Notre Dame, USC to battle to stay in title contention
Michigan’s hopes on line at Penn State
A team that has lost two games has yet to make the College Football Playoff. The playoff has been in existence since 2014, and it’s bound to happen at some point, but for now it seems like a difficult bar to clear.
So it seems fair to say No. 11 Southern California (6-1) and No. 13 Notre Dame (5-1) are playing an elimination game Saturday night in South Bend, Ind.
The big games are back this weekend after upsets dominated the schedule last week.
An argument could be made that the Trojans and Fighting Irish haven’t play a game where the stakes were so high on both sides since 2005’s “Bush Push” game.
No. 19 Michigan (5-1) is also likely putting its playoff hopes on the line when it visits No. 2 Penn State. The Wolverines and Nittany Lions have not played with both teams ranked since 2002.
The picks:
Tonight
No. 25 Memphis (plus 3) at Houston: Tigers snapped a sixgame losing streak to the Cougars last season … MEMPHIS 35-28.
Saturday
No. 19 Michigan (plus 10) at No. 2 Penn State: Winning this without much offense is going to be a very tall task for the Wolverines … PENN STATE 24-16.
No. 11 USC (plus 3½) at No. 13 Notre Dame: A USC loss would also be another major hit for the Pac-12’s playoff chances … NOTRE DAME 31-30.
Tennessee (plus 34½) at No. 1 Alabama: Tide has won 10 straight and the Vols’ chances of ending the skid could not be much bleaker … ALABAMA 48-7.
Kansas (plus 39½) at No. 4 TCU: Jayhawks have lost 43 straight road games, though Kansas has stayed within 14 points against the Horned Frogs in each of the last five games … TCU 38-9.
Maryland (plus 24) at No. 5 Wisconsin: Terps, down to their third-string QB, face one of the toughest run defenses in the Big Ten. Not ideal … WISCONSIN 35-17.
Syracuse (plus 16) at No. 8 Miami: Former Big East rivals play for the first time since 2003 … MIAMI 31-21.
No. 9 Oklahoma (minus 14) at Kansas State: In 1983, when Sooners coach Lincoln Riley was born, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, now 78, was in his fifth season as offensive coordinator for Hayden Fry at Iowa … OKLAHOMA 38-21.
No. 10 Oklahoma State (minus 6) at Texas: Longhorns have been close against USC and Oklahoma. Charlie Strong had a lot of close calls, too … UPSET SPECIAL, TEXAS 38-31. No. 16 South Florida (minus 11½) at Tulane: Bulls going
for 24th straight game with at least 30 points to break an FBS record they share with Oregon … TULANE 28-27.
No. 20 UCF (minus 7) at Navy: Can the Midshipmen play keepaway with the highest-scoring team in the country? … UCF 35-24.
North Carolina (minus 21) at No. 14 Virginia Tech: Tar Heels are in very real danger of going 0-8 in conference … VIRGINIA TECH 38-14.
Colorado (plus 10 ½) at No. 15 Washington State: Buffs TB Phillip Lindsay is averaging 25.4 carries per game, tops among Power Five conference running backs; the Cougars are averaging 26.1 rushing attempts per game as a team — which includes quarterback sacks … WASHINGTON STATE 33-20.
Indiana (plus 6½) at No. 18 Michigan State: Hoosiers snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Spartans last year, a loss that sent Michigan State spiraling to a three-win season … MICHIGAN STATE 24-16.
No. 21 Auburn (minus 15½) at Arkansas: Tigers beat the Razorbacks by 53 last year and it was every bit as bad as the score indicated … BEST BET, AUBURN 35-14.
No. 23 West Virginia (minus 9) at Baylor: Winless Bears were showing some signs of improvement before getting routed last week at Oklahoma State … WEST VIRGINIA 38-31.
No. 24 LSU (minus 6½) at Mississippi: Renewed hope for the Tigers’ season still feels a little tenuous … LSU 35-24.