HYPE INDEX: Your guide to the Texas college football weekend

This is the Texas College Football Hype Index, where Dave Campbell’s Texas Football managing editor Greg Tepper ranks the FBS college football games in Texas from least-watchable to most-watchable.9: Florida International at Rice, 6:30 p.m. Saturday Two bottom-half Conference USA squads go at it in this one, and it may be Rice’s last best chance at a second conference win. Butch Davis’ Golden Panthers — yes, it’s Butch Davis! — will dare Rice to beat them through the air, and if the Owls can do it with either Sam Glaesmann or Jackson Tyner (or both!), Rice should pick up the win here. That is, of course, if the defense can do its part, and that’s a big if. Watchability Rating: 2 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Rice 28, Florida International 248: UTEP at New Mexico State, 7 p.m. Saturday The Battle of I-10 will be renewed for the 78^th time, and the Miners’ eight-game winning streak over the Aggies is in severe peril, especially if they can’t figure out how to move the ball. New Mexico State’s suddenly pass-centric attack led by QB Tyler Rogers is solid (not to mention Texas Football favorite Larry Rose III), and it’ll be up to Zach Greenlee and the UTEP offense to find something — anything! — offensively. Watchablity Rating: 3 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: New Mexico State 30, UTEP 107: UAB at North Texas, 5:30 p.m. Saturday UAB is back from football purgatory, and they’re actually better than expected. This game is all about the ground game — North Texas has to slow down the Blazers’ two-headed rushing attack of Spencer Brown and AJ Erdely, and Jeffery Wilson has to feast on a lackluster UAB front seven. A couple turnovers wouldn’t hurt for the Mean Green defense, either. Watchability Rating: 4 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: North Texas 38, UAB 246: Arkansas State at SMU, 6 p.m. Saturday Arkansas State is kind of an extreme version of SMU — a huge Air Raid offense led by QB Justice Hansen and a bevy of talented receivers, and almost no defense. Ke’Mon Freeman and Xavier Jones should be able to feast on an eminently beatable ASU running defense, and if the Ponies can get a couple of stops, they should pull out the victory. That said, if the Mustangs defense doesn’t show up, the shootout could be on. Watchability Rating: 5 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: SMU 44, Arkansas State 335: UTSA at Texas State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday The newly minted I-35 Rivalry gets back at it, and after all the Twitter chirping is over, this should be a fun and telling matchup. Questions abound: can UTSA move the ball on Texas State’s stout front seven? Can Texas State move the ball, period? Does home field advantage mean anything, considering this is the first time the Bobcats have hosted the Roadrunners? The lower the score, the more it benefits Texas State, but Dalton Sturm and company probably have too much firepower. Watch it for the bad blood alone. Watchability Rating: 5 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: UTSA 24, Texas State 104: No. 3 Oklahoma at Baylor, 5:30 p.m. Saturday Amid the 0-3 start, there is some good news for Baylor — running back Terence Williams is expected to be back, which could help against an OK-not-great Oklahoma front seven. He could help keep this thing close, but it’s hard to imagine Baylor’s beleaguered defense slowing down a white-hot Oklahoma offense, and it’s hard to imagine Baylor’s passing attack keeping up against the conference’s best secondary (and pass rush). Watchability Rating: 6 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Oklahoma 49, Baylor 283: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, 11 a.m. Saturday in Arlington Talk about a mystery game. Does the A&M that looked like a contender in the first half against UCLA and the second half against Louisiana-Lafayette show up? Or the other A&M — the one that looks like it could lose to anyone — rear its ugly head? Arkansas is no world-beater, but they have a playmaking secondary that could cause problems if Kellen Mond isn’t sharp. The keys for A&M are clear: take care of the football and stop the Hogs’ running game, since QB Austin Allen probably isn’t good enough to beat the Aggies by himself. And don’t forget: A&M has dominated this series of late. Expect a wild one. Watchability Rating: 7 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Texas A&M 31, Arkansas 242: Texas Tech at Houston, 11 a.m. Saturday in Houston In any other week, this would be the must-see game in the state. This will be far-and-away the best offense that Houston’s terrific defense has faced. This will be far-and-away the best defense that Texas Tech’s high-powered offense has faced. In many respects, it’s the other side of the ball — Houston’s offense against Tech’s defense — that will tell the tale. Just how improved are both of those units? Tech’s D looks better, but will that be enough? Houston’s offense began clicking last week, but can it keep that going? It seems like almost anything is possible in this matchup. Watchability Rating: 8 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Houston 48, Texas Tech 411: No. 16 TCU at No. 6 Oklahoma State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday The Big 12 picture will begin to sort itself out this week, and there’s no bigger game in the nation than this afternoon tilt in Stillwater. The Cowboys’ offense has looked unstoppable with QB Mason Rudolph and receivers James Washington and Marcell Ateman (not to mention RB Justice Hill, who does just enough to keep you honest). But here comes the much-hyped TCU defense, which has looked very vintage Gary Patterson of late. On the other side, the Frogs should have a chance to put up some points on a solid-but-untested OSU defense, and that could make things very interesting as long as Kenny Hill takes care of the football. If the Frogs have conference title hopes — and beyond — the road starts here. Watchability Rating: 10 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Oklahoma State 38, TCU 31