This might be the best week for college football so far.
The week's biggest games will be in Auburn, Miami, and Norman. Auburn hosts Georgia for the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry game. Auburn needs a win to keep its faint playoff hopes alive while Georgia needs a win to keep hold of its No. 1 playoff ranking for another week. Meanwhile, Miami could leap into the playoff picture by beating the playoff No. 3 Fighting Irish in Miami. Finally, we get a potential Big XII Championship Game when the top two teams in the Big XII, Oklahoma and TCU, clash in Norman.
Here's your viewing guide for this weekend.
Thursday
Ball State at Northern Illinois (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). The MAC continues its late season practice of scheduling its games for the weekdays. This will be the latest MAC game this week.
Georgia Southern at Appalachian State (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.). Appalachian State is 5-4, albeit 4-1 in Sun Belt play. It's one of the best teams in the conference. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern is winless this season.
North Carolina at Pittsburgh (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.). This game would've been a lot more compelling last year. As it is, Pittsburgh is 4-5 and North Carolina is 1-8 and winless in ACC play.
Friday
Temple at Cincinnati (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Friday night will provide an opportunity to see how our old friend Luke Fickell is doing. Short answer: not well. Cincinnati is 3-6 and only ended a five-game losing streak last week with a one-point win at Tulane. The next loss eliminates Cincinnati from a bowl game in Fickell's first year.
Washington at Stanford (FS1, 10:30 p.m.). This game took on a much greater urgency for Stanford last week after it lost at Washington State. The Pac-12 North is a three-team race among Stanford, Washington, and Washington State. The latter two programs will end the regular season in the Apple Cup while Stanford got a head start on conference play because it ends its season with Notre Dame.
Basically, the probability that Stanford wins the Pac-12 North without winning this game is effectively zero. It would also need Washington State to drop another contest. The Cougars still have a game at Utah on Saturday and a trip to Seattle to play Washington after a bye.
As for this contest, Washington is a six-point favorite on the road despite Stanford penciling this game on the schedule. Washington routed the Cardinal last year in Seattle.
BYU at UNLV (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.). Both teams are terrible this year and know ahead of time, should you choose to watch this game instead of Washington-Stanford, that you are prone to important lapses in judgment and may need an intervention.
Saturday
Michigan State at Ohio State (FOX, 12 p.m.). Ohio State hopes to get back on the winning track and repay Michigan State for what happened in 2015 with this noon kickoff. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this contest.
Rutgers at Penn State (BTN, 12 p.m.). Penn State will hope to end a two-game losing streak against a team that is suddenly surging. Rutgers has won 3 of its last four games despite its 1-4 start to 2017.
Oklahoma State at Iowa State (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Both teams suffered debilitating setbacks last week that put it behind the 8-ball in the Big XII Championship picture. Certainly, both are now effectively excluded from playoff considerations.
Connecticut at UCF (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). UCF is still undefeated and the New Year's Six invite is its to lose. It should have no problem at home against a 3-6 Connecticut team.
NC State at Boston College (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). This game has a deceptive amount of intrigue. NC State is coming off a loss that seemed to dash its hopes for a berth to the ACC Championship Game. It's now tied with Clemson on top its division but the Tigers have the tie-breaker and just one conference game remaining against a suddenly bad FSU team. A letdown for NC State on the road at the No. 3 team in its division is a distinct possibility.
Arkansas at LSU (ESPN, 12 p.m.). My favorite preseason game is trying to pick which $4-million-a-year SEC West coach will finish last place in the division. Right now, that's Bert. Arkansas is 1-4 in the SEC with just the one win against an Ole Miss program with an interim coach. It's 4-5 on the year with games remaining at LSU and against Mississippi State and Missouri. a 4-8 year is a real possibility for Arkansas.
Louisiana at Ole Miss (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). It's Chickenshit Saturday in Oxford as Ole Miss plays a 4-4 Sun Belt team.
Florida at South Carolina (CBS, 12 p.m.). The opening to the Randy Shannon interim era did not go well. Missouri routed Florida by 29 points to secure its first SEC win on the year. It may get worse on the road against a 6-3 South Carolina team that would otherwise be the talk of its division if not for Georgia.
Indiana at Illinois (BTN, 12 p.m.). Someone is getting their first league win on Saturday in Champaign.
Nebraska at Minnesota (FS1, 12 p.m.). Two 4-5 teams clash in the Twin Cities. Minnesota's season may arguably be the bigger disappointment to date despite Mike Riley teetering on the brink of a pink slip. Minnesota started the season 3-0 but has won just one of its last five games.
Georgia at Auburn (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). It's the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry and one of those important games on the schedule that tells you the end of the season approaches.
This will be one of the most heavily hyped clashes between Georgia and Auburn in some time. It's No. 1 Georgia putting its playoff ranking on the line against a No. 10 Auburn team that absolutely needs a win to keep its faint playoff hopes alive. May the game that follows echo the insanity of how the 2013 contest ended.
Florida State at Clemson (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Clemson's win over NC State last week was important because this will be its last ACC game. Clemson will secure its third-straight division championship with a win over a Florida State team that's having a season it would like to forget.
Iowa at Wisconsin (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). Few things would be more jarring than watching Wisconsin beat Iowa by four touchdowns after last week.
Virginia at Louisville (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). Remember Louisville? It's 5-4 this season despite Lamar Jackson's brilliance. It's why you're not hearing much about Lamar Jackson trying to repeat as Heisman winner.
Michigan at Maryland (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Michigan has a challenging road ahead. It should not have too much difficulty at Maryland, but it finishes at Wisconsin and with Ohio State to close the 2017 schedule.
West Virginia at Kansas State (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Fresh off ending Iowa State's hot streak and knocking the Cyclones from the top of the Big XII, the Mountaineers travel to the Little Apple as 2.5-point underdogs.
USC at Colorado (FOX, 4 p.m.). We haven't said much about the Trojans after Washington State beat them and the Irish routed them. However, they would secure the Pac-12 South with a win over a 5-5 Colorado team that went from last year's Pac-12 South champion to this year's last-place team in the division.
Kentucky at Vanderbilt (SEC Network, 4:30 p.m.). Kentucky's hot streak ended last week with a three-point loss to Ole Miss. Yet, it's still on pace to finish in second place in the SEC East.
Kansas at Texas (Longhorn Network, 6 p.m.). Texas is 4-5 and will fall well short of what Houston did in 2015 in Tom Herman's first year. It will at least have no problem with Kansas at home.
Alabama at Mississippi State (ESPN, 7 p.m.). Alabama is on the road at the AP No. 18 team in the country as 14-point favorites. That's kind of the theme of this season for Alabama. It's too good for its "challenges" to seem that challenging.
Purdue at Northwestern (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Northwestern started the season 2-3 and is now 6-3. Evidently I need to pay more attention to what's happening in Evanston.
New Mexico at Texas A&M (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). This is Texas A&M's "Chickenshit Saturday" game but it's at least mildly compelling. New Mexico's offense is exotic and was explosive last year. This year, New Mexico has found it a bit more difficult to gain traction. The Lobos are currently riding a four-game losing streak in which it has been outscored 131-37.
Tennessee at Missouri (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). It's the second week of November and the Volunteers are still looking for their first SEC win on the season.
Notre Dame at Miami (ABC, 8 p.m.). I don't know the last time the series has produced a compelling matchup. It was almost certainly in 1990 because the last three encounters---all Notre Dame wins in 2010, 2012, and 2016---featured teams that were terrible. Notre Dame was a national championship contender in 2012 but Miami was a tire fire by comparison in that 42-3 loss at Soldier Field.
I should not have to relay the history of this series. ESPN certainly made a meal of it in its 30 for 30 series on "The U." Therein, a bunch of 40-50-year-olds regaled a TV audience about how "hard" and "tough" they were in the 1980s. Much of that stretch of dominance for Miami in the 1980s came at the expense of Notre Dame, a "traditional" power in contrast to Miami's status as college football's nouveau riche. That Notre Dame won the 1988 national championship at the expense of Miami, defeating the Hurricanes in the infamous "Catholics vs. Convicts" game, elevated the rivalry.
The stakes in this year's game is as high as those contests from the 1980s. Notre Dame's turnaround from last season is readily apparent. The Irish would be in the playoff if the season ended today. Miami wouldn't be, but that's because the undefeated Hurricanes have not had a challenging schedule to this point. Notre Dame could prove its case, as well as a potential clash with Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
Either way, it feels refreshing to see a first of its kind in this series that we haven't seen since 1990.
TCU at Oklahoma (FOX, 8 p.m.). Meanwhile, the other major playoff implications are out in Norman. Both the Sooners and Horned Frogs are 8-1. Both are tied on top the Big XII rankings. This would make for a fantastic Big XII Championship Game. Given the peculiar nature of the Big XII standings at this point, it could well be. The loser of this game is not necessarily eliminated from a No. 2 finish in the conference.
Oregon State at Arizona (ESPN2, 10 p.m.). The wind came out the sails in Tucson with the loss at USC, but Oregon State provides an attractive object on which to take out pent-up frustrations from losing that contest.
Wyoming at Air Force (ESPNU, 10:15 p.m.). Wyoming is still a good team this year (6-3 overall, 4-1 in league play) but that loss to Boise State may prove fatal. Boise State is still undefeated in Mountain West play and Wyoming is running out of opportunities for Boise State to lose twice.
