College football on TV: UCLA vs. Oregon kicks off the weekend

Break out the chips and cold drinks, but let Chris Dufresne handle the remote. Each Friday, The Times’ national college football writer handicaps what’s worth watching, and skipping, on the weekend’s menu of games:

FRIDAY

UCLA (6-6) at No. 8 Oregon (10-2)

5 p.m., Channel 11

UCLA players carried Rick Neuheisel off the field Wednesday evening … four years and four days too late. The Pac-12 Conference catches a break only because Oregon is hosting the first championship game, which at least won’t add empty seats to the backdrop of this nightmarish inaugural. If the Bruins give an emotional, inspired effort because it’s Neuheisel’s last game, well, that would be different.

4 p.m.: Ohio vs. Northern Illinois, ESPN2.

SATURDAY

MORNING

No. 24 Southern Mississippi (10-2) at No. 7 Houston (12-0)

9 a.m., Channel 7

Two of the nation’s hottest coaching candidates, Larry Fedora and Kevin Sumlin, look to fine-tune their resumes in the Conference USA title game. Sumlin is on Arizona State’s short list and will be on UCLA’s if the Bruins can’t pry Chris Petersen away from Boise State.

Syracuse (5-6) at Pittsburgh (5-6)

9 a.m., ESPN2

Strongly recommend skipping this game and waiting for the schools to meet in Big East basketball.

9 a.m.: Connecticut at Cincinnati, ESPN.

9:30 a.m.: Iowa State at Kansas State, Prime Ticket.

MIDDAY

Nevada Las Vegas (2-9) at No. 18 Texas Christian (9-2)

11:30 a.m., Versus

Texas Christian, our defending Rose Bowl champion, still has an outside shot at making a Bowl Championship Series game if it finishes 10-2 and Houston loses the Conference USA title game. TCU could get the non-AQ auto bid if it finishes in the top 16 of the final BCS standings.

Texas (7-4) at No. 19 Baylor (8-3)

12:30 p.m., Channel 7

There’s a Heisman Trophy candidate in this game, but he’s not a Longhorn. He’s a Waco kid. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, knocked out of last week’s win over Texas Tech, gets a final chance to impress Heisman voters. It’s not likely Griffin can suffer a fourth defeat and win the coveted trophy.

No. 12 Georgia (10-2) vs. No. 1 Louisiana State (12-0)

1 p.m., Channel 2

It’s almost a foregone conclusion that LSU can afford a loss in the Southeastern Conference title game and still advance to the BCS championship game. The SEC would be better served, actually, if Georgia won. That would set up a scenario in which the SEC would advance three teams to BCS bowls. Georgia would get the Sugar Bowl bid, and LSU and Alabama would probably still play for the BCS title as non-champions.

4:30 p.m.: Brigham Young at Hawaii, ESPN2.

EVENING

No. 13 Oklahoma (9-2) at No. 3 Oklahoma State (11-1)

5 p.m., Channel 7

Oklahoma State needs a convincing win to make any kind of postgame claim in the national title picture. Oklahoma isn’t going to step aside and make things easy for the Cowboys. This is, after all, a “Bedlam” matchup that has been dominated by the team from Norman. Oklahoma has won eight straight games in the series. The Big 12 championship is at stake, with the winner probably headed to the Fiesta Bowl to play Stanford.

No. 5 Virginia Tech (11-1) vs. No. 21 Clemson (9-3)

5 p.m., ESPN

Virginia Tech seeks to avenge its only defeat in this matchup for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Clemson won at Blacksburg, Va., 23-3, on Oct. 1, but the schools have since trended in different directions. Virginia Tech hasn’t lost since and jumped to No. 5 in the BCS standings, and Clemson has dropped three of its last four games and fallen out of the top 10.

No. 15 Wisconsin (10-2) vs. No. 11 Michigan State (10-2)

5 p.m., Channel 11

One thing is certain: The inaugural Big Ten championship matchup is better than the inaugural Pac-12 championship matchup. Michigan State won a thriller in the regular-season meeting, beating Wisconsin in East Lansing, Mich., on a last-second Hail Mary play. This game will be played on a neutral field, in Indianapolis, with the winner receiving an automatic Rose Bowl bid.

5 p.m.: Fresno State at San Diego State, CBSSN.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com