Top-10 team overdue for shocking upset
Recommended with caution because the Crimson Tide can often turn these marquee matchups into opportunities to watch third-teamers play in the fourth quarter. By the way, many of Alabama’s third-teamers are future NFL players.
The oddsmakers don’t have much hope for the Aggies, who are 18-point underdogs. Still, it is a huge opportunity for a season-shifting victory. A victory by Texas A&M has the potential to lock Alabama out of the Southeastern Conference championship game and the College Football Playoff. HEISMAN WATCH
Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight could get the beat-Bama bump with a big game in Tuscaloosa, but let’s look a little deeper.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield came into the season as one of the big-name returning stars getting Heisman hype. Losing two September games pretty much ended that talk, but Mayfield might still have a chance to get the invitation to New York he probably deserved last season.
The oh-so-accommodating Texas Tech defense awaits the No. 16 Sooners in Lubbock on Saturday. NUMBERS TO KNOW
0-7 — Penn State coach James Franklin’s record against Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.
20-6 — Alabama coach Nick Saban’s record in games matching top 10 teams.
11-for-12 — No. 20 Western Michigan leads the nation in fourth-down conversion rate (91.67) heading into its game against Eastern Michigan. OFF THE RADAR
Central Florida (3-3) visits Connecticut (3-4) in a game between two American Athletic Conference teams hoping to stay in the league title race and inch closer to bowl eligibility. That’s pretty far off the radar.
But what you need to know is that last year UConn coach Bob Diaco named this “rivalry” the Civil ConFLiCT (FL, CT. Get it?) and had a trophy made . Diaco’s enthusiasm for the rivalry seems to have waned, and new UCF coach Scott Frost was not about to get lured in this week .
But beyond the comic relief, Frost’s Knights are worth watching. The former Oregon offensive coordinator took over a team that was a winless wreck last season. It’s already a noteworthy turnaround, but if Frost can get UCF to a bowl, his own stock will soar.