By Jonathan Lehman
It's the biggest weekend in college football ... until next weekend.
The tantalizing showdowns on Rivalry Week will help sort out the crowded and potentially drama-filled College Football Playoff picture and set the matchups for next week's conference championship games.
The best game on the Saturday schedule is that classic duel of Midwestern football powers: Michigan at Ohio State.
Michigan, No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, has lost to Ohio State each of the last six seasons, but needs a win this time around to remain in top-four playoff position. The Wolverines (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) are four-point favorites on the road.
Michigan has won 10 in a row since a season-opening one-touchdown loss at Notre Dame; No. 10 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) was trounced by Purdue last month and eked out a 52-51 overtime victory over Maryland last week. Michigan leads all Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total defense, while Ohio State ranks second in total offense.
The winner faces No. 19 Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game. Michigan likely would need a win in that spot as well to keep its foothold in the playoffs.
No. 3 Notre Dame (11-0) can pretty much wrap up one of the four playoff spots by winning at traditional cross-country rival USC.
No. 1 Alabama (11-0) and No. 2 Clemson (11-0) aren't expected to have any trouble en route to next week's conference title games. Alabama is a 24-point favorite for Saturday's in-state Iron Bowl rivalry game against Auburn; the Crimson Tide will face No. 5 Georgia in the SEC championship game. Clemson is favored by 26 points against South Carolina, already locked into a tilt against No. 24 in the ACC championship game the following week.
Then there are those teams currently on the outside of the playoffs needing some chaos among the top four to squeeze in.
No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 13 West Virginia play Saturday in Morgantown. If Kansas were to knock off No. 14 Texas this weekend, Oklahoma and West Virginia would play again for the Big 12 title. If Texas survives, the Longhorns would face the Oklahoma-West Virginia winner.
Oklahoma, with a pair of wins, especially convincing ones, is the mostly likely choice to slide into a playoff spot vacated by Michigan or Notre Dame.
But No. 8 Washington State also still harbors playoff hopes. Its two-game gauntlet: No. 16 Washington on Friday, followed by No. 17 Utah in the Pac-12 championship game.
With AP
