Week 11 signals the beginning of the end for the college football season. Some major end-of-the-year rivalries are on the schedule, prominently Auburn-Georgia and even UNC-Duke. LSU-Arkansas, a series that routinely appears later into the SEC schedule, is also on the schedule Saturday night.
Teams can also start wrapping up conference championship berths this week too. Clemson, and perhaps even Florida as well in the SEC East, would repeat as division champion with wins on Saturday.
The schedule itself is rather light on big games, but Washington's tilt against USC stands out. That's a game that those who follow Pac-12 football had highlighted on the schedule in August when Washington was a trendy pick in the Pac-12 North and USC was the favorite in the Pac-12 South.
Let's dive into this week's schedule.
Thursday
UNC needs a Virginia Tech conference loss if it really wants to celebrate. (James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports)
North Carolina at Duke (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.). Otherwise an end-of-the-season rivalry contest, UNC and Duke will clash tonight with a few conference games remaining. North Carolina needs a win to keep pace with Virginia Tech in the ACC Coastal race.
Louisiana Lafayette at Georgia Southern (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.). Georgia Southern played Ole Miss tough last week before dropping a 10-point decision in Oxford. It's an eight-point favorite at home tonight.
Utah at Arizona State (FS1, 9:30 p.m.). Notwithstanding the Washington loss in its last game, Utah still controls its destiny in the Pac-12 South. It'll need to win out, starting with this game in Tempe. Utah is a six-point favorite.
Friday
Boston College at Florida State (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.). No. 18 Florida State is conspicuously placed on Friday night. The Seminoles are largely playing for pride at the moment. It could play a little harder if last week's four-point win at NC State is any indication.
Saturday
Baylor at Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). This game looked a lot more interesting two weeks ago. Oklahoma was resurgent and Baylor was undefeated. Now, Baylor has lost two-straight, including a 40-point loss to TCU at home. It's a 16-point underdog in Norman on Saturday.
Mississippi State at Alabama (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Alabama's path toward the inevitable continues Saturday afternoon as 30-point favorites against a Mississippi State team that secured a nice upset last week.
Muschamp's Gamecocks are a much better team now than they were in September. (Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports)
South Carolina at Florida (CBS, 12 p.m.). Will Muschamp returns to the Swamp. His Gamecocks are 12-point underdogs for his homecoming. Florida would secure the SEC East with a win and Kentucky victory the same day on the SEC Network.
Kentucky at Tennessee (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). This game has important implications for who could possibly upend Florida as eventual SEC East champion. In other words, both teams are alive even if neither controls its destiny in the SEC East. The loser is eliminated.
Cincinnati at UCF (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). 5-4 UCF hosts 4-5 Cincinnati, but UCF is at least 3-2 in conference play. UCF could actually win the American East division if it wins out and Temple loses out.
SMU at East Carolina (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). SMU has five losses and East Carolina has six losses. The only real major implication of this game, if you can call it that, is bowl-ineligibility for East Carolina.
Tulsa at Navy (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). The top two teams in the American West clash. The winner will take an important step toward securing a berth in the conference championship game.
West Virginia at Texas (FS1, 12 p.m.). 5-4 Texas is actually a small favorite at home against 7-1 West Virginia.
Rutgers at Michigan State (BTN, 12 p.m.). Both teams are 2-7 and still playing for their first conference win of 2016.
Check an overflow BTN channel for a simultaneous broadcast of Purdue at Northwestern.
Penn State at Indiana (ABC/ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Ohio State fans are still hoping Penn State drops another game for some added insurance as the Buckeyes try to keep their conference championship (and playoff) hopes alive. Penn State is a touchdown favorite on the road.
Auburn at Georgia (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). It's the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, one of those canaries in the coal mine that the end of the season is almost upon us.
I doubt most fans would've expected Auburn to be the better team and even favored in this contest by this point in 2016. Yet, that's where we are. 7-2 Auburn controls its own destiny in the SEC West, but that road to Atlanta requires an improbable win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Georgia, meanwhile, fell flat on its face after the season-opening win over North Carolina in Atlanta.
Auburn is an 11-point favorite and hopes to buck a trend in this series. It's been favoring Georgia of late. The Bulldogs have won eight of the last 10 encounters.
That said, let us remember this classic moment from 2013 when Auburn got the best of Georgia in an unforgettable fashion.
Vanderbilt at Missouri (SEC Network, 3:30 p.m.). Missouri is already bowl-ineligible. It's just looking for a league win in Barry Odom's first year in Columbia. It's favored in this contest, though.
Army at Notre Dame (NBC, 3:30 p.m.). Notre Dame incidentally scheduled two flexbone triple option teams in 2016. It dropped the game last week against Navy, another service academy.
5-4 Army is a 13-point underdog on the road to 3-6 Notre Dame.
Pittsburgh at Clemson (ABC, 3:30 p.m.). Clemson secures another trip to the ACC Championship Game with a win over Pittsburgh. Clemson is favored by three touchdowns.
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). The battle of institutes of technology plays out Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg. The Hokies are still on pace to win the division and play, in all likelihood, Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
More interesting than that, Virginia Tech takes a non-conference detour to Notre Dame after this game. Perhaps Georgia Tech can catch the Hokies looking ahead.
Tulane at Houston (CBS Sports, 3:30 p.m.). Houston has an outside shot at making the conference championship game, but its chances are slim. It will hope that Tulsa will have won the game against Navy before this kicks off.
Illinois at Wisconsin (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Illinois scored a nice upset of Michigan State to keep its bowl hopes alive. The next loss keeps Lovie Smith's team home for the holidays.
Illinois, incidentally, is a 27-point underdog in Madison.
Ohio State at Maryland (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). This is your personal game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this game.
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State (FS1, 3:30 p.m.). Texas Tech is a 13-point underdog on the road yet the over/under is the bigger intrigue for any Texas Tech game. It's an astonishing 110 for this game. Do you take the over or the under?
Stanford at Oregon (Pac-12 Network, 4 p.m.). This game looked a lot more compelling in the pre-season. Now, 3-6 Oregon hosts 6-3 Stanford needing to win out just to secure a .500 season.
Fans of both programs will want to relive past encounters that were far more exciting. Indeed, this was the series of the new Pac-12 that started in 2011. Here are highlights from the 2013 matchup.
Boise State at Hawai'i (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). 8-1 Boise State needs some help from Wyoming's future opponents to make it to the Mountain West Conference Championship Game. It'll at least secure a fairly easy win on the islands.
Wake Forest at Louisville (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Clemson may have already secured its ticket to the ACC Championship Game before this game starts. Louisville is effectively playing for Lamar Jackson's Heisman at this point in the season, though.
LSU at Arkansas (ESPN, 7 p.m.). LSU, fresh off a shutout loss at home to Alabama, travels to Arkansas as a touchdown favorite. That assumes LSU scores a touchdown.
South Florida at Memphis (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). South Florida could still sneak into the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, but it needs to win out and hope Temple has a loss remaining on the schedule. Vegas likes the Bulls to sneak out a field-goal-win in Memphis on Saturday night.
Minnesota at Nebraska (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). Here's a thing that's technically true, but not really true: Minnesota controls its own destiny in the Big Ten West. That importantly requires road wins at Lincoln on Saturday night and in Madison to end the regular season.
Ole Miss at Texas A&M (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Ole Miss starts life without Chad Kelly on Saturday night. It will also try to avoid its sixth loss on the season.
USC at Washington (FOX, 7:30 p.m.). This is arguably the game of the week, and one college football fans may had circled in the pre-season.
Washington is the Pac-12 front-runner and the last undefeated team in the league. However, it was only a "trendy" pick in the pre-season. Analysts still liked Stanford to upend it in the Pac-12 North, only noting that Washington had a favorable home schedule (i.e. Stanford and this game on Saturday night).
USC was also a tentative favorite in the Pac-12 South, making the clash with Washington seem that much more intriguing in August. It started the season 1-3 and voters are still reluctant to forgive the Trojans for that start. The playoff committee is much more forgiving, though. USC is No. 20 in its rankings.
Vegas likes Washington by nine points. Do note that Washington will be without its sack leader going forward. Joe Mathis is done for the year.
This might be the most-anticipated USC-Washington game since the infamous "All I saw was purple" game in 1990. You can watch highlights of that game below.
Michigan at Iowa (ABC, 8 p.m.). It feels weird for Iowa to be getting a primetime game on ABC with an 8 p.m. kickoff when it's 5-4 and a 22-point underdog. It hasn't had that kickoff time and network since the 2009 clash with Michigan.
Oregon State at UCLA (Pac-12 Network, 9 p.m.). 3-6 UCLA hosts 2-7 Oregon State. UCLA is favored by 12, but anything can happen with the Bruins this year. The next UCLA loss eliminates the pre-season Pac-12 South favorite from the post season.
This season is the most fun Colorado fans have had in years. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Colorado at Arizona (FS1, 10 p.m.). Colorado travels to Arizona to face a Wildcats team that's already bowl-ineligible. It's Colorado's end-of-the-season sprint thereafter that's more interesting. It hosts a resurgent Washington State team and Utah to possibly secure a Pac-12 South Championship in its fifth year in the conference.
Colorado State at Air Force (ESPNU, 10:15 p.m.). These are two bottom-tier programs in the Mountain West's Mountain division, but it's available viewing if you're jonesing for a football fix.
New Mexico at Utah State (ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.). 6-3 New Mexico could hand 3-6 Utah State a losing season with a road win.
San Diego State at Nevada (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.). San Diego State already secured the Mountain West West (sic) division. It's has its eye one something bigger. The next Western Michigan loss makes San Diego State the odds-on favorite for the Cotton Bowl selection.
California at Washington State (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Washington State, undefeated in the Pac-12, has a hard row to hoe to end its season. A trip to Colorado is next. It hosts Washington in what could be the most highly-anticipated Apple Cup in at least 14 years to end the regular season.
