcats for Big 12 superiority. A Utah victory would put the Utes in a terrific position to make the Big 12 Championship Game since they do not have to play K-State in the regular season.

Michigan’s CFB Playoff life is at risk on Saturday.

The Wolverines already suffered a loss to the top-ranked Texas Longhorns and have made a quarterback change from Davis Warren to Alex Orji for Saturday’s clash with USC.

At No. 18 in the AP poll, Michigan is in danger of falling out of the rankings and dropping well behind the other Big Ten playoff contenders, like USC.

The Trojans already have a nice win over the LSU Tigers. Another ranked win at the Big House would give them one of the better resumes in the country at the moment.

Defense will likely define the game. USC’s unit is far improved from last year, while Michigan has to hang its hat on defense while it figures out its quarterback situation.

Whichever team wins in Ann Arbor will be clearly defined as at worst the fourth-best team in the Big Ten behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks, all of whom play each other in the coming weeks.

The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the early-season darlings of college football thanks to the play of quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

The Vols eclipsed the 50-point mark in each of their three games and come into Norman with a ton of hype.

The Oklahoma Sooners have not looked the best on offense with their young quarterback Jackson Arnold. Saturday’s SEC debut is a chance for the Sooners to prove they belong among college football’s elite in 2024.

However, that could be difficult to achieve since the Vols defense has been equally as impressive by holding opponents to 13 points.

A loss would not officially take either side out of the CFB Playoff, but it would knock that team down the hierarchy in the SEC.

A case could be for any one of six teams (Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee) to reach the playoff, so any Top 25 victory is vital to move up the list of playoff contenders in college football’s best conference.