“It just means more.” The SEC’s self-aggrandizing marketing slogan proves especially true this week, when six of the top 11 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings come from that league and four of them face off against each other in Saturday’s two biggest games. There are other matchups on the schedule pitting ranked teams against each other, and a complete jumble atop the ACC may start to shake itself out, but the SEC is truly the center of the college football universe this weekend, just as its member schools would tell you it should always be.
“It just means more.” The SEC’s self-aggrandizing marketing slogan proves especially true this week, when six of the top 11 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings come from that league and four of them face off against each other in Saturday’s two biggest games. There are other matchups on the schedule pitting ranked teams against each other, and a complete jumble atop the ACC may start to shake itself out, but the SEC is truly the center of the college football universe this weekend, just as its member schools would tell you it should always be.
Listed below is every game that will be broadcast on television Saturday, plus some intel on a notable matchup in each time slot. What will you be watching?
All times Eastern.
In the spotlight: Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Notre Dame has hardly been challenged since it started the season 0-2, and after a 49-10 demolition of Navy last week, the Fighting Irish have won seven straight by double digits and will return to the playoff for the second consecutive year if they win their final three games of the regular season. Saturday’s visit to Pittsburgh is by far the most challenging of those remaining tests, and the Panthers remain in the playoff picture, too, thanks to a muddled top of the ACC. Pitt is one of five ACC teams with one conference loss, and while Saturday’s nonconference game will ultimately have no impact on the Panthers’ postseason hopes, it may provide a clue about how ready they will be for huge games against No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 15 Miami the following two weeks.
In the spotlight: Oklahoma at Alabama
Oklahoma against Alabama on ABC? Doesn’t that just make you wish Keith Jackson were still alive to say those schools’ names on a loop in his distinctive cadence? Anyway, Alabama is trying to make it a perfect 5 for 5 in games this season against ranked opponents, and a victory at home Saturday would get pretty close to securing a playoff spot for the Crimson Tide. Oklahoma, meanwhile, enters the weekend as the first team outside the 12-team playoff field, and an upset in Tuscaloosa would go a long way toward moving the Sooners to the more desirable side of the cut line. The Sooners have won four of these blue bloods’ five head-to-head matchups this century, including a 24-3 decision late last season that handed Alabama an incredibly damaging third loss, so maybe they won’t be intimidated by the opportunity that awaits them.
In the spotlight: Texas at Georgia
The best night game is an even better SEC matchup. Texas has climbed its way back into the playoff picture with four consecutive wins, including two against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time, and another victory Saturday night in Athens could help get the Longhorns into the field even if they don’t also beat Texas A&M in their regular season finale in two weeks. Georgia is firmly within the playoff field, but it could use a victory against Texas to bolster its résumé, which is familiar territory for the Bulldogs. Georgia’s two best wins last season both came against the Longhorns, in a mid-October game in Austin and then in an overtime classic in the SEC championship game.
The post College football on TV: SEC heavyweights are going head-to-head
appeared first on Washington Post.
