Cancel your Saturday plans. Stay home. Watch and bet college football. We’re into Week 11 and this is the most important Saturday of action yet with six epic Top 25 matchups on tap. It’s going to be a very special Saturday for anyone who loves pigskin.
Kansas State Wildcats @ TCU Horned Frogs
Odds: TCU -6
In the Big 12, there are two huge games this weekend. The bigger one is between Kansas State and TCU, teams that have climbed over the expected preseason favorites from Baylor and Oklahoma. Kansas State is still unbeaten in the Big 12, and has only a loss to Auburn denting its resume. Kansas State therefore has one of the best losses in the country.
If it is able to finish with an 11-1 record at the end of the regular season, it will be in the running for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and will likely get in. TCU’s value in this game is that the Horned Frogs have almost made it through the toughest part of their schedule. Only three games remain after Kansas State, and all of them are ones in which the Horned Frogs will be favored by at least a touchdown, probably 10 points, possibly 13 points. TCU is one win away from having the inside track to a College Football Playoff spot from the Big 12.[divider]
Baylor Bears @ Oklahoma Sooners
Odds: Oklahoma -6
The other big game in the Big 12 may not be as important as Kansas State-TCU, but it’s still a big deal. Baylor is the team that has more to play for here. If the Bears win this game, they would be favored in their next few games, and as long as they have only one loss heading into their Dec. 6 game against Kansas State, they would have a chance to play for the Big 12 title. Baylor and Kansas State could very well be the two teams left standing at the very end of the Big 12 season, but Baylor needs to beat Oklahoma in order for that to be the case.[divider]
Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Arizona State Sun Devils
Odds: Arizona State -2.5
The Fighting Irish will have a very strong chance of making the playoff if they win out to finish 11-1. Arizona State has a very tough schedule ahead, but the Sun Devils would also be a playoff contender if they can win out. This is yet another elimination game for two teams on the road to the playoffs. The winner stays alive.[divider]
Alabama Crimson Tide @ LSU Tigers
Odds: Alabama -6.5
The Crimson Tide can play their way into the playoff, because they face Auburn and Mississippi State, two teams currently in the top five, not to mention LSU, a top 25 team. Alabama will be tested on the road by an LSU team that has been a lot better the past three weeks. If Alabama gets by this game, Mississippi State awaits the following week on Nov. 15.
Ohio State Buckeyes @ Michigan State Spartans
Odds: Michigan State -3
The Big Ten’s elimination game for the College Football Playoff is this one. The winner has a chance to play for the Big Ten title and maybe face Nebraska in a matchup of teams that will have only one loss. (Nebraska would need to keep winning throughout November for that to happen.)
Michigan State won last year’s Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Ohio State wants to avenge that result and play better against Michigan State’s offense, which had a field day on that night. This is the game everyone’s been waiting for in the Midwest this season.
