Thursday is a two-game football night, and one of them has real conference-title stakes. Here’s what’s worth your remote. All times Central.
- Memphis at South Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN. The best game of the night. Memphis is 7-2 and 4-1 in the American. USF is 6-3 but 2-3 in league play, so this is about spoiling somebody’s season in Tampa. Memphis is only a 3.5-point favorite. I’ll take the team that’s still playing for something.
- Louisiana at UL Monroe, 8 p.m., ESPN2. Louisiana is 6-3 and a 10.5-point road favorite against a 2-7 ULM team. A Sun Belt rivalry on a Thursday night in Monroe is never as easy as the records say. That’s the only reason I’m watching the spread and not the score.
- Oklahoma State at Texas A&M basketball, 7 p.m., SEC Network+. Both teams are unbeaten, A&M at 3-0 and Oklahoma State at 2-0, and the Aggies are a 7.5-point favorite at Reed Arena. A real early-season test, and a good warm-up for College Station before the main event Saturday.
- Montana State at No. 23 BYU, 8 p.m., ESPN+. BYU is 3-0 and a 23.5-point favorite. Not a classic, but it’s the only ranked team playing Thursday, so it makes the list.
- The Vols countdown. Vols basketball hosts Tennessee State Friday at 6 p.m. Then Saturday is the one we’ve been waiting on: No. 8 Tennessee (7-2) at Texas A&M, 2 p.m., ESPN. Two more days.
How Wednesday went
Last night I said the Buffalo-Ball State line was too tight and somebody knew something. Turns out nobody did. Buffalo won 28-7 in Muncie and is now 7-3. Toledo shut out UMass 24-0 to get to 8-2, and Central Michigan beat Sacramento State 28-7.
In hoops, No. 20 Michigan handled Marquette 84-70. USC at Cal was still going at press time.
No picks from us on Thursday’s games. Follow along on X @fiveandafade and Instagram. Schedules, scores, lines and TV from ESPN.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
