LSU-Alabama is the no-doubt game of the week
Afabulous college football weekend arrives, with two battles of unbeatens, led by the epic LSU-Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. The College Football Playoff race will have much more clarity by Sunday morning. Here are the top 10 non-Big 12 games, along with an upset special from the ACC and a coach on the hot seat from the Big Ten:
1. LSU at Alabama, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, CBS: Since the 2009 SEC Championship Game, only LSU-Alabama in 2011 produced a pre-bowl showdown of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the AP poll. Now comes another.
2. Penn State at Minnesota,
11 a.m. Saturday, ABC: The Gophers' golden chance to crack the AP top 10 for the first time since 1962.
3. Missouri at Georgia, 6 p.m.
Saturday, ESPN: If South Carolina can challenge the Bulldogs Between the Hedges, shouldn't Mizzou be able to, also?
4. Iowa at Wisconsin, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Fox: Minnesota has a two-game lead over both of those teams in the Big Ten West, but both still get a crack at the Gophers.
5. Appalachian State at South Carolina, 6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2:
Appalachian State might have been in the driver's seat for the Group of 5 major bowl berth, had it not lost to Georgia Southern. But the Mountaineers aren't out of the running.
6. Wake Forest at Virginia Tech, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, ACC Network: Big post-season stakes. Wake is trying to get to the Orange Bowl. The Hokies are trying to get to the ACC Championship Game.
7. Wyoming at Boise State,
9:15 p.m. Saturday, ESPN: The Cowboys remain in the hunt for the Mountain West's Mountain Division, but they have to beat the Broncos.
8. Southern Cal at Arizona State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC:
This could end USC's hopes of winning the Pac-12 South.
9. Clemson at North Carolina
State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: If Clemson is going to stumble, it likely will be on the road. Which means here or at South Carolina in three weeks.
10. Dartmouth vs. Princeton in New York, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPNU: The Ivy League's two 7-0 teams collide at Yankee Stadium.
Upset special
A year ago, Louisville was a despondent, defeated football program. The Cardinals finished 2018 with a ninegame losing streak, and the final five losses were 56-35 (Wake Forest), 77-16 (Clemson), 54-23 (Syracuse), 52-10 (North Carolina State) and 56-10 (Kentucky).
But the `Ville hired away Scott Satterfield from Appalachian State, and the Cardinals have emerged from the stain of Bobby Petrino. Louisville is 5-3, including 3-2 in the ACC and victories over Virginia and Wake Forest.
Miami is 5-4, 3-3 in the ACC, in Manny Diaz's first season as coach. The Hurricanes beat Florida State last week, prompting the Seminoles to fire coach Willie Taggart and Las Vegas to make Miami a 6½-point home favorite.
But the wrong team is favored. Let's go with Louisville in the upset.
Coach on the hot seat
Mark Dantonio should be a made man in East Lansing, and maybe he is. Dantonio is a robust 111-55 in 13 years with the Spartans, and Michigan State was in the 2015 College Football Playoff.
But in the last four years, the Spartans are 24-22, including a 3-9 record in 2016, a
7-6 record last season and a 4-4 record this year.
Michigan State's offensive problems haven't been fixed, despite Dantonio trying to solve the issue internally. The Spartans the last three weeks have lost to Ohio State 34-10, Wisconsin 38-0 and Penn State 28-7.
Now Michigan State hosts upstart Illinois (4-4), and that's a game the Spartans should win. But if they don't, Sparty will wonder why the offensive revolution hasn't made it to East Lansing and will not easily remember the Dantonio glory years.