Must See College Football Games in Week 12

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Week 11 of the college football season did not disappoint bringing four big upsets of Top 10 AP ranked teams; Oregon vs. then- No. 7 Stanford, Arkansas vs. then- No. 9 LSU, No. 10 Utah vs. Arizona, and No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Baylor. The losses racked up by ranked teams did not stop there with Temple, UCLA, Memphis, and Mississippi State all falling.

Week 12 promises to bring a larger separation on the national college football playoff landscape and within conference races, especially in the Big Ten and Big 12 but other intriguing matchups are still to be had in the ACC, AAC, SEC, and Pac-12.

American Athletic Conference

Memphis is seemingly out of the race in the West Division but Houston and Navy are still in a fight for the division title. Houston is undefeated taking on Connecticut and Navy has Tulsa seeing both teams hit the road for key games. Connecticut is 5-5 on the season and should not be too tough a challenge for the 10-0 Cougars but how will a warm weather team do up in the northeast in mid-November?

On the other side of the conference, Temple (8-2, 5-1) has a one-game lead over a surging South Florida (6-4, 4-2) team. Memphis travels to Temple for what should be an exciting game and South Florida plays host to Cincinnati Friday night.

Atlantic Coast Conference

The one conference that does not offer much to the average college football fan on a national level this week is the ACC. Clemson has the Atlantic Division wrapped up and host a down-and-out Wake Forest team. The Coastal Division is still in play for North Carolina (9-1, 6-0) and Pittsburgh (7-3, 5-1). The Tar Heels have a tough draw going on the road to face Virginia Tech and Pitt plays host to Louisville. Virginia Tech (5-5) is the only team left in the ACC with a shot at being bowl eligible. A win over North Carolina would upend UNC’s great season to date and take them out of an already longshot of being a college football playoff contender.

Highly unlikely, but the biggest game of the week should an upset occur would be Boston College (3-7) over Notre Dame (9-1). The Eagles play hard on defense but are limited on offense. Notre Dame has one tough loss, a 24-22 road defeat against now No. 1 Clemson. Perhaps Notre Dame could get caught looking ahead to Stanford?

Big 12

There are only four games on the Big 12 docket this week, and two of them are high stakes. With a start time of 30 minutes apart, Baylor kicks off against Oklahoma State and TCU travels to Oklahoma with all four squads hoping to capture the conference title and remain in the college football playoff picture.

OSU (10-0, 7-0) has the most to lose at this point playing far above preseason expectations. The Cowboys have one win over a ranked team, TCU – 49-29, and are looking to add another with Baylor. The following week Oklahoma comes to town to close out the season. The Sooners host a TCU team that might be on the verge of crumbling due to mounting injuries. All eyes will be on star Horned Frogs quarterback Trevone Boykin and his injured ankle. If Boykin is not a go, leaving Norman with a win will be a tall order for TCU.

Big Ten

The college football world may have been robbed of a well-deserved thriller when Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook left the Maryland game with an injured right shoulder over the weekend. His status for the Ohio State matchup will have his right arm be the most talked about arm in the nation this week, especially in Big Ten country. As is, this is Ohio State’s first game against a ranked team this year.

Purdue (2-8) gave Northwestern a surprise challenge last week before falling 21-14. Northwestern may have been looking ahead to this week’s showdown with Wisconsin. Purdue does not seem like an upset minded team that could down an undefeated Hawkeyes team making Iowa’s trip to Lincoln next week (Friday) to face the Cornhuskers an even bigger game in Week 13.

Michigan gets Ohio State next week. A Michigan State win over Ohio State and a Wolverines win over the Buckeyes in Week 13 would create a two-way tie atop the East Division for the Michigan schools. Either way, Michigan cannot get caught sleeping on the road this week against Penn State if a chance to stay in the East Division race is desired.

Pac-12

For those of you asleep by the time the west coast teams play, there is a mess in the Pac-12 with USC and Utah tied at 5-2 atop the South Division with UCLA looking on at 4-3. In the North, Stanford is holding a one-game lead over Washington State and Oregon to win the North.

This week USC travels to Oregon, UCLA heads to Utah, Cal heads to Stanford, and Washington State plays host to Colorado. All four games should be exciting in their own right with each team holding no margin for error. Stanford and Utah might be the only teams in line for an outside shot at the college football playoffs with two overall losses each but strange outcomes could thrust one of these teams into an interesting position if they are able to run the table.

SEC

Week 12 in the SEC could very easily be called “tune-up weekend” with six teams finishing out their non-conference schedule before tough rivalry games next week. Of the four games pitting conference teams against one another three of the four are critical for bowl positions with one team still playing for a chance to share the SEC West.

LSU looks to stop a three-game slide on the road against Mississippi on Saturday. The only matchup of ranked SEC teams squaring off is for bragging rights and bowl berths. Tennessee travels to Missouri with the hopes of adding another nice win on their resume while Missouri is fighting for bowl eligibility needing one more win. The unsung game of the week is Mississippi State verses Arkansas. For the second year in a row the Hogs are one of the teams in the nation no one wants to play. Arkansas has turned in a 5-1 record after starting 1-3 with key wins over Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, and LSU. Oddly enough, the Hogs could claim a share of the SEC West title if they win out and Auburn upsets Alabama next week in the Iron Bowl.

It is a long shot but Vanderbilt is still mathematically in line to make a bowl game if they can beat Texas A&M this week and then unseat Tennessee in Week 13. The Aggies, if they win out and win their bowl game, could be in line for a 10-win season.

Around the Nation

A must see game that will get little national attention is Toledo (8-1, 5-1) verses Bowling Green (8-2, 6-0). Toledo slipped against Northern Illinois (32-27) but can stay in the hunt for a Mid-Atlantic West title if they upend Bowling Green. The other half of the unresolved West Division in the MAC pits Western Michigan (6-4, 5-1) against Northern Illinois (7-3, 5-1). This may not be the prize fights desired nationally but both games mean something to all four programs thus should be a college football fan delight.

Another game that will not get much attention but should be fun for football fans is Air Force against Boise State on Friday night. Air Force is 5-1 in conference play trying to fight off BSU (7-3, 4-2) and New Mexico (6-4, 4-2) for their side of the Mountain West.

Must See Games

No. 10 Baylor at No. 4 Oklahoma State – 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox

No. 11 TCU at No. 7 Oklahoma – 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC

No. 9 Michigan State at No. 2 Ohio State – 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC

UCLA at No. 18 Utah – 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX

Cal at No. 15 Stanford – 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Mississippi State at Arkansas – 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

 

If You Have the Time

Toledo vs. Bowling Green 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 – Tuesday

Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois – 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 – Wednesday

Air Force vs. Boise State – 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 – Friday

No. 13 Houston at Connecticut – 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Memphis at Temple – 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

No. 12 North Carolina at Virginia Tech – 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

No. 20 Northwestern vs. No. 21 Wisconsin 3:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network

No. 22 USC at No. 23 Oregon 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Colorado at No. 24 Washington State – 10:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2

No. 17 LSU at No. 25 Ole Miss – 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS

AP Top 25 Rankings Week 12 (Nov. 15, 2015)

1. Clemson
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma State
5. Notre Dame
6. Iowa
7. Oklahoma
8. Florida
9. Michigan State
10. Baylor
11. TCU
12. North Carolina
13. Houston
14. Michigan
15. Stanford
16. Florida State
17. LSU
18. Utah
19. Navy
20. Northwestern
21. Wisconsin
22. USC
23. Oregon
24. Washington State
25. Ole Miss

Photo credit: Tony Gutierrez; Jarrett Stidham gets another tough team in Week 12 facing Oklahoma State after the Bears fell to Oklahoma in Week 11.