College Football Conference games are (mostly) underway, and the stakes are raised accordingly. The sport dips its toes this weekend with ranked games within the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC, featuring the College Football Playoff favorites and a number of remaining query marks.
Let's rank the highest 10 games of week 4, starting with some honorable mentions after which counting down.
Honorable Mention: JMU at North Carolina, Rutgers at Virginia Tech, Memphis at Navy, TCU at SMU, Iowa at Minnesota
10. San Jose State (3-0) at Washington State (3-0), Friday, 10 p.m., The CW
What a win for Wazzu last week. They beat Washington in a brand new, strange version of the Apple Cup rivalry, secured by a dramatic goal-line defense by the Cougars. Quarterback John Mateer is a dual-threat firecracker, head coach Jake Dickert brought a victory cigar to the postgame press conference and Washington State is one in all the primary feel-good teams. Now the Cougars have a revenge game of a unique kind against San Jose State, which could feel scorned by WSU for helping the Pac-12 poach the Mountain West. The Spartans haven't played anyone pretty much as good as Wazzu, but former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo has abandoned the triple option and SJSU is off to an undefeated start, including a road win against Air Force.
Line: Washington State -11.5
Tough start for NC State. After losing 51-10 to Tennessee, the Wolfpack also lost starting quarterback Grayson McCall to injury in a 30-20 win over Louisiana Tech. True freshman backup CJ Bailey will start against Clemson and led the comeback against Louisiana Tech, but NC State didn't take a look at all like a team deserving of its preseason Top 25 rating. This will likely be an interesting test for Clemson as well, after they got here back from a pause in play following the loss to Georgia and win against App State. Are the Tigers still an actual threat within the race for the ACC and the playoffs? The margin on this game suggests so. Either way, Saturday's result should get us a bit of closer to those answers.
Line: Clemson-20.5
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik threw for a career-high 378 yards against App State, with a 92.3 percent completion rate. (Alex Hicks Jr. / USA Today Sports via Imagn Images)
8. Arkansas (2-1) at Auburn (2-1), 3:30 p.m., ESPN
It's hard to place it into words, but this game just appears like college football in the autumn, with the leaves changing. The game is now on ESPN as an alternative of CBS, neither team is predicted to compete for the SEC title or the CFP, Arkansas' Sam Pittman is on the new seat – but this matchup has an indescribable nostalgia effect. It must be an interesting quarterback battle between Arkansas' Taylen Green and Auburn's redshirt freshman Hank Brown, who threw 4 touchdowns in his first game against New Mexico last week. Both teams have a troublesome schedule ahead of them and will really use a win to maintain fans from getting restless.
Line: Auburn-3
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And what about Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils? The second-year head coach has led ASU — which finished last within the Big 12 preseason poll — to an undefeated start with three solid wins, including a cracker over Texas State last Thursday. Quarterback Sam Leavitt has acquitted himself valiantly, running back Cam Skattebo is a wrecking ball and Dillingham's commitment to recruiting players from Texas is already paying off. Whether ASU could make a splash within the race for the Big 12 stays to be seen, nevertheless it could start against an enigmatic Texas Tech team that escaped in additional time against Abilene Christian, got beat by Wazzu after which scored 66 against North Texas.
Line: Texas Tech-3
6. Georgia Tech (3-1) at No. 19 Louisville (2-0), 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech is coming off a detailed loss to Syracuse with a clean sweep of VMI, and with a transient stay in the highest 25, it's clear the Yellow Jackets are higher than most expected this season. But Louisville is the team I'm more inquisitive about. The Cardinals almost robotically climbed into the highest 20 because of their easy wins over Austin Peay and Jacksonville State. Transfer quarterback Tyler Shough has impressed against weaker competition, but with a road game at Notre Dame next week, this game should give a significantly better sense of how strong Louisville could be as an ACC and playoff contender this season.
Line: Louisville -10.5
5. No. 8 Miami (3-0) at South Florida (2-1), 7 p.m., ESPN
Mario Cristobal's third-year warpath makes an interesting stop in Tampa. Quarterback Cam Ward has played spectacularly for the Hurricanes, rating second within the FBS in passing yards, first in passing touchdowns, third in yards per attempt and fourth in QB rating, putting Miami in the highest 10. But now it has to face a USF team that has given Alabama problems for 3 1/2 quarters. Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown ran the ball effectively but had trouble within the air, and USF's defense collapsed against the Tide late, allowing 21 points in the ultimate six minutes. A decisive road win in prime time on ESPN would put the hype train into overdrive for Miami.
Line: Miami-16.5
Cam Ward transferred from Washington State to Miami within the offseason and leads the Hurricanes to their CFP hopes. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
4. No. 24 Illinois (3-0) at No. 22 Nebraska (3-0), Friday 8 p.m., Fox
The Big Ten matchup you didn't know you needed in your life. Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and his Patrick Mahomes cosplay will likely be within the highlight again Friday night against the undefeated Illini. Raiola was impressive for a real freshman with high expectations and a fan base eager to get back to playing winning football. The Cornhuskers haven't been to a bowl game in seven seasons, haven't beaten a ranked team since 2016 and haven't done so at home since 2011. Enter an Illinois team that’s second within the FBS with an 8-plus turnover differential. The Illini haven't been elite in other areas thus far, but are strong enough to maintain optimism in Lincoln at a high.
Line: Nebraska-8.5
3. No. 11 USC (2-0) at No. 18 Michigan (2-1), 3:30 p.m., CBS
It's Alex Orji time for Michigan. The speedy junior takes over at quarterback for Davis Warren, who threw six interceptions in three games on the helm of a dismal offense. Can Orji bring enough momentum to show things around? The Wolverines are home court underdogs for the second time in three weeks. They were crushed by Texas in Week 2 and now face USC, which spent every week with out a player. The Trojans are riding high in playoff projectors after a Week 1 win over LSU and what looks to be a much-improved defense under recent coordinator D'Anton Lynn. A road win against Michigan would further boost those CFP hopes, especially given the favorable schedule for the remainder of the sport: no Ohio State, no Oregon, and Penn State, Nebraska and Notre Dame all have home games.
Line: USC-6
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2. No. 12 Utah (3-0) at No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-0), 4:00 p.m., Fox
Utah quarterback Cam Rising is predicted to play after suffering a throwing hand injury in a Week 2 win over Baylor. The Utes were expectedly strong on defense and remain the top-ranked team within the Big 12, but travel to the Thunderdome of Stillwater. The Pokes have been a little bit of an enigma. Doak Walker-winning running back Ollie Gordon II has been mostly held in check, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, but seventh-year quarterback Alan Bowman has picked that up. Bowman is sixth within the FBS in passing yards, together with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. This is a vital stretch for Oklahoma State, which travels to Kansas State next week still without star linebacker Collin Oliver. With Utah heading to Arizona next week, we should always have a greater take a look at the highest of the Big 12 by the top of the month.
Line: Utah-2.5
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1. No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) at No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0), 7:30 p.m., ABC
The big story is Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel's return to Oklahoma, where he led the team to a national championship as quarterback and was later fired as offensive coordinator. Joe Rexrode wrote an amazing look back at how the reunion played out for everybody involved (and paid off for Tennessee!), and what's at stake in a game Joe calls “an early College Football Playoff clearinghouse.” The Vols are a slam dunk, leading the FBS with 63.7 points per game. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava's 10.4 yards per attempt ranks eighth amongst all quarterbacks, and the offense is averaging 8.1 yards per game. The Sooners are on the opposite end of the dimensions, averaging just 4.9 yards per game under quarterback Jackson Arnold, who’s averaging 5.6 yards per attempt and remains to be trying to search out his rhythm. (The return of wide receivers Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony from injuries could help here.) Brent Venables' defense has been solid, but Tennessee is allowing 3.1 yards per play and 4.3 points per game, each in the highest three within the FBS. ESPN's “College GameDay” goes to Norman to see if the Sooners can slow Tennessee down in the primary SEC showdown against Oklahoma.
Line: Tennessee-7
image credit : www.nytimes.com