Earlier this season, I remarked more than once how certain weekends were real duds when it came to matchups.

This weekend is not one of them.

In fact, there are so many good games this weekend, I didn't even have room for the Big 12 matchup between Baylor (7-1, 4-1) at Oklahoma (6-2, 3-2).  And, that one has a chance to be pretty doggone good.

But there are five even better ones for this week.  And, here they are.  Rankings are according to the latest supplied by the playoff selection committee.

#10 NOTRE DAME (7-1) AT #9 ARIZONA STATE (7-1) (-2.5) Saturday, 2:30, ABC  Both teams figure to be on the outside looking in on selection day, unless Arizona State can run the table and then take care of the Pac-12 north champion (Oregon?) in the league's title game.  Notre Dame still has games against Louisville and USC so it's not like they have cream puffs the rest of the way.  But realistically, Arizona State has a lot more to potentially gain than the Irish do.  Notre Dame's only loss is to #2 Florida State, but this is a year where their strength of schedule overall really hurts them.

#7 KANSAS STATE (7-1, 5-0) AT #6 TCU  (7-1. 4-1)(-6) Saturday, 6:30pm FOX--There is no Big 12 title game in this balanced league so the trick to getting into the top four is take care of business the last four games and hope it's good enough.  TCU has a pretty weak schedule the rest of the way with Kansas, Iowa State and Texas, but 11-1 and the Big 12 title won't rule them out.  Kansas State, on the other hand, has a legitimate chance to be there at the end.  Road games at West Virginia and Baylor certainly won't be easy, but if the Wildcats take care of business, that 8-0 record in the Big 12 is going to be hard for the committee to overlook.

#14 OHIO STATE (7-1, 4-0) AT #8  MICHIGAN STATE (7-1., 4-0)(-3.5) Saturday, 7pm, ABC--The committee didn't send a very positive message to the Big 10 this past week when they jumped Kansas State over Michigan State.  The Spartans still have to play Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State.  Ohio State's remaining schedule isn't nearly as tough.  The Buckeyes' problem is a home loss to Virginia Tech and, let's see, their best win has come against........Maryland?  Therein lies the problem for this league.  There are a lot of middle of the pack power five teams in this league, and both teams lost non conference games to power 5 opponents.  But if one of these runs the table, expect Commissioner Jim Delaney to cry loudly about his league getting the shaft.

#5 ALABAMA (7-1, 4-1)(-6.5) AT #16 LSU (7-2, 5-2)  Saturday, 7pm CBS--No disrespect to Nick Saban's club, but this highly ranked team really hasn't done much in road games this year.  They lost at Ole Miss and won by just one point at Arkansas.  Their remaining schedule is tough (Mississippi State, Auburn) but both games are at home.  Can they go to Baton Rouge on a Saturday night in front of over 100,000 fans and knock off the Tigers?  Recent history says this will be a close game.  Should the Tide roll the rest of the season, they'll be in the playoff.  But if the Tigers can get something out of their passing game, they could make fans remember November 8th as the night the Crimson Died.

#4 OREGON (8-1, 5-1)(-8) AT #17 UTAH (6-2, 3-2) Saturday, 9pm ESPN--The good news for the Ducks is, they've moved into the #4 position.  The bad news is, after this game they don't have much left that will impress the selection committee except the Pac 12 title game.  But they have to beat the Utes in order to secure that.  Oregon is a team that might be sweating that #4 spot all the way to the announcement...even if they win out.

 

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