Massive upsets have been rolling in seemingly every week of the college football season and this Saturday should be no exception. These three favorites will have their work cut out for them against some seriously strong competition.

Cal Bears at NC State Wolfpack

• Time: Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, ACC Network
• Odds: NC State -6.5 (-122)
• Moneyline: NC State -255, Cal +205

Cal has been terrible on offense, a fact which led them to demote their first year offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville in the middle of a loss to UNLV and promote pass game coordinator Pat McCann. 

The offense is still bad but not horrible and quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is starting to play better. Although the offense is not up to the level many Bears fans want, it is good enough to compete in this game against a team with a new head coach, their first in 14 seasons.

CJ Bailey was supposed to be the elite quarterback who a smaller school kept. He was supposed to let the Wolfpack challenge for 10 wins and a berth in the ACC Conference Championship game. Instead, he is the reason Doeren was fired and has been the reason NC State is in the position it is in, even with an easy schedule.

Bailey has thrown for 1,763 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions this season while the normally explosive runner has compiled just 177 yards on 56 carries. He is also missing running back Hollywood Smothers who left for Texas to lead the back field of the Longhorns for this season. 

NC State lost just last week to the other academic California school in Stanford. Cal is bad, but they are better than Stanford. So, what is to say the Bears cannot pull off the same upset. Either way, at plus-6.5 points, I will take Da Bears. 

Kansas Jayhawks at TCU Horned Frogs

• Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1
• Odds: TCU -5.5 (-114)
• Moneyline: TCU -205, Kansas +168

With Doeren fired at NC State, Mike Locksley out at Maryland and Dave Aranda done with Baylor, Sonny Dykes went to number one in the hot seat rankings this week.

Dykes has done much of nothing since making the national championship game in 2022 and losing 65-7 to Georgia. And his team no-showed against West Virginia last Saturday.

This is the worst season of them all and TCU fans and administrators do not want to continue the slide, especially if Texas Tech starts taking a step back and the Big XII becomes more balanced in spending.

This is the last stand for Dykes. If he loses this game against a floundering Kansas team with a new stadium and no hope, Sunday might be another round of firing in Texas. Two schools, if Texas Tech also loses to Arizona.

Kansas, despite their win last week against Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown, has been awful this season under embattled coach Lance Leipold.

After a few good seasons to start his time in Lawrence, Leipold has reverted to old Kansas. It is especially bad in 2026 as the basketball team is coming off a down year and more of the revenue sharing was sent to the court at Allen Fieldhouse so Bill Self can bet the Jayhawks back to the Final Four before his retirement in the next few years.

Due to the finances of the states involved, Kansas spends far more of their budget on basketball than any other school in the country. This leads to bad football. 

Even with this said, with TCU all but giving up and Kansas coming off a win, there is a chance that Kansas football gets one more bite of the apple before the basketball team takes over with their season starting Monday against Fordham. 

If TCU wins, I will not be surprised. But to have them favored by 5.5 points is not something I can ignore when making this play. 

Northwestern Wildcats at Oregon Ducks

• Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, Peacock
• Line: Oregon -3.5 (-108)
• Moneyline: Oregon -160, Northwestern +132

Coming into the season, Oregon was a national title contender, had a returning quarterback who was set to go in the top three of the 2026 NFL draft and were a 28.5-point favorite against Northwestern in this matchup.

Now, Oregon has three losses and is out of the playoffs. Dante Moore is going to miss the rest of the season after a cheap shot against USC knocked him out. And Oregon is just a 3.5-point favorite over a Wildcats team coming to Eugene with one loss and a chance to make the Big Ten Title game against UCLA. Funny times we live in. Funny times indeed.

Oregon should still win this game. But the Wildcats are different this season. They are running exciting offenses, exciting because they lead to points, and Chip Kelly is in his bag as the offensive coordinator. David Braun is again making the decision for Northwestern to promote him from interim coach look genius and the team is finally able to get something out of quarterback Aiden Chiles after three years at Michigan State and Oregon State.

It is still shocking to find the Ducks such short favorites in this game. But, with Moore out and Dylan Raiola or Brock Thomas set to start, the roster might just decide to give up and get ready for the NFL rather than fighting for the Relia-Quest Bowl.