Fansided

10 best college football games in October that will shape the playoff picture

By Christopher Novak

Penn State running back Saquon Barkley picks up yardage and squares off with Michigan safety Delano Hill (44) on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. Michigan won, 28-16. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times/TNS via Getty Images)
Penn State running back Saquon Barkley picks up yardage and squares off with Michigan safety Delano Hill (44) on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. Michigan won, 28-16. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times/TNS via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 10
Next

These are the 10 can’t-miss college football games of October that will shape the playoff picture.

September has already ended. It feels like the 2017 college football season already started. And yet, we now must flip the calendar to October.

Fear not though, college football fans. There are plenty of great games still aboard. Conference play is beginning to heat up. The nonconference games we saw in the first month were certainly a treat. But these upcoming encounters we’re about to witness will have quite a lot of meaning to them. Bowl implications, conference championship game chances, and loads more will be on the line. And a lot more.

So, here are the top 10 games to watch for in the month of October. There are games from all sorts of different conferences, including a big one from the Group of 5. Let’s let it rip, shall we?

San Diego State
SAN DIEGO, CA – SEPTEMBER 30: Christian Chapman #10 of the San Diego Aztecs makes a call from the line of scrimmage in the third quarter during the Northern Illinois v San Diego State game at Qualcomm Stadium on September 30, 2017, n San Diego, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images) /

10. Boise State vs. San Diego State

San Diego State is unbeaten through the first five weeks of the season. The Aztecs have handled Stanford, Arizona State, Air Force, Northern Illinois and UC Davis so far. As a result, they are ranked in both the AP and USA TODAY polls right now.

If all of that sounds enticing, it probably should. SDSU has a very good shot of going to a New Year’s Six bowl with the way their schedule shakes out. But this game against the Boise State Broncos might be the most intriguing to watch all year, let alone in October.

Of all the opponents left on the Aztecs’ schedule, the game against the Broncos represents the toughest remaining test. No disrespect to the rest of the field, but none of the other teams in the Mountain West stack up to Boise.

Luckily for star running back Rashaad Penny and the rest of the Aztecs, they won’t have to go and visit the famed blue turf in Boise. Instead, the Broncos have to come to Qualcomm Stadium and face their MWC adversary in their home dwelling. SDSU is 22-5 since 2013 at Qualcomm, and with a road game looming at UNLV, that’s the record they’ll have going into this showdown on Oct. 14.

Isn’t it neat that the renowned New Year’s Bowl buster (Boise State) are the ones that this new face (SDSU) has to tackle to probably get through?

Fans won’t have to wait too long for this one. It comes up later this week.

Home/College