College Football: Preweek 11 Pollsand Week 11 Opponents

A couple of upsets last week and as a result we’ve got a little shake up, but they pale in comparison to what’s coming up this weekend as we’ve got six games pitting ranked teams against each other. Some of those games will be elimination games as the loser will have no chance at getting to the Top Four. Our three undefeated teams should have no difficulty remaining that way, however, so slots 1 and 2 should remain untouched. Should be a good weekend with some exciting games on hand.

I’ve added the Selection Committee’s rankings to this week’s list and given them the “important” position on the left since their Top Four will eventually be playing for the National Championship.

Ranks on the left are those of the Selection Committee/AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked. 1/1/1/1 Mississippi State (8-0) The Bulldogs will be hosting an FCS school UT Martin Skyhawks (3-3) this week in a game that’s a bit of a breather for them…or a trap. Would spotting the Skyhawks four TDs be enough? Nah.

2/2/2/2 Florida State (8-0) The Seminoles host the Virginia Cavaliers (4-5). Seminoles take another scalp.

3/3/3/4 Auburn (7-1) The Tigers will host the Aggies of Texas A&M (6-3). Tigers will roll.

4/5/5/3 Oregon (8-1) The Ducks will be out on the road to face the #17 Utah Utes (6-2). Oregon continues to roll with Mariota having another big day.

5/4/4/5 Alabama (7-1) The Tide will be on the road to play the #16 LSU Tigers (7-2). Yeah it’s a night game in Baton Rouge so you never know what’s going to happen. It will be close and it could be an upset.

6/6/7/6 TCU (7-1) The Horned Frogs will be hosting the #7 Kansas State Wildcats (7-1). Two teams that can really score. One that makes few (if any) mistakes. I think Kansa State may pull the upset here—if you can call it that.

7/9/9/8 Kansas State (7-1) The Wildcats are on the road to face the #6 TCU Horned Frogs (7-1). They may be on the road, but the Wildcats make very few mistakes. And their defense may be just strong enough to hold the Frogs in check (or at least under 40 points.)

8/7/6/7 Michigan State (7-1) The Spartans will hosting the #14 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1). Two strong defenses will be holding the offenses in check producing a low scoring contest. Look for Ohio State to up the tempo as they try to tire the Spartan D down. Tough to do if you go three-and-out, however. Spartans win.

9/11/12/13 Arizona State (7-1) The Sun Devils will host the #10 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (7-1). The Devils will win this one.

10/8/8/9 Notre Dame (7-1) The Fighting Irish will head west to face the #9 Arizona State Sun Devils (7-1). Irish go down.

11/12/13/10 Ole Miss (7-2) The Rebels will host the FCS Presbyterian Blue Hose (2-2). Good way for the Rebels to heal after last week’s tough loss.

12/10/10/11 Baylor (7-1) The Bears head north to face the #15 Oklahoma Sooners (6-2). The Bears defense needs to step up of Baylor is to win. I don’t think they have it in them. Sooners win.

13/15/14/14 Nebraska (8-1) The Cornhuskers will be idle this week.

14/13/11/12 Ohio State (7-1) The Buckeyes will host the #8 Michigan State Spartans (7-1). Spartans win a low scoring game.

15/16/16/15 Oklahoma (6-2) The Sooners host the #12 Baylor Bears (7-1). Sooners exploit the Bears’ defense…or lack thereof.

16/14/15/17 LSU (7-2) The Tigers will host the #5 Crimson Tide of Alabama (7-1). Played at night with that rabid crowd? Call it a toss up.

17/20/22/23 Utah (6-2) The Utes will host the #4 Oregon Ducks (8-1). Ducks continue to roll.

18/18/18/20 UCLA (7-2) The Bruins will head north to face the Washington Huskies (6-3). This could be a close game with the Huskies playing at home, but the Bruins should pull it out.

19/21/21/NR Arizona (6-2) The Wildcats host the Colorado Buffaloes (2-7). Wildcats all the way.

20/17/17/16 Georgia (6-2) The Bulldogs will play on the road against the Kentucky Wildcats (5-4). ‘Dogs win this one.

21/19/19/21 Clemson (6-2) The Tigers play on the road against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-6) on Thursday night. The Tigers been known to self-destruct but they should win this one easily.

22/22/20/19 Duke (7-1) The Blue Devils head north to fact the Syracuse Orange (3-6). It will be noisy in the Carrier Dome…but only as long as ‘Cuse can stay within 14 points. They may get quiet early in this one.

23/24/25/NR West Virginia (6-3) The Mountaineers are on the road to face the Texas Longhorns (4-5). The Mountaineers will win this one.

24/NR/NR/NR Georgia Tech (7-2) The Yellow Jackets will play on the road against the North Carolina State Wolfpack (5-4). Georgia Tech will tame the Pack.

25/25/24/24 Wisconsin (6-2) The Badgers will play on the road to face the Purdue Boilermakers (3-6). Badgers run wild…again.

NR/23/22/18 Marshall (8-0) The Thundering Herd will be on the road to play the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss (3-6). The Herd stomps the Golden Eagles.

NR/NR/NR/25 Colorado State (8-1) The Rams host the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii (2-7). Rams win in a rout.

My Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-4) will be idle this week. They need the time to lick their wounds from the last three games against Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Next up for the Knights are the Indiana Hoosiers (3-5) and a chance to become bowl eligible on November 15^th in Piscataway. (That’s where Rutgers’ stadium is located.)