5 games you need to watch on Saturday
On paper, Week 10 appears to be another dull one - just four ranked matchups on Saturday, and only 11 other games in which at least one ranked team will compete.
This is college football, though, and we know anything can happen - field goals will be missed, tackles will be broken, fireworks will explode, and teams that have no business winning will prevail.
Here's five matchups you need to watch on Saturday:
No. 7 TCU vs. No. 20 West Virginia, 3:30 PM ET, ABC
ESPN's College GameDay evidently knew this Big-12 dogfight would be a top attraction, and that's why the weekly pre-game show set up shop in Morgantown. In fact, West Virginia fans started pitching tents on Monday.
The nation's top-scoring offense and second-best offense in yards-per-game will head into a jacked-up Milan Puskar Stadium Saturday in a game that should include wind, rain and maybe even snow.
Everything included in this game points to a shootout: TCU is coming off of a ridiculous 82-point performance over Texas Tech, and the Mountaineers have to expect quarterback Trevone Boykin and his offense to score.
The real test here will fall on Mountaineers quarterback Clint Trickett and his offense, including his best receiver Kevin White (1,047 yards) and running backs Rushel Shell (503 yards) and Wendell Smallwood (476 yards). Let the best man win.
No. 3 Auburn vs. No. 4 Ole Miss, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN
One team will fall Saturday in what looks to be a classic match of the titans. The team that loses this game will likely get booted from the College Football Playoff rankings, and it's unlikely they'll return.
The No. 3 Tigers - the third-ranked team in the first playoff rankings released on Tuesday - looked sloppy in a 42-35 home win over South Carolina last week. Meanwhile the No. 4 Rebels - the fourth-ranked team in the playoff rankings - lost their first game of the season Saturday, a 10-7 loss to LSU. Ole Miss still hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 20 this year.
However, Auburn has lost to Ole Miss just five times in 31 tries dating back to the 1971 Gator Bowl.
If quarterback Nick Marshall can lead an effective rushing game - along with running back Cameron Artis-Payne (831 yards), then the Tigers may escape Oxford with a win. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze is 0-7 in games in which the Rebels opponents rush for more than 200 yards.
Stanford vs. No. 5 Oregon, 7:30 PM ET, FOX
It'll be a classic battle of offense vs. defense Saturday evening in Eugene.
The fourth-ranked offense in the nation and the Pac-12's best scoring offense in Oregon (7-1, 4-1) welcomes unranked Stanford (5-3, 3-2). The Cardinal claims the nation's fourth-ranked defense, the Pac-12's best defense (250.6 yards-per-game) and best scoring defense too. In fact, Stanford pretty much leads the division in every single defensive category.
Stanford beat Oregon in both 2013 and 2012.
The problem for the Cardinal, of course, is Oregon's Heisman-hopeful quarterback Marcus Mariota, who can change things all on his own. He's thrown for 2,283 yards, 24 touchdowns and just one interception. The junior has also ran for 325 yards and five touchdowns as well.
No. 12 Arizona vs. No. 22 UCLA, 10:30 PM ET, ESPN
Rich Rodriguez's treacherous offense (sixth NCAA, first Pac-12) will go on the road to Pasadena and try to hand UCLA its third-straight home loss.
"We've struggled a little bit at home as everyone knows so this is going to be a great test," coach Jim Mora said told ESPN earlier this week.
He's right.
Despite coming into the season hot - with a quarterback in Brett Hundley that some thought would be a Heisman-favorite - UCLA barely escaped both Colorado and California over the past two weeks. Before that, they dropped two straight home contests. Still, the Bruins haven't lost three straight home games in 43 years.
Arizona's rush attack could prove to be UCLA's Achilles heel, especially since the Bruins have allowed an opponent to rush for 200 yards in three of the past four games.
No. 17 Utah vs. No. 14 Arizona State, 11:00 PM ET, Fox Sports 1
It's been a long time since the Utes beat Arizona State (1976) but that could change Saturday night, especially after a hot Utah squad enters this game having won three straight.
Utah hasn't made its victories pretty, but they sure are exciting to watch. All four of the Utes past games were decided by less than seven points.
It helps when a team has a running back like junior Devontae Booker, who has rushed for 844 yards and eight touchdowns this season. In that past four games, Booker piled up 665 of those yards.
Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly should play, but one never knows with his wonky foot. If he doesn't go, Mike Bercovici will have to face a Utes squad that leads the nation with 35 sacks. What's worse is that the Sun Devils allowed seven sacks last week vs. Washington.