Now this week, this week has some intrigues. Separated by kickoff time for your watching convienence.
Noon
Ohio St vs Maryland - Remember last year when Maryland flubbed a 2 point conversion to win it in OT? Thanks Schiano! OSU is favored by 44.
Penn St @ Minnesota - PSU has beaten Michigan at home by 7, which is by far the best win either team has. Both teams coming off a bye. Neither team really needs this game in order to win its division, which is an odd thing to say about 2 8-0 teams in the same conference.
Baylor @ TCU - TCU fresh of an upset can really hurt Oklahoma's CFP chances.
3:30
LSU @ Bama - A very meaningful game that may mean nothing. A lot of people think the loser still makes the CFP at 11-1. Although, I think people assuming that Bama wins this game. An 11-1 LSU with wins over Auburn, Florida and Texas probably has a better case than 11-1 Bama who would wins over Auburn and.....TexAM? Duke? Bama's 2 crossover games were Tennessee and South Carolina, and neither may be a bowl game. Their best nonconference win is Duke. It's possible they won't have a top 20 win if they lose to LSU. Is that better than Oklahoma at 12-1? Or a 12-1 Oregon/Utah? Or an 11-2 Georgia who beat Auburn as well as Florida and ND? It's a legit debate, IMO.
Kansas St @ Texas - Congrats if you has KSU being the higher ranked team in this game. But speaking of quality wins for LSU. After this game, Texas has games @ Iowa St and @ Baylor. Texas might only be a 6 or 7 win team. If Auburn loses 2-3 more and maybe Florida gaffs away a game....LSU's resume starts to show some cracks. Still a superior resume to Bama, but I think the PAC12 and BIG12 are certainly still alive.
4:00
Iowa @ Wisconsin - Loser is at 3 losses in the B1G West and is almost certainly done. Winner would control their own destiny provided PSU beats Minnesota. Likely a low scoring affair.
8:00
Iowa St @ Oklahoma - Future Michigan/Browns coach Matt Campbell has played Oklahoma 3 times. He has a 7 pt win in Norman sandwiched between 2 10 point home losses. The year previous to his arrival, Oklahoma beat Iowa St by 36...so progress? As mentioned above, I think Oklahoma is still alive for the CFP, but they obviously need to win out.
Other games of note:
Missou @ UGA - Both teams control their own destiny in the SEC East. Missou still plays Florida, too, so no chance they win out. Georgia still plays Auburn and Texas AM, though, so a Missou win really muddies the SEC waters.
Illinois @ MSU - Congrats if you had Illinois with the better record. Illinois would be bowl eligible if they had beat Eastern
Michigan. If Illinois loses, they will have lost to Michigan, Michigan St and Eastern Michigan. Wisconsin, meanwhile, beat Michigan by 21, MSU by 38 and Central Michigan by 61 (Central Michigan beat Eastern Michigan by 26). How Illinois won that game over Wisconsin, I'll never know.
Appalachian State @ South Carolina - Georgia State did last week what Michigan couldn't in 2007....beat Appalachian State. That knocked App St from the unbeaten and probably gave a NY6 bowl game to either the AAC or MW Champ. South Carolina needs 2 more wins to be bowl eligible, and their next 2 are @ Texas AM and vs Clemson.
Pac12 - Utah and Oregon both on byes. Oregon's win over USC clear's Utah's path in the P12 South