Week 9 of the college football season features one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season with the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions set to take on the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes in a key Big Ten clash. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes will have the spotlight to themselves Saturday afternoon on FOX. It isn’t the only nationally televised game worth tuning in to see. Here is a look at the top televised games for Week 9 of the college football season.
#2 Penn State Nittany Lions @ #6 Ohio State Buckeyes
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET – FOX
Penn State gets another opportunity to prove all of its doubters wrong with a trip to Columbus this weekend. While Ohio State has the home field advantage, they also lost to Oklahoma by double digits at home earlier in the year. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions are rolling heading in to their most important game and they have to feel disrespected once again after being listed as seven-point underdogs. As if this matchup wasn’t enticing enough based on the standings, the fact that two Heisman trophy favorites will go head-to-head makes it that much more appealing. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley is the betting favorite to win the award while Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett is the top passer on the board. They should deliver fireworks when they go head-to-head in the biggest game of the week on this college football Saturday.
#4 TCU Horned Frogs @ #25 Iowa State Cyclones
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET – ABC
TCU has a chance to move one step closer to a conference championship with a win over another top-25 opponent in Iowa State but they are on upset alert heading in to this weekend. The Cyclones took down Oklahoma when they were ranked third in the nation a few weeks ago and they should be motivated to pull off another upset victory in front of their home fans on Saturday. The Horned Frogs have won their two ranked matchups by 13 points and seven points so it will be very interesting to see if Iowa State can make them sweat at home this college football weekend.
#14 NC State Wolfpack @ #9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET – NBC
The Wolfpack are rolling at 6-1 but they are entering the toughest portion of their schedule and it will be very interesting to see what happens. Notre Dame is coming off a lopsided win over USC last week but can’t afford a letdown this week. The Fighting Irish will need another big performance from quarterback Brandon Wimbush this week. NC State has already picked up big wins over Florida State and Louisville. This will be their toughest test yet on the road so it will be interesting to see how they respond in a matchup of top-15 teams.
#11 Oklahoma State Cowboys @ #22 West Virginia Mountaineers
Saturday, 12:00 PM ET – ABC
The Cowboys and Mountaineers are both coming off close wins with Oklahoma State overcoming Texas in overtime and West Virginia beating Baylor. Both teams will need to recover in a hurry in order to avoid a letdown in this matchup of top-25 teams. These teams have combined for a 1-3 record against top-25 opponents this season but one of them has to pick up a win this weekend. It should be another close matchup that will be worth tuning in to watch before the main attraction kicks off between Penn State and Ohio State.
#21 USC Trojans @ Arizona State Sun Devils
Saturday, 10:45 PM ET – ESPN
If you’re looking for an intriguing late-night affair, look no further than this game. The USC Trojans are 6-2 but are coming off a concerning 49-14 loss at Notre Dame. Their defense couldn’t stop the run and their offense couldn’t do much. This comes on the heels of what could have been another loss. Remember, USC outlasted Utah 28-27 two weeks ago but the Utes went for a game-winning two-point conversion (and failed). USC also had a close call against Texas earlier in the year and closer-than-expected results against Western Michigan and California. When you start to add it up, they might not actually be very good.
As for the Sun Devils, they started the year poorly but have turned things around of late. They’ve won two straight and three of four. That includes an easy 30-10 win at Utah and a shocking 13-7 win over No. 5 Washington. Their defense had a reset during their bye week and has given up just 17 points in the two games since. If they could pull the upset, it would take Todd Graham off the hot seat and put Clay Helton squarely on it.
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