Syracuse-Notre Dame tops college football
Syracuse once was a college football name brand. Tailbacks like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little and Jim Nance.
Coaches like Ben Schwartzwalder and Dick MacPherson.
Playmakers like Art Monk, Marvin Harrison and Donovan McNabb. But between 2001 and 2018, the Orange wasn’t even ranked in the AP poll and Syracuse slipped from the national spotlight. That changes Saturday with college football’s game of the day.
Ranking the top 10 non-Big 12 games of the day:
1. Syracuse vs. Notre Dame in New York, 1:30 p.m., NBC:
The Orange, 8-2 and ranked 12th, could make people in Ann Arbor and Norman and Athens and Columbus mighty happy.
2. Cincinnati at Central Florida, 7 p.m., ABC: Bearcats, 9-1, try to derail the major bowl hopes of the unbeaten Knights.
3. Arizona at Washington State, 9:30 p.m., ESPN: WSU has 35 wins and counting the last four years; Mike Leach is a heck of a coach.
4. Arizona State at Oregon, 9:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network: The Sun Devils can win the Pac-12 South with victories here and over Arizona next week.
5. Ohio State at Maryland, 11 a.m., ABC: Last week in East Lansing was the only time this season the Buckeyes have led at halftime away from Columbus. And the score last week was just 7-3.
6. Pittsburgh at Wake Forest, 11 a.m., ACC Network: Beat Wake on Saturday or Miami next week, and the Panthers are the ACC Coastal Division champs.
7. Utah at Colorado, 12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network: Win, and the Utes keep their Pac-12 South title hopes alive.
8. San Diego State at Fresno State, 9:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network: With a victory, the Bulldogs reach the Mountain West title game.
9. Indiana at Michigan, 3 p.m., Fox Sports 1: Hoosiers have beaten the Wolverines once in the last 50 years, 1987, but the last three meetings have been tight.
10. Duke at Clemson, 6 p.m., ESPN: Strange but true. Just the second Duke-Clemson game since 2008.
Upset special
Two former Bob Stoops assistant coaches have had wild seasons in the Pac-12.
Leach has coached downtrodden Washington State to a 9-1 record and the No. 8 national ranking. The Cougars never have finished above ninth in the final AP poll but remain in the running for a College Football Playoff berth.
Kevin Sumlin has coached Arizona to a remarkable turnaround. UofA opened with back-to-back losses of 28-23 to Brigham Young and 45-18 at Houston. But now the Wildcats are 5-5 overall and, at 4-3, remain in the chase for the Pac-12 South Division title.
Washington State, playing at home, is a 10½-point favorite against Arizona on Saturday. But the Wildcats have had a week off to let playmaking quarterback Khalil Tate’s sore ankle heal. Let’s go with ‘Zona in the upset.
Coach on the hot seat
A Denver television station reported this week that Mike MacIntyre will be fired as the Colorado coach, a report that MacIntyre adamantly refuted.
CU athletic director Rick George also denied it, but said, “Let me just say I have made no decisions regarding the future of the football program.”
Um, not a rousing endorsement. Saturday, Colorado hosts Utah. MacIntyre is 30-43 overall in six CU seasons, but the Buffaloes are a respectable 5-5 this season. And in the seven seasons before MacIntyre, Colorado was 20-54. So MacIntyre has brought stability to Boulder. But a win Saturday or at California next week would make George’s decision a lot easier.