Berry Tramel's college football predictions: OU, OSU will be hard-pressed to win

Utah has played college football in the state of Oklahoma just thrice, at OU in 1977 and at Tulsa in 1943 and 1997.

Saturday, both the Volunteers and Utes come to Oklahoma, and they are involved in college footballs games of the day.

Sixth-ranked Tennessee plays at No.

15 OU, and No.

12 Utah plays at No.

14 OSU.

Look what conference realignment has drug home.

ESPNs GameDay will be in Norman, and Foxs Big Noon Kickoff should have been in Stillwater.

Fox inexplicably chose Ohio State-Marshall for its pregame show, but whatever.

That wont stop the environment in Stillwater from being rowdy as the Cowboys welcome Utah for its Big 12 debut.

Meanwhile, OUs Southeastern Conference debut comes in the friendly confines of Owen Field.

Both the Sooners and Cowboys will need all the homefield advantage they can get.

Lets get to the predictions.

Tennessee at Oklahoma: Volunteers 27-20 .

The same kind of improvement OU made from Houston to Tulane will be needed to stick with Tennessee, and even more than that to beat the Vols.

Utah at Oklahoma State: Utes 21-20 .

Utah has been the hard-nosed program of the Pac-12 for going on a decade, which is not going to help solve the Cowboys puzzling problem of running the ball with tailback Ollie Gordon.

Tulsa at Louisiana Tech: Bulldogs 27-24 .

Tech played tough vs.

North Carolina State before falling 30-20.

Arkansas at Auburn: Razorbacks 28-25 .

Arkansas already had its post-OSU letdown, messing around with Alabama-Birmingham for much of last Saturday.

Florida at Mississippi State: Gators 28-19.

Im shocked shocked! that Billy Napier remains the Florida coach.

Vanderbilt at Missouri: Tigers 27-7 .

I was looking forward to this game.

Then Vandy lost to Georgia State.

UCLA at Louisiana State: Tigers 38-10 .

Were any of us ready for how non-competitive the Bruins have become, 42-13 losers to Indiana? Georgia Southern at Ole Miss: Rebels 41-31 .

The Eagles are no pushovers.

They might get pushed over, but theyre no pushovers.

Ohio at Kentucky: Wildcats 30-13.

This is a better game than Ohio State-Kentucky State would be.

Akron at South Carolina: Gamecocks 49-14 .

Akron coach Joe Moorhead, 5-22 with the Zips, was Mississippi States coach in 2018 and 2019, but those Bulldogs missed the Gamecocks on the schedule.

Bowling Green at Texas A&M: Aggies 38-7 .

A&Ms third game ever against the Mid-American Conference; the Ags routed Ball State in 2015 and Kent State in 2021.

Louisiana-Monroe at Texas: Longhorns 55-7 .

Pride of New Orleans Arch Mannings first start at quarterback likely comes against a home-state school.

Kansas State at Brigham Young: Wildcats 19-17 .

Big 12 After Dark.

Late-night ESPN game could be dicey for K-State.

Arizona State at Texas Tech: Red Raiders 33-24 .

Another losable game for ASU that it just might win, but Tech should be desperate.

Kansas at West Virginia: Mountaineers 27-23 .

Two teams with a combined four non-conference losses, when we expected only one (Penn State over WVU).

Baylor at Colorado: Buffaloes 30-21 .

Deions Buffs should get to 3-1 and restoke the hype machine.

Texas Christian at Southern Methodist: Horned Frogs 31-20 .

The Iron Skillet game is not scheduled beyond 2025.

Boo! Houston at Cincinnati: Cougars 20-10 .

With Arizona States apparent rise, the Big 12s last-place showdown comes early.

Arkansas State at Iowa State: Cyclones 34-11 .

Can ISU stand prosperity? Sometimes the answer is no, but well guess yes.

Southern Cal at Michigan: Trojans 26-14 .

This looked like a showdown game until Texas defrocked the Wolverines.

Illinois at Nebraska: Cornhuskers 31-17 .

Friday night special on Fox, and wonder of wonders, both teams are in the top 25.

Rutgers at Virginia Tech: Hokies 24-20 .

First of four straight interesting games for Rutgers, which next has Washington, at Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Michigan State at Boston College: Eagles 28-18 .

BC put up a good fight at Missouri.

The Eagles look more real than does Georgia Tech, which also upset Florida State.

Iowa at Minnesota: Gophers 21-19 .

The Hawkeyes lost 12-10 at home to Minnesota last season.

Northwestern at Washington: Huskies 27-22 .

UW did not fare well in the Apple Cup last week, with Washington State winning 24-19 in a Seattle revenge game.

Purdue at Oregon State: Beavers 22-20 .

The Boilermakers might not get a better chance to win the rest of the season.

Marshall at Ohio State: Buckeyes 63-13 .

Ohio States schedule takes forever to get tough.

Charlotte at Indiana: Hoosiers 51-14 .

Curt Cignetti has IU 3-0 and playing well.

Kent State at Penn State: Nittany Lions 62-7 .

The Golden Flashes are as good a pick as any as the worst team in Division I-A.

Villanova at Maryland: Terrapins 46-10 .

Would make a better basketball game.

Georgia Tech at Louisville: Cardinals 27-21 .

Big Atlantic Coast Conference game.

This conference seems even more wide open than the Big 12.

North Carolina State at Clemson: Tigers 31-21 .

N.C.

State has been a big disappointment but could change that distinction with an upset in Death Valley.

California at Florida State: Seminoles 25-17 .

One team is 3-0.

The other is 0-3.

Those records do not match the teams you would think they would match.

Stanford at Syracuse: Orange 23-14.

Bay Area vs.

Upstate New York is the quintessential ACC game, dont you think? Miami at South Florida: Hurricanes 34-20 .

Upset alert.

USF is quite competitive, and this is the first series meeting in 11 years.

James Madison at North Carolina: Tar Heels 32-21 .

JMU was the Sun Belts best team last season but wasnt eligible to play in the league championship game.

The 2-0 Dukes dont seem quite as potent this season.

Duke at Middle Tennessee: Blue Devils 42-12 .

Former OSU defensive coordinator Derek Mason is off to a 1-2 start as the Middle head coach.

Virginia at Coastal Carolina: Cavaliers 28-27 .

UVA could get to 3-1 with a victory, but the wins are about to stop.

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh: Panthers 42-12 .

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said the Panthers beat West Virginia and the officiating crew.

The guy is one uncharming dude.

Miami-Ohio at Notre Dame: Fighting Irish 35-15 .

Notre Dame has a one-game losing streak against the Mid-American Conference.

Perhaps youve heard.

San Jose State at Washington State: Cougars 38-19 .

Could WSU run the table and make the playoff as an at-large? Im guessing no, but it would be interesting to follow.

Florida Atlantic at Connecticut: Huskies 24-19 .

Former Sooner Nick Evers was back as the UConn quarterback vs.

Duke.

In a 26-21 loss, he rushed for 60 yards and threw for 135 on 15-of-29 passing.

Tulane at Louisiana: Green Wave 33-20 .

Tulane was as good and tough as advertised against Oklahoma.

Memphis at Navy: Tigers 35-15 .

Memphis win over Florida State shoots the Tigers into prime contention for a playoff berth.

East Carolina at Liberty: Flames 29-14 .

Liberty has a tougher schedule this season, primarily these back-to-back games against the Pirates and Appalachian State.

Rice at Army: Black Knights 23-7 .

Second of three straight Cadet games against Owls.

First, Florida Atlantic.

Next, Temple.

Wyoming at North Texas: Mean Green 40-14.

Terrible timing for Wyoming to have its worst team in years, with the Mountain West breaking apart.

Utah State at Temple: Aggies 32-14 .

Strange road trip.

Logan, Utah, to Philadelphia.

Houston Christian at Texas-San Antonio: Roadrunners 34-14 .

UTSA is in total rebuild mode, but not enough to lose to HCU.

Fresno State at New Mexico: Bulldogs 28-13.

The first grudge match since the Mountain West news broke that Fresno State, Colorado State, Boise State and San Diego State are headed to the Pac-2/12 in 2026.

Texas-El Paso at Colorado State: Rams 39-7 .

Wonder if UTEP now can get into the Mountain West, rather than stay in Conference USA, which is spread quite wide? Eastern Washington at Nevada: Wolf Pack 31-13.

Is every game a Pac audition for the potential candidates, like Nevada? Portland State at Boise State: Broncos 44-7.

Whooping cough spread throughout the Portland State team last week, forcing cancellation of its game against South Dakota.

Ive had whooping cough and dont recommend it.

Northern Iowa at Hawaii: Rainbow Warriors 25-14.

You dont see a ton of I-AA teams play on the Islands.

Last week: 47-7.

Season: 165-32..

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