Every team will be stuck in conference play for the remainder of the season, barring those who play BYU or Notre Dame or the SEC and ACC teams that finagle their schedules for their end-of-the-season rivalry games. This week's conference schedule is rather light on visible intrigue. There are just three games featuring ranked teams. One of those is on Friday night and involves Washington State. Another involves a Mississippi State team that took it on the chin last week against Georgia.
The headline attraction should pique some interest, though. Virginia Tech hosts ACC and national champion Clemson in a rematch of last year's ACC Championship Game. Clemson escaped that with a narrow win before it embarked upon a successful playoff run through Alabama and Ohio State. It's great that we get a rematch, and arguably more interesting that it's in Blacksburg.
Let's dive into the schedule.
Thursday
Texas at Iowa State (ESPN, 8 p.m.). Texas is not having a fun start to the Tom Herman era. The season-opening loss to Maryland hasn't aged well and the fan base is particularly angsty after the overtime loss to USC in the Coliseum. The Longhorns got a bye last week with the goal of turning it around against the Cyclones.
It'll also be a homecoming of sorts for Tom Herman. The first-year Texas head coach had a lot of coaching stops along the way, but Iowa State was his first Power Five actual coaching gig (i.e. ignoring the GA stint at Texas in 1999-2000). It was a large stepping stone to the Ohio State offensive coordinator position that propelled him to even bigger coaching heights.
Friday
Miami at Duke (ESPN, 7 p.m.). Friday night is deceptively loaded for college football this week and I love it. Get your weekend started with this ACC banger. No. 14 Miami travels to Durham to play a Blue Devils team that is 4-0 with double-digit wins over Northwestern (41-17), Baylor (34-20), and North Carolina (27-17).
However, Miami (-6.5) is the favorite in this contest despite its struggles last week with Toledo.
Nebraska at Illinois (FS1, 8 p.m.). I think I'm on record in previous viewing guides over the years as saying the Illinois-Nebraska series might be my favorite thing the Big Ten has done since its latest expansion.
For those unaware, Illinois and Nebraska have opened each other's conference slates every year since 2013. We can qualify this a little bit last year in noting Nebraska played Rutgers last week. However, Illinois was on a bye last week and this will start Illinois' conference slate. The point still basically stands.
I love this scheduling quirk for a variety of reasons. One, I think the Big Ten could help itself by scheduling, as best it can, familiar conference openers much like the SEC used to finagle Alabama-Arkansas and Georgia-South Carolina to (usually) open each other's conference schedules before the latest round of expansions in 2012. It creates focal points and attractions where they would otherwise not exist.
Plus, think of it from the perspective of the Nebraska fan that grew up watching rivalry contests against the likes of Oklahoma and Colorado but now has to adjust his/her eyes to conference games against the likes of Illinois. Heck, even adding Rutgers into this mix last week makes it all the more hilarious.
Sadly, this scheduling quirk ends next year when Illinois opens Big Ten play with Penn State. Nebraska begins the league schedule with Michigan.
Illinois won the last contest in Champaign in a thriller.
BYU at Utah State (CBS Sports, 8 p.m.). This is a rivalry game for the "The Old Wagon Wheel." BYU has an undeniable overall edge in the rivalry but Utah State has prominent wins recently in 2010 and 2014.
BYU is field-goal favorite.
USC at Washington State (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). While any ranked status for Washington State will seem like a misprint or measurement error, this game has the potential to excite.
USC is the No. 5 team in the country and, for all we know, is still the league's best shot at making the playoff again. It probably has that slight edge over Washington should those two meet in the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, USC hasn't had a complete showing yet. It eked out wins against Western Michigan and Texas. The road win in Berkeley was impressive but nothing to date has flexed the kind of muscle we expected to see in the pre-season. That extends to Sam Darnold too, who was everyone's pre-season Heisman candidate and hasn't played like it.
Washington State is 4-0 and, at No. 16 in the AP, is enjoying its highest ranking since 2003. However, evaluation of Washington State became a bit more difficult after Virginia routed Boise State on the blue turf last week. Washington State's other wins include Montana State, Oregon State, and Nevada.
USC (-3.5) is a slight favorite this game. It feels like USC should win by a large margin but nothing USC has shown to date would suggest that. Further, the Palouse gets weird at night. Let's hope it does.
Saturday
Northwestern at Wisconsin (ABC, 12 p.m.). Northwestern travels to Madison after a bye as 15-point underdogs.
South Florida at East Carolina (CBS Sports, 12 p.m.). East Carolina is... not good. Its Sunday win at Connecticut belies its actual quality. The undefeated Bulls will come to town as big favorites (-24.5).
Vanderbilt at Florida (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Vanderbilt got shutout, 59-0, at home against Alabama while Florida needed two coverage busts in which Kentucky forgot to line up over receivers to erase a 13-point fourth-quarter lead and continue a 31-year winning streak against the Wildcats.
But let's continue to pretend that SEC quality is anything other than Alabama at the moment.
Houston at Temple (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). Early last season, Houston was a credible threat to crash the playoff. Houston this year is another also-ran in the Group of Five. Texas Tech snapped a 16-game home winning streak last week.
New Mexico State at Arkansas (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). Nothing would be more "Bert" than struggling to beat one of the worst programs in the country.
Maryland at Minnesota (FS1, 12 p.m.). Maryland embarks on a two-week road trip that starts this week in the Twin Cities before coming to Columbus next week.
North Carolina at Georgia Tech (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). Two years removed from an ACC Championship Game berth, the Tar Heels are just not good this year. The 1-3 Tar Heels lost a lot of talent to the NFL Draft and are hobbled now by injuries to the talent that remained. They'll be 10-point underdogs on the road.
Indiana at Penn State (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). Penn State got everything it could handle from Iowa last week before escaping Iowa City with what will likely be the most thrilling win of the season for any conference game. Indiana, an 18-point underdog, should be a welcome reprieve in Happy Valley.
Georgia at Tennessee (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). CBS' SEC game of the week will between Georgia and Tennessee. It'll be hard to top how last year's contest between these two teams ended.
This year's contest has a completely different vibe. Tennessee is certainly no charmed program this year. Butch Jones is on edge and is lashing out against perceived slights like a tinpot despot who feels his regime is crumbling from the outside in. Georgia is still injury-plagued, but it's operating at a higher level now than it did last year.
Vegas like Georgia by more than a touchdown on the road.
Baylor at Kansas State (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). This game would've been a bit more compelling in 2012 but neither program has given us a reason to care what's happening to it right now.
Kansas State is a big favorite (-17). I'm not sure if Baylor can actually get its first win this season but I'm more convinced Kansas State won't cover.
Navy at Tulsa (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). Navy may not be that good but Tulsa isn't a viable threat to most programs. Expect undefeated Midshipmen to roll on the road.
Connecticut at SMU (ESPN News, 4 p.m.). SMU is an 18-point favorite at home against a meek Connecticut team in Randy Edsall's second stint as Huskies coach.
Arizona State at Stanford (Pac-12 Network, 4 p.m.). Stanford seemed to return to its winning ways with a convincing 24-point romp over the Bruins last week. It'll take on a 2-2 Sun Devils squad that will enter the farm as 15-point underdogs.
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Kentucky will be licking its wounds from last week for a while, but it should be careful with Eastern Michigan. Just ask Rutgers.
Iowa at Michigan State (FOX, 4 p.m.). Both programs had disappointing losses last week. A major "Sparty No" moment from L.J. Scott put the Spartans behind an 8-ball from which it could not escape against Notre Dame. Iowa, meanwhile, was on the wrong end of an all-time Big Ten classic last week.
Oops. (Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)
Miami (OH) at Notre Dame (NBC Sports, 5 p.m.). Someone in the commentariat is free to correct me but this is the first Notre Dame home game I've seen in quite a while that was bumped from NBC. NBC Sports will cover this instead. The Irish last played on NBC Sports in 2015, but that game was in Fenway Park, not Notre Dame Stadium.
Mississippi State at Auburn (ESPN, 6 p.m.). This is the second of three games this week featuring two ranked teams. However, any shine to Mississippi State came off after Georgia took a bat to it last week. Auburn (-9) expects to knock the Bulldogs from the ranks of the AP Top 25 after Saturday night.
Air Force at New Mexico (CBS Sports, 7 p.m.). New Mexico's offense isn't operating at full capacity this season but it's still a team to watch if you enjoy offensive innovation.
Memphis at UCF (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Keep an eye on UCF. The Knights are 2-0 and might otherwise command more hype for the Group of Five invite to the New Year's Six if not for the fact it lost three weeks to cancellation because of the recent spate of hurricanes. This game is actually a rescheduled contest that was supposed to happen three weeks ago.
Ohio State at Rutgers (BTN, 7:30 p.m.). This is your personal game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this contest.
South Carolina at Texas A&M (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). Both teams clash in a contest whose bigger intrigue is why anyone should bother. Texas A&M's derpiness is common knowledge and South Carolina needed a game-winning field goal last week to get past Louisiana Tech.
Clemson at Virginia Tech (ABC, 8 p.m.). This is ABC's game of the week and the site of ESPN's College GameDay.
That there's this kind of hype for this game is serendipity. This game was on the books well before last season. It was scheduled well before Clemson and Virginia Tech played a barn-burner of an ACC Championship Game that served as springboard for Clemson's playoff run and its second ever national championship.
It's also fortunate that Virginia Tech's division championship last year does not seem a fluke. Contrast that with Colorado, last year's Pac-12 South champion, that played last year's Pac-12 champion (Washington) in Boulder last week. Washington ran it over last week as it did in last year's championship game. Colorado does not seem poised particularly well to repeat as a division champion. Virginia Tech does.
Clemson lost a lot of talent from last year's squad but it seems as good this year as it was last year despite the attrition. The Tigers are leaning more on their defense last year, which rounded into form just in time for last year's playoff run. The Tigers' defensive line is ferocious and its secondary sticks well to receivers. That's a great combo.
Clemson is likely the better team but this game is in Blacksburg, and at night. Enter Sandman.
Washington at Oregon State (Pac-12 Network, 8 p.m.). Washington travels to the worst program in the Pac-12 as four-touchdown favorites.
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (FOX, 8 p.m.). FOX's game of the week will see the No. 15 Cowboys try to put last week's loss behind them as they hit the road to take on a Red Raiders team that just secured an important win last week at Houston.
Ole Miss at Alabama (ESPN, 9 p.m.). Ole Miss has two prominent wins in this series in 2014 and 2015. It won't get one this week. Alabama's probability of winning the remainder of its schedule is an impressive .35. No other team in the country is nearly as favored in the remainder of its schedule as Alabama.
Northern Illinois at San Diego State (CBS Sports, 10:30 p.m.). San Diego State will try to keep pace with USF in the race for the Group of Five invite to the New Year's Six.
San José State at UNLV (ESPNU, 10:30 p.m.). UNLV will hope to make Ohio State look good Saturday night as two-touchdown favorites against the Spartans.
Colorado at UCLA (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.). The Rose Bowl is a great sight at night no matter who is playing. However, the sagging fortunes of both squads will lead to a half-empty stadium in Pasadena.
California at Oregon (FS1, 10:30 p.m.). California couldn't get it done last week against USC but it's otherwise having a solid start to the Justin Wilcox era. A win over Oregon would be a major selling point to recruits and the athletic department. California hasn't won against Oregon since 2008.
Vegas thinks it won't win on Saturday night either. Oregon is favored by two touchdowns.
