Week 11 of the college football season is here and these are the best games of the week, including Notre Dame traveling to Miami.
Can you believe we’re already in the second week of November and there’s less than a month of the college football regular season? It seems like it was only a week or two ago when the season kicked off and hopes were high for teams across the country. Fast forward 11 weeks later and there are eight teams with a legit chance at winning the national championship this year and maybe half that with a chance at winning the Heisman Trophy.
Nevertheless, there are a handful of games that will have major implications for both the College Football Playoff, which remained the same as last week and the Heisman Trophy. There are three matchups involving top-10 teams for the first time since 2002, but this weekend calls for multiple TV’s and a clear schedule, beginning on Friday to absorb all of the great college football action this week.
One of the games believed to be a top matchup for this week was Florida State at Clemson but the season has gone off the rails for the 3-5 Noles who enter this game as a 17-point underdog. While that game won’t be must-see TV, these five games will be.
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Games of the week
No. 9 Washington at Stanford – Friday – 10:30 p.m. – FS1
Stanford faces a must-win if they want to keep their Pac-12 North hopes alive. The Cardinal suffered their second conference loss to Washington State last weekend and needs to pull off the home upset on Friday night to cause some chaos. Washington is still hanging on to slim playoff hopes but the Pac-12 North division title is on the line from The Farm on Friday night. There could be an upset brewing, especially if Bryce Love is close to 100 percent for Stanford.
No. 12 Michigan State at No. 13 Ohio State – 12 p.m. – Fox
The Big Ten East is on the line for this showdown from Columbus. Ohio State is coming off a back-breaking loss to Iowa that ended their playoff hopes but they can still play for the division title. Michigan State is coming off a win over Penn State and quarterback Brian Lewerke is controlling the Spartans offense that will try to exploit the Buckeye defense that Iowa did to the tune of 55 points. Ohio State can’t possibly play that poorly two weeks in a row so expect this game to be a closely fought game decided late.
No. 1 Georgia at No. 10 Auburn – 3:30 p.m. – CBS
The latest edition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is the most important one for Georgia in 35 years. That was also the last time Georgia was in the mix for the national championship and a win for the Dawgs all but puts them in the SEC Championship Game where they can secure a playoff berth. Meanwhile, Auburn is playing well with Kerryon Johnson and Jarrett Stidham lighting up the scoreboard. Can the Georgia defense slow down the Tigers and avoid the road upset?
No. 6 TCU at No. 5 Oklahoma – 8:00 p.m. – Fox
This Big 12 game amounts to a College Football Playoff elimination game. Both teams control their destiny when it comes to the Big 12 title but the loser will have two losses and can forget about any playoff hopes. The Big 12 is likely rooting for Oklahoma to hold off Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs as the Sooners have the best playoff resume. Expect TCU to play the disrespect card and that could be the difference in this game that figures to feature plenty of fireworks.
No. 3 Notre Dame at No. 7 Miami – 8:00 p.m. – ABC
For the first time in a decade, College GameDay will be at Miami for the Canes game against Notre Dame. Anytime these two teams meet, you know you’re going to get a great game and this is no exception with both fighting for a berth in the playoff. Notre Dame is in with one loss while undefeated Miami is looking to crash the party. The health of Josh Adams is key to this contest because if the Notre Dame back can’t go, Miami may have the ammunition necessary to eke out the win.
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Other great games for die-hard college football fans to watch this week include No. 15 at No. 21 Iowa State, No. 20 at No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 2 Alabama at No. 16 Mississippi State.