With Week 8 in the books, it is time to look ahead to the next week of college football. While Conference USA has already kicked off the week once again, the spotlight will shift to the Sun Belt and American
starting Thursday, with California visiting Lane Stadium on Friday night to kick off power conference play. Rutgers will battle Purdue in the noon slot on Saturday, leaving Scarlet Knights fans with the opportunity to check out the action around the country throughout the rest of the day. Here are the top games to watch in Week 9.
Power Conference Showdowns Worth Watching
In the SEC, #8 Ole Miss (6-1) will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season to Georgia when it travels to Norman to battle the #13 Sooners (also 6-1). Oklahoma is a 4.5-point favorite against the Rebels, who are road underdogs for the second straight week. Kickoff is set for noon on ABC, with the network hosting an SEC tripleheader (Alabama-South Carolina at 3:30 and LSU-Texas A&M at 7:30). The #3 Aggies (7-0) are just 2.5-point road favorites in Death Valley against the #20 Tigers (5-2).
The ACC features the aforementioned Cal at Virginia Tech game on Friday night, with the Hokies being a surprise home favorite (-4.5) despite having a 2-5 record while the Golden Bears sport a 5-2 record entering the contest. On Saturday, #16 Virginia (-10.5) will visit North Carolina, while 5-2 SMU is a 3.5-point road favorite over Wake Forest, which is quietly 4-2 despite barely squeaking by Kennesaw State 10-9 in their season opener.
The Big 12 features a rivalry game at noon, with 3-4 Kansas State visiting 4-3 Kansas (-2.5). At 3:30, two of the conference’s top teams square off when #11 BYU (7-0) visits 5-2 Iowa State (-3.5). The Cyclones will look to bounce back after two straight losses at Cincinnati and Colorado in their return to Jack Trice Stadium, but will face the undefeated Cougars, who are coming off their third consecutive victory in the Holy War over Utah. At 8 PM, Houston (6-1) will visit Arizona State (5-2), which is coming off a huge upset victory over Texas Tech.
And back in the Big Ten, 5-2 Northwestern will visit 5-2 Nebraska (-7.5), with both teams looking to clinch bowl eligibility earlier than most fans would have expected for either program. The other games between 5-2 teams will see #23 Illinois travel to Seattle to take on the Huskies (-4.5), while Iowa is an 8.5-point home favorite over Minnesota, despite the Gophers coming off a 24-6 victory over the former #25 Cornhuskers.
A Big Weekend For The “Little Guys” Across Multiple Levels
You might notice that I did not put some of the best games of the weekend in the above section. That is because I wanted to dedicate a section to the “little guys” that will be in the national spotlight, from the long-languishing teams that high up in the AP Top 25 to the G5 and FCS games that deserve more love.
Indiana’s ascension to become a national powerhouse in less than two full seasons has been nothing short of scintillating. The Hoosiers have already become a staple for College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff, both at home and on the road, with BNK set to visit Bloomington for their matchup against 3-4 UCLA.
But the Bruins are also more than a “feel-good story” after they have now won three straight. UCLA’s 0-4 start has been erased, with interim head coach Tim Skipper and offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel leading the Bruins to wins over Penn State, Michigan State, and Maryland in consecutive weeks.
If they can pull what would still be a massive upset over the #2 Hoosiers (-25.5), the Bruins will have evened out their record and would have a solid chance for bowl eligibility, which would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago. If they lose, they could still very well go 6-6 with three wins against a November slate that features Nebraska, Ohio State, Washington, and cross-town rival USC.
The SEC will once again host College GameDay (boring), but the two teams are not Alabama or Georgia by any means. Both Vanderbilt (-2.5) and Missouri are 6-1 this season (each team lost to Alabama) and ranked in the top fifteen nationally, with the Commodores moving up to #10 after defeating LSU last week, while the Tigers bounced back from their own loss to the Crimson Tide with a double-overtime victory over Auburn.
Indiana, UCLA, Vanderbilt, and Missouri have either never been football schools or have been bad at football for the longest time, so for these schools to have the two biggest college football shows and much of the nation’s eyes on them is awe-inspiring for anyone who loves the “little guys” around the sport. As a Rutgers fan, that would definitely include me, who has developed a liking for those teams because they resonate with us.
But those are far from the only big games spotlighting “smaller teams” this week. The American Conference pits two contenders for the Group of Five playoff spot against each other with 6-1 USF visiting 6-1 Memphis. The Bulls have scored 48 or more points in four straight games and are ranked #18 in the country, while the Tigers were stunned by UAB, who were 23.5-point underdogs and had just fired their head coach in Trent Dilfer.
Both teams have wins over SEC opponents, with USF downing the Gators in Gainesville while Memphis took down Arkansas at home. Along with 6-1 Tulane and 6-0 Navy (although that will likely change soon), the two teams are at the top of the American and the Group of Five as a whole. This will be a massive contest that could end up deciding the final College Football Playoff spot later this season and will be a noon game on ESPN2.
Finally, the FCS will have its biggest regular-season game of the year, with North Dakota State visiting South Dakota State in this year’s edition of the Dakota Marker game. The Bison rank as the top FCS team in the country and are the defending national champions, while the Jackrabbits rank #2 and won the previous two FCS national championships. The game will kick off at 8 PM Eastern in South Dakota and will be broadcast on ESPNU, with both teams coming in undefeated at 7-0.
For a more local flavor of FCS football, former Rutgers tight ends coach Andrew Aurich will lead the 5-0 Harvard Crimson into the Garden State to take on the 3-2 Princeton Tigers. Meanwhile, 6-1 Monmouth will be on the road as favorites against the 2-6 Hampton Pirates. The Hawks’ lone loss came 42-35 against 1-6 Charlotte, which sits at the bottom of the standings in the American Conference (goes to show how relative these levels are).
Either way, it should be a great weekend of football, from the ranked-on-ranked games to the FCS matchups worth watching. Rutgers-Purdue is another great example of a game between two subpar teams that could end up being a thriller, with an elusive Big Ten win on the line for both teams.
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