The Saturday Watchlist: 11-1-2025
Where the heck am I supposed to watch football today?
Uhhhhhh, so where are we supposed to watch any of the games today?
If there was ever a day for The Saturday Watchlist, it would be Nov. 1, 2025. Why? Well, two nights ago it was announced that YouTube TV and Disney failed to reach a carrier agreement, meaning that any Disney programming — ESPN included — would not be on the service for as long as an agreement couldn’t be reached. That means we, the consumers, are left in no man’s land searching for ways to watch the football games we so adore.
For a full analysis of the feud between Google and Disney, Deadline wrote a fairly informative article yesterday about the whole ordeal.
There’s really no telling how long this standoff will last, which means there’s no way to know when YouTube TV customers will have access to live sports on ESPN networks. That begs the question: Where can I watch college football today? The answer is quite simple, so long as you’re willing to sign up for a free trial you might forget to cancel. Fubo offers a one-week free trial, which is what I’ll be utilizing. And hey, if you like that option, then you can feel free to sign up for it full time. There’s also a litany of other online streaming options to choose from, such as Hulu + Live TV (Disney really wants you to choose this one) and DirecTV Stream. You can also just shell out $30 a month for ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service that apparently stinks.
The end-all, be-all for me is that I’m going to find a way to watch football today, whether the bigwigs in conference rooms like it or not. And hey, if you choose pirated means, I will not blame you.
This all really stinks because today’s slate is pretty intriguing. There aren’t a lot of marquee matchups, but the games are still fun, and that’s really all that counts. So, even with all the TV drama, here’s The Saturday Watchlist for Nov. 1, 2025.
Note: All rankings are from the D Poll for Week 10, and all times are CT. Also, I will be watching the World Series tonight — the graphic above is solely meant for college football.
Early Window
Primary Screen: No. 10 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Texas — 11 a.m. — ABC
Secondary Screen: Navy at North Texas — 11 a.m. — ESPN2
Tertiary Screen: No. 11 Miami at SMU — 11 a.m. — ESPN
Also worth tracking:
Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State — 11 a.m. — FOX
Duke at Clemson — 11 a.m. — ACC Network
I’m starting to realize that a lot of the games are on Disney/ESPN networks. I thought monopolies were something eradicated in the early 20th century? Oh, I’m hearing in my ear that that is absolutely not the case.
Anyway, if you figure out a way to access any of this, then Vanderbilt’s tilt against a Texas team that keeps skating by will be a great appetizer (or perhaps even a full meal) for the day ahead. It appears that Arch Manning will play after suffering a concussion in last week’s win at Mississippi State, though how effective he’ll be is still a question.
North Texas has been one of the most wonderful stories in college football to start the year, but its College Football Playoff hopes will be on the line against undefeated Navy at DATCU Stadium this morning. Navy, too, wants to crash the CFP party, yet its tough schedule down the stretch — starting with today’s game in Denton — might make that difficult. If Drew Mestemaker and the Mean Green have anything to say about it, then the Midshipmen will be headed back to Annapolis disappointed.
Apparently the early window is just a Texas Trifecta, as the third viewing option is a crucial ACC matchup between two teams that each have one loss in conference play: Miami and SMU. Did y’all know this is Miami’s first time leaving the state of Florida this season? Isn’t that absolutely nuts?
Afternoon Window
Primary Screen: No. 12 Texas Tech at Kansas State — 2:30 p.m. — FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 8 Georgia at Florida — 2:30 p.m. — ABC
Tertiary Screen: No. 19 Virginia at California — 2:45 p.m. — ESPN2
Also worth tracking:
No. 2 Indiana at Maryland — 2:30 p.m. — CBS
Another game with a team from Texas in it? Anybody from California or Florida is yelling at me to high heaven right now. Anyway, everybody knows about Texas Tech’s big game at home against BYU next week. Before it can tackle that, it has to get through a Kansas State team whose resurgence back to competency has this game looking like anything but a foregone conclusion.
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been Georgia’s to lose for years, and that’s probably not changing this afternoon. Still, in the first game without Billy Napier as head coach, do the Gators come out with a fire to win? We’ll see. The most likely scenario is that the Bulldogs just steamroll, though they really haven’t done that to anybody this year.
Virginia has a good record and deserves to be ranked, but anybody who’s watched the Cavaliers knows they’ve been skating on thin ice all season. Now they have to travel 3,000 miles across the country to Berkeley to face the Golden Bears and star freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (say that five times fast and I’ll give you $100).
Evening Window
Primary Screen: Los Angeles Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays — 7 p.m. — FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 21 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee — 6:30 p.m. — ABC
Tertiary Screen: No. 25 USC at Nebraska — 6:30 p.m. — NBC
Also worth tracking:
No. 5 Georgia Tech at NC State — 6:30 p.m. — ESPN2
Wake Forest at Florida State — 6:30 p.m. — ACC Network
Kentucky at Auburn — 6:30 p.m. — SEC Network
South Carolina at No. 7 Ole Miss — 6 p.m. — ESPN
Contrary to what The Saturday Watchlist graphic says (thank you to my wife for making that every week!), I’ll be watching Game 7 of the World Series tonight between the Dodgers and Blue Jays. Last night’s game was nuts, and this series as a whole has been filled with so many twists and turns. It all ends this evening in Toronto, and I’m pretty sure the majority of the world — outside of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and Japan — is rooting for the Blue Jays to pull it off and win their first World Series since 1993.
If you still have any brainpower to watch anything else, Tennessee will be wearing all-black uniforms — it calls it “Dark Mode” — in a CFP elimination game with Oklahoma. It’s simple: the winner stays alive, and the loser’s fan base falls into such a hole of despair and misery that it most likely goes insane. Sounds fun, right?
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule signed a contract extension the other day, and he’ll get a chance to prove to the school and the fan base that that was money well spent. To do so, he’ll have to accomplish a feat he’s rarely done in his college football coaching career: beat a Top 25 team.
Late Window
Primary Screen: No. 13 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah — 9:15 p.m. — ESPN
Secondary Screen: Hawai’i at San José State — 9:30 p.m. — CBS Sports Network
If you’re still awake — I trust that you are — then the main event of the day (at least in the college football world) is kicking off late at night in Salt Lake City. The Cincinnati Bearcats have shocked the universe with their quality play, and they’ll get another chance to prove their worth against a Utah team that’s fighting for its Big 12 life. This is going to be so much fun, and apparently College GameDay is there right now. I wish I could watch it!
There’s also the option to tune into a Hawai’i football game, which is always a pleasant experience. One of my dreams in my sports life is to get Hawai’i a home CFP game. That’d just be so much fun.