Games of great import
Baylor @ Iowa St, noon, ESPN2: Baylor might be out of the CFP hunt with their loss to BYU. Running the table is their inly option. Iowa St is always feisty, and could wreck a lot of B12 plans. Or they could even win it.
Clemson @ Wake Forest, noon, ABC: Despite being down last year, Clemson beat eventual division Wake Forest last year. Clemson is a 7 point favorite, but their offense isn't noticeably better yet than last year. Wake is coming off a 1 pt win over Liberty. Winner gets an early leg up in the ACC Atlantic, but both still play NC State.
Maryland @ Michigan, BIG NOON FOX: Michigan is favored by 17, and that might be low. This game is here because it's the first team with a pulse Michigan has played. The non-conference schedule of Colorado St, Hawaii and Uconn is just the worst OOC schedule in the country....those might be the 3 worst individual teams in FBS. Only thing we really learned about Michigan is that JJ McCarthy is way better than Cade McNamara at this point, so he's been named the starter. Maryland does have a good passing game, so if Michigan sleepwalks, it could be a game.
Florida @ Tennessee, 3:30, CBS: Tennessee has beaten 2 MAC cupcakes and an impressive OT win @ Pitt. Florida beat Utah at home in a thriller to start the year, but then lost to Kentucky and barely beat South Florida. I kinda think Tennessee might be good again...finally. A big win by Tennessee here might make them seem like UGAs biggest threat in the SEC East, but they still have to play Kentucky.
Oregon @ Wazzu, 4, FOX: After losing by a billion to Georgia, Oregon rebounded by easily beating BYU. Wazzu beat Wisconsin on the road but somehow isn't ranked. Oregon has very favorable cross division games, so they have a real shot at 11-1 heading into the P12 title game.
Arkansas @Texas AM, 7, ESPN: Texas AM rebounded from pulling a Michigan vs App St to beat Miami in an ugly game. Arkansas beat Cincy in the opener but needed to rally to beat Missouri State last week. Loser of this game should not be ranked.
Wisconsin at The Ohio State University, 7:30, ESPN: Hopefully this is the last night game of the year. Wisky should be top 10 but very stupidly lost to Wazzu at home. I expect more of a ND type game. Low scoring, fewer possessions, since that's the best way for Wisky to win. OSU really hasn't had their full compliment of skill players for more than about 2 drives all year. If everyone is healthy, it will be interesting to see how they do against a good defense.
Defensively, I am interested to see how much 3 LB sets they go to. They did a little versus Toledo, but this is the team you do against if you are going to do it.
USC @ Oregon St, 9:30, P12 Network?: Jonathan Smith took over the Beavers in 2018 after Gary Andersen and an interim coach went 7-29 in 3 years. He's won 2,5,2* and 7 games, with the * being covid year. They are 3-0 and on track to make back to back bowls for the first time since the CFP started. USC is rolling with Lincoln Riley and a bunch of transfers. USC hasn't played much of a schedule, but they did beat Fresno by 28, a week after Oregon State needed a walk off TD to win by 3 (in fairness, Oregon St was @ Fresno whereas USC was at home). If USC had a big game next week I'd say this is the perfect trap game. At worst, it'll be interesting to see USC play their best opponent to date.