HYPE INDEX: Your guide (and predictions) for Week 7 in Texas college football

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: UTEP at Southern Miss, 6 p.m. Saturday in Hattiesburg, MS The Miners showed some signs of life last week in a near-miss against Western Kentucky, but going on the road has been a bit of a nightmare for UTEP. If the Miners can turn the ball over a couple of times, they could keep it close. Otherwise, Ito Smith and the Southern Miss ground game should run away with this. Watchability Rating: 2 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Southern Miss 38, UTEP 148: Texas State at Louisiana-Lafayette, 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Lafayette, LA The Bobcats get the Thursday night #FunBelt spotlight, and there are some glimmers of hope in this matchup — specifically that Lafayette’s defense is miserable, and they’re starting a new quarterback. That said, the Ragin’ Cajuns offense should do enough to extend Texas State’s losing streak. Watchablity Rating: 2 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Louisiana-Lafayette 35, Texas State 207: Houston at Tulsa, 3 p.m. Saturday in Tulsa, OK Last year, this was a can’t-miss game — a high-powered Tulsa team stormed into Houston and gave the Coogs everything they could handle. But this is not last year’s Golden Hurricane, as the defense has nose-dived. The intrigue here is whether Houston can take advantage of a terrible Tulsa defense to continue its offensive upswing. Watchability Rating: 3 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Houston 42, Tulsa 236: Baylor at No. 14 Oklahoma State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater, OK The Bears have shown improvement each week, though it hasn’t handed them in the win column yet. It likely won’t finish there this week — Oklahoma State remains an elite team, and Baylor has been particularly susceptible to the big play — but how Matt Rhule’s bunch plays in this one will be telling for the remainder of the 2017 campaign. Watchability Rating: 5 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediciton: Oklahoma State 48, Baylor 285: Texas A&M at Florida, 6 p.m. Saturday in Gainesville, FL It’s a matchup of two teams that nobody can get a handle on! A&M has looked terrible at times, yet played Alabama closer than anybody last week. Florida remains — at least theoretically — in the SEC East race by virtue of an excellent secondary and…magic? If the Aggies stop the run and run the ball, they could walk out of Gainesville with their best win of the season, and maybe a better feel for who they are as a team. Watchablility Rating: 7 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Texas A&M 24, Florida 174: No. 24 Texas Tech at West Virginia, 11 a.m. Saturday in Morgantown, WV The Red Raiders are back in the AP rankings, but they’ll have to earn their keep right out of the chute with a trip to Morgantown. West Virginia is particularly reliant on the big play with their QB Will Grier and bevy of receivers, and believe it or not, Tech hasn’t been particularly susceptible to explosive plays. Can the Red Raiders take advantage of a dreadful Mountaineers rushing defense? Win the turnover battle, run the ball, get out of West Virginia with a win and your couches un-torched. Watchability Rating: 7 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Texas Tech 41, West Virginia 383: UTSA at North Texas, 6 p.m. Saturday in Denton Our own Brady Keane calls this the biggest game in Apogee Stadium history, and we’re inclined to agree with him. This feels like a huge game in Conference USA, as both teams have legitimate conference title hopes. The biggest question here will be how UTSA’s rushing defense, a week after getting torched by Southern Miss, responds to UNT’s ground game with Jeffery Wilson. This matchup feels even-steven, and might be the best non-Power 5 game in Texas this season. Don’t miss it. Watchability Rating: 8 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: North Texas 31, UTSA 302: No. 6 TCU at Kansas State, 11 a.m. Saturday in Manhattan, KS No rest for the weary, as the Horned Frogs must now travel to Manhattan for an early morning kick against a fiery Wildcats squad. At this point, Kansas State is what it is: a grinding rushing attack (though apparently star QB Jesse Ertz will not play, making way for newcomer Alex Delton) and a sound defense. This will be the best rushing defense that the Frogs have faced, putting a premium on Kenny Hill’s ability to take care of the football. This is a land mine game for the Frogs, the third high-pressure game in as many weeks. It should be a classic. Watchability Rating: 9 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: TCU 28, Kansas State 241: No. 12 Oklahoma vs. Texas, 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Dallas The Red River Showdown (that’s what it’s called now, right?) gets renewed for the 102nd time, and there’s intrigue galore. This is the first Texas-OU game without either Mack Brown or Bob Stoops since 1997, and the spotlight will be squarely on the new guys on the sideline. But for all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the field, what actually happens on it will be just as compelling. Can Oklahoma recover from its bizarre loss to Iowa State? Can the Texas offense take advantage of a reeling Sooners defense? Can Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando work the same defensive magic on Oklahoma that he did at Houston last season? Texas-OU is always must-see, but it feels even bigger this year. Watchability Rating: 10 out of 10 Tepper’s Prediction: Oklahoma 38, Texas 35