College Football: Preweek 12 Polls andWeek 12 Opponents

There are plenty of changes this week and, based upon the pairings, there will be even more next week. The Big games include #1 Mississippi State vs #5 Alabama, #8 Ohio State vs #25 Minnesota, and #9 Auburn vs #15 Georgia. Should any of these Top 10 teams lose--and at least one MUST lose, they can kiss their chances of getting to the Playoff games goodbye.

Rankings 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 (9-0) The Bulldogs will visit the #5 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1). This is a Big One. We’ll get to see just how good the Bulldogs are. I think they will be good enough to knock off the Tide.

2/3/4/3 Oregon (9-1) The Ducks have this weekend off.

3/2/2/2 Florida State (9-0) The Seminoles play on the road against the Miami Hurricanes (6-3). No telling how this one will turn out. Florida State is, to my mind a bit over rated yet they keep managing to win. If Miami can avoid mistakes they have a chance to pull off the upset.

4/5/5/5 TCU (8-1) The Horned Frogs will head to Kansas to play the Jayhawks (3-6). TCU rolls up the score…again.

5/4/3/4 Alabama (8-1) The Tide will be hosting the #1 Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-0). The Tide goes out in this one.

6/7/8/8 Arizona State (8-1) The Sun Devils head north to play the Oregon State Beavers (4-5). Arizona State makes a statement.

7/6/6/6 Baylor (8-1) The Bears have this weekend off.

8/8/7/7 Ohio State (8-1) The Buckeyes will be on the road to face the #25 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-2). Ohio State wins this one going away.

9/9/9/9 Auburn (7-2) The Tigers hit the road to play the #15 Georgia Bulldogs (7-2). Auburns chance to reestablish themselves, but it will be close.

10/10/10/10 Ole Miss (8-2) The Rebels are staying home on the couch this week.

11/14/15/16 UCLA (8-2) The Bruins are also idle this weekend.

12/12/12/12 Michigan State (7-2) The Spartans head for the coast to play the Maryland Terrapins (6-3). Michigan State wins.

13/13/13/13 Kansas State (7-2) The Wildcats are idle this week.

14/17/18/22 Arizona (7-2) The Wildcats will host the Washington Huskies (6-4). Arizona wins.

15/16/14/14 Georgia (7-2) The Bulldogs host the #9 Auburn Tigers. Auburn wins.

16/11/11/11 Nebraska (8-1) The Cornhuskers are heading north to play the #20 Wisconsin Badgers (7-2). Turnovers may decide this one. Whichever team can keep the other’s offence off the field wins. I think that will be the Badgers.

17/20/20/15 LSU (7-3) The Tigers will head to Arkansas to face the Razorbacks (4-5). LSU wins as Arkansas does just enough to lose.

18/15/16/17 Notre Dame (7-2) The Fighting Irish host the Northwestern Wildcats (3-6). Notre Dame wins at home.

19/18/17/20 Clemson (7-2) The Tigers will be on the road to face the #22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-2). Look for the Yellow Jackets to win against a puzzling Clemson team.

20/22/22/21 Wisconsin (7-2) the Badgers host the #16 Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2). Badgers take advantage of a couple of strong defensive stops/takeaways.

21/19/19/18 Duke (8-1) The Blue Devils will be hosting the Hokies of Virginia Tech (4-5). Duke bedevils the Hokies.

22/24/23/NR Georgia Tech (8-2) The Yellow Jackets will host the #19 Clemson Tigers (7-2). Pick the home team.

23/25/NR/NR Utah (6-3) The Utes will visit the Cardinal of Stanford (5-4). The Utes win on both sides of the ball.

24/NR/NR/NR Texas A&M (7-3) The Aggies host the Missouri Tigers (7-2). A&M wins with the 12^th Man advantage.

25/NR/NR/NR Minnesota (7-2) The Golden Gophers will be hosting the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1). Ohio State wins big.

NR/21/21/19 Marshall (9-0) The Thundering Herd host the Rice Owls (6-3). Marshall remains undefeated and unloved by the Payoff Committee.

NR/23/25/25 Colorado State (9-1) The Rams will have this weekend off.

NR/NR/NR/24 Oklahoma (6-3) The Sooners are on the road to play the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-6). The Sooners win big.

My Rutgers Scarlet Knights are back in action as they host the Indiana Hoosiers (3-6). They need one more win to become bowl eligible and—having had two weeks to heal from the brutal three week stretch (Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin; currently #s 8, 16 and 20 respectively)—are likely to get it this weekend. They better. The last two games are against Michigan State and Maryland. Maryland may offer a chance to go above .500 in this, their inaugural season in the Big Ten.