Top College Football Games in Week 9
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Tough to think Week 9 of the college football season could be better than Week 8, but that is why we play the games. Only one game features ranked teams squaring off with No. 9 Notre Dame traveling to No. 21 Temple.
American Athletic Conference
The top game in the AAC is without a doubt Notre Dame vs. Temple, any other week, given the conference’s rise in the AP rankings, the top game would be Vanderbilt traveling to No. 18 Houston. The Cougars have a chance to knock off a SEC team to help solidify their place among the other Power Five schools. The other game of note is Tulane traveling to No. 16 Memphis.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Life in the ACC Coastal Division is about to get more interesting. Three teams are tied with 6-1 in-conference records, Pitt, North Carolina, and Duke, with North Carolina playing No. 23 Pitt on Thursday night. No. 22 Duke might have an interesting game on their hands after Miami parted ways with head coach Al Golden on Sunday. Will Miami (4-3) rise up or continue on their up-and-down season?
N.C. State has a history of pulling off upsets and a win over No. 3 Clemson on Saturday would reshape the playoffs outlook going forward. Florida State is still in the hunt for a shot at the Atlantic Division title at 4-1 in-conference with what should be an easier home game against Syracuse on Saturday.
Big 12
The top teams in the Big 12 are still weeks away from picking one another apart leaving some filler games on the schedule until November. On Thursday night, West Virginia could give No. 5 TCU a test and on Saturday No. 12 Oklahoma State could get a test on the road at Texas Tech.
Big Ten
No. 10 Iowa (7-0, 3-0) comes off a bye putting their undefeated status on the line in a home game against Maryland and No. 15 Michigan heads to Minnesota to put the tough loss against Michigan State behind them. Wisconsin (6-2, 3-1) is still in the running for a potential shot at a share of the West Division should the Hawkeyes falter somewhere along the line. The Badgers try to stay within striking distance at home against Rutgers on Saturday.
Pac-12
Parity in the Pac-12 is coming through with the forgottens rising up and the usual suspects trying to get a foothold atop the conference. Now that Utah (6-1, 3-1) has a conference loss, the South Division is wide open in theory with USC, Arizona State, and UCLA all sitting at 2-2 in Pac-12 play. ASU hosts Oregon on Thursday, USC travels to Cal, and Colorado heads to Los Angeles to play the Bruins. Utah goes back home for what should be a nice rebound opponent in Oregon State.
The surprise game of the week could be No. 8 Stanford (6-1, 5-0) at Washington State (5-2, 3-1). The Cardinal maybe too good in all three phases of the game for the Cougars but WSU has won three in a row after a tough 34-28 road loss to Cal. WSU knocked off Oregon 45-38 on the road, beat Oregon State 52-31 at home, and went on the road to beat Arizona (45-42).
SEC
The SEC is in-flux with the top teams still going strong but all of the middle of the road teams taking turns knocking one another around. Anytime Georgia plays Florida, the largest cocktail party in the world, the game is worth seeing. Georgia has fallen out of the rankings but could give No. 11 Florida trouble. The Gators are coming off a bye ready to rebound from a 35-28 loss to LSU.
Texas A&M has a chance to get back on the right side of the win-loss column with South Carolina coming to town. Back-to-back losses to Alabama and Ole Miss have taken the Aggies from contender to a readjustment needed phase. Tennessee has yet another chance to get an early lead and squander said lead but this time on the road against Kentucky. Arkansas plays host to their last non-conference foe of the season in Tennessee-Martin and Auburn looks to upset a visiting No. 19 Ole Miss team at home.
No. 4 LSU and No. 7 Alabama have the week off before facing each other in Week 10 in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss needs a win to keep pace with LSU and Alabama but needs Alabama to beat LSU next week for a shot at a share of the SEC West title. If Georgia can knock off Florida there will be a tie in the East. If Florida wins they will have seemingly wrapped up the East with Vanderbilt and South Carolina as the only conference games left on the docket.
Must See Games in Week 9
No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 21 Temple
Georgia at Florida
If You Have the Time Watch
North Carolina vs. No. 23 Pitt – Thursday
West Virginia at No. 5 TCU – Thursday
Oregon at Arizona State – Thursday
Vanderbilt vs. No. 18 Houston
Miami vs. No. 22 Duke
No. 21 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech
No. 8 Stanford at Washington State
USC at Cal
AP Top 25 Rankings Week 8 (Oct. 25, 2015)
- Ohio State (39)
- Baylor (7)
- Clemson (6)
- LSU (5)
- TCU (3)
- Michigan State
- Alabama (1)
- Stanford
- Notre Dame
- Iowa
- Florida
- Oklahoma State
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Memphis
- Florida State
- Houston
- Ole Miss
- Toledo
- Temple
- Duke
- Pittsburgh
- UCLA
- Mississippi State
Photo credit: Karl B. DeBlaker; Temple receiver Robby Anderson pulls in a touchdown pass against East Carolina (Week 8 – 2015).