Most Anticipated Matchups Remaining on 2016 College Football Schedule
Four weeks in, the 2016 college football season has already been tumultuous. Five teams that began the season in the Associated Press Top 10 have slipped from that lofty perch, while three squads (LSU, Notre Dame and Oklahoma) have fallen out of the poll entirely. According to Erick Smith of USA Today, at 2-2, LSU fired long-time head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron; meanwhile, Notre Dame canned defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder following an ugly beginning.
And the shuffling is just getting started. This weekend figures to be one of the best slates in weekend memory, and it should create plenty of movement in the Top 25, with Top 10 matchups in the same week for the first time since October 12, 2002.
Beyond that, many excellent games will shape the College Football Playoff’s four-team field that will be announced in early December. What are the biggest contests that fans should be most looking forward to? Here’s a look at the most anticipated games remaining, with an eye toward impact on the national picture and conference races.
Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 15)
1 of 10
Alabama-Tennessee is one of college football’s most storied rivalries and was once one of its most intense. But over the past decade, the Third Saturday in October has lost a bit of its luster. Under Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide have become college football’s best program, winning four titles in nine seasons. Meanwhile, Tennessee descended into mediocrity with the end of the Phillip Fulmer era followed by disastrous tenures of Derek Dooley and Lane Kiffin.
Alabama turned the rivalry into a rout, winning nine consecutive games—seven by double digits and four by at least 24 points. Butch Jones is bringing the Vols back to the forefront of the SEC, however. Saturday’s stirring 38-28 comeback win over Florida (which came after UT spotted the Gators a 21-0 lead) was the program’s first win over UF in 12 tries. While UT’s defense took a major blow with cornerback Cameron Sutton’s ankle injury, quarterback Joshua Dobbs is showing improvement as a passer, throwing for 10 touchdowns and 805 yards in four games.
Tennessee has big tests ahead the next two weeks against Georgia and Texas A&M, but the Volunteers (who watched Alabama mount a late comeback for a 19-14 win last fall) would love a chance to break this series losing streak too. They’ll be fired up for the Oct. 15 showdown in Knoxville.
Clemson at Florida State (Oct. 29)
2 of 10
For the past seven years, one game has decided ACC football supremacy: Clemson vs. Florida State. The Tigers and Seminoles have established themselves as the league’s clear powers. Since 2009, the winner of Clemson-FSU has won the ACC Atlantic, and either Clemson or Florida State has won the last six ACC championships. Over the past three seasons, they’ve combined for a BCS national title and two College Football Playoff appearances.
Their Oct. 29 meeting could be a little different, however. Louisville’s 63-20 rout of the Seminoles put FSU in the rare position of being the hunter rather than the hunted, and the Cardinals’ visit to Clemson Saturday could offer further clarity. It’s possible that Clemson-FSU will be about staying alive in the ACC and College Football Playoff chases rather than taking control of it.
Either way, this will be an enticing matchup for a lot of reasons. These teams have played a number of intense games over the last six years, and don’t expect this to be any different, with rosters loaded with playmakers on both sides of the ball. Turning it into a loser-leaves-the-race game could make it even better.
Louisville at Clemson (Oct. 1)
3 of 10
The ACC has a solid football history, but it has had just two Top Five regular-season league matchups. This week, the third will unfold. No. 3 Louisville visits No. 5 Clemson in a game that will shape the ACC Atlantic Division race and potentially the College Football Playoff push. In Bobby Petrino’s third season, the Cardinals have arrived as a legit ACC contender.
Then-No. 10 Louisville handed No. 2 Florida State one of its worst losses ever in a 63-20 rout, the most points ever scored on a Seminoles defense. Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson has become one of the most electric players in the game, throwing for 1,330 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions and rushing for 526 yards and 12 touchdowns, and the Cardinals offense has been the best in football.
WDRB.com's Eric Crawford said Jackson is adjusting to life in the national limelight, including an appearance on this week's Sports Illustrated cover.
"You just have to stay humble,” he said. “I just try to keep my team focused. Keep myself focused. You have to just focus on the next game and not what people are saying. ... I don’t really dwell on stuff like that. I just try to keep my head level, and not really pay attention to it or whatever.”
It will get a major test from a nasty Clemson defense that is allowing 11 points per game, No. 5 nationally, featuring a rugged front seven that will try to limit and slow down Jackson. Junior quarterback Deshaun Watson, the third-place finisher in the 2015 Heisman Trophy voting, has been uneven at times but has thrown for 996 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
Clemson hopes for a much better result than its last Top Five home matchup, which saw Florida State throttle the Tigers 51-14 in 2013. Louisville, of course, would be just fine with a repeat of its FSU result.
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Michigan at Michigan State (Oct. 29)
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Until last season, Michigan-Michigan State might have bubbled below the surface as an underrated national rivalry, lurking in the shadows of the Big Ten East behind Michigan-Ohio State. But the final seconds of the meeting in Ann Arbor changed all that.
Michigan simply had to get off one final punt to end the game, but the Spartans returned a bobbled punt snap for a touchdown and a stunning 27-23 victory.
That propelled the Spartans toward a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth and kept a string of seven Michigan State wins in the last eight rivalry meetings going. The teams meet again Oct. 29 at Michigan, and while Wisconsin’s 30-6 rout of the Spartans took a little steam out of this year’s showdown, you’d better believe Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines will be motivated to make certain 2016 doesn’t come anywhere close to being decided on the final play.
Michigan at Ohio State (Nov. 26)
5 of 10
From 1969 to 1978, Michigan and Ohio State competed in one of the most intense rivalries in college football history. With Bo Schembechler leading Michigan and Woody Hayes leading Ohio State, the Wolverines and Buckeyes played 10 games, with Michigan winning five and Ohio State winning five.
Nearly four decades later, we have the makings of another amazing stretch of the rivalry. Urban Meyer has brought Ohio State back to prominence with a 53-4 record and a national title in four-plus seasons in Columbus, and Jim Harbaugh is doing the same at Michigan with a 14-3 record in one-plus seasons.
The programs have traded barbs back and forth over the last two years, and the fanbases don’t like each other, either. With both teams in the Top Four currently (Ohio State No. 2, Michigan No. 4), they’re set up to compete for a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth. A lot can happen between now and Nov. 26 when the teams meet in Columbus, but it’s clear that J.T. Barrett and a young roster have what it takes to keep the Buckeyes relevant as national contenders.
The same goes for quarterback Wilton Speight, linebacker Jabrill Peppers and the Wolverines’ improving group of talent. They’ll be motivated to avenge the 42-13 beating that Ohio State laid on them a year ago and prove they should be taken seriously as national title contenders while breaking OSU’s four-year hold on the rivalry.
Stanford at Washington (Sept. 30)
6 of 10
In recent years, college football has moved toward Friday night as another major outlet for Power Five games. To take a cue from the opening of The Last Boy Scout, Friday night is a great night for football and not just at the high school level. This week gives us one of the best Friday night matchups in recent memory when No. 7 Stanford visits No. 10 Washington. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 North before October even begins.
Stanford is the clear class of the Pac-12 under David Shaw’s watch after winning three of the last four league titles. The Cardinal have their eye on a College Football Playoff berth after falling just short last year and boast one of the game’s most electric players in junior tailback Christian McCaffrey, the 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up. He has rushed for 436 yards and three touchdowns in three games while catching 12 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.
New starting quarterback Ryan Burns has been solid but not spectacular, allowing Stanford to win with defense.
Washington has lived up to the offseason hype surrounding its program, averaging 45.8 points per game, No. 10 in the FBS. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning has been excellent, throwing for 904 yards with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. The Huskies defense is also stingy, ranking No. 15 nationally in scoring defense. However, U-Dub was pushed to overtime by an average Arizona team before prevailing 35-28. The Huskies will need a stronger all-around effort to take control of the Pac-12 North.
Wisconsin at Michigan (Oct. 1)
7 of 10
Paul Chryst had an excellent first season as Wisconsin’s head coach. The Badgers went 10-3 and defeated Southern California in the Holiday Bowl. However, they were expected to take a step back in 2016 after losing six starters (including safety Michael Caputo and linebacker Joe Schobert) from a defense that led the FBS in scoring, allowing 13.7 points per game, as well as losing defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to LSU.
Instead, they’re 4-0 with a pair of impressive wins over teams ranked in the Top 10 in LSU and Michigan State. The Badgers marched into Spartan Stadium and handed MSU a 30-6 loss, its most lopsided home defeat since 2009. And the defense hasn’t missed a beat, allowing 11.8 points per game, No. 7 nationally. Quarterback Alex Hornibrook was steady in his first career start but will have an even bigger test at Michigan.
The No. 4 Wolverines haven’t been seriously tested and have yet to leave Ann Arbor. And they won’t leave Saturday, either. But the No. 8 Badgers and a stingy D will be a stiff exam for starting quarterback Wilton Speight, who has thrown for 875 yards with nine touchdowns and an interception.
Can Jabrill Peppers make big plays on offense, defense and special teams? Jim Harbaugh and Michigan can push for a College Football Playoff berth in his second season. This is the kind of game that will be a big resume-builder.
TCU at Baylor (Nov. 5)
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Baylor went through a difficult summer, with a major scandal connected to inaction on sexual assaults and violence against women cleaning out the administration, with president Kenneth Starr, athletic director Ian McCaw and head football coach Art Briles losing their jobs over the scandal. But even with acting head coach Jim Grobe in town, the offseason issues don’t appear to have affected the Bears on the field.
Baylor is 4-0 following Saturday’s 35-24 win over Oklahoma State, and they’re one of only two unbeaten teams left in the Big 12 alongside 3-0 West Virginia. The Bears are the closest thing the league has to a College Football Playoff contender, with quarterback Seth Russell leading an offense averaging 42.5 points per game, No. 24 nationally.
Their toughest games lie ahead, including a three-week run at Texas, home versus TCU and at Oklahoma from Oct. 29 to Nov. 12. It would be no surprise if Baylor is 7-0 when it hosts the Horned Frogs on Nov. 5. With Russell and Kenny Hill at the controls of their respective offenses, expect a points-happy shootout that will shape the Big 12 race and be fun for fans of offense to watch.
Tennessee at Texas A&M (Oct. 8)
9 of 10
Entering 2016, Kevin Sumlin was feeling the heat in College Station. Texas A&M’s head coach had struggled to replicate the early success he found with Johnny Manziel, going 11-13 in SEC play over the next three seasons and watching elite quarterback recruits Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen transfer to Oklahoma and Houston, respectively.
However, four games into the season, Sumlin has found his groove. New offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone and graduate transfer quarterback Trevor Knight are a potent duo; Knight has thrown for 1,055 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions, and A&M leads the SEC in rushing at 269.3 yards per game, ranking No. 10 nationally.
Meanwhile, a defense led by sack-happy defensive end Myles Garrett has been excellent, allowing 16 points per game, ranking No. 18 nationally. The Aggies passed a big test by belting Arkansas 45-24 at AT&T Stadium and have cracked the Top 10 nationally. They should ease past South Carolina this week to begin a season-defining stretch versus the Vols on Oct. 8 and at Alabama on Oct. 22.
Which team will be ready to challenge the Tide as the SEC’s best team? We’ll find out soon enough.
Washington at Utah (Oct. 29)
10 of 10
Four weeks into the season, the Pac-12 South is paced by Arizona State and Utah with a combined 8-0 record, with UCLA and Southern California sitting at the bottom of the division with a combined 3-5 mark. Like we all expected, right? Kyle Whittingham has built an impressive program in Salt Lake City, and this just might be the year that people outside the Pac-12 take notice.
The Utes have a nasty defense that allows 15.8 points per game, No. 17 nationally, and transfer quarterback Troy Williams has been a capable offensive leader, throwing for 993 yards and six touchdowns. Utah’s push for a Pac-12 South title will hinge on a four-game stretch in October and November that includes trips to UCLA and Arizona State and visits from Oregon and Washington.
The toughest game in that stretch? Washington’s visit on Oct. 29. The Huskies feature a potent offense keyed by quarterback Jake Browning and tailback Myles Gaskin, and while this is a divisional game, it will still have an impact on the Pac-12 race (and maybe the College Football Playoff push).
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