This is Part 11 of a series where I go week by week ranking what I expect to be the biggest games in college football. For a longer description of what this series is, start with part 1 here!

The Pac-12 has become a staple of this series, and they will continue to show up in future additions. I implore you to follow them this year, especially because it’s the last year of Pac-12 football (as we know it). The competition was fierce this week, and the honorable mentions could turn out to belong on this list by the time we hit week 11.

3rd – Miami at Florida State

Rivalry game alert. A Sunshine State Showdown. Trademark pending.

Emphasis on “A” because there are plenty of other teams in Florida for these two to hate. But this year, these are the top two teams in the state. 

The series is 35-32 all time with Miami on top. 

Both of these teams are used to competing for national championships and dominating TV ratings. Recently, they’ve both been down a bit. But Florida State is rising (appearing in the top 10 of most polls), and Miami has turned the recruiting ship around with 2nd year head coach Mario Cristobal. 

Florida State should be a heavy favorite, but anything can happen in a rivalry game.

2nd – USC at Oregon

These are easily the 2 biggest brands in the Pac-12 today. People across the country care about these teams, for one reason or another.

Supposedly, these are the 2 teams the B1G originally wanted. Turns out they can have their cake and eat it too. The B1G has both now and locked down LA.

These teams didn’t play in 2022. And both have had the privilege of losing to Utah in the Championship Game in the last 2 years.

USC gets to play their two hardest conference games, Washington and Oregon, back to back. It will be tough for them to win both.

Location matters for this contest. Autzen Stadium is the only Pac-12 home environment that is routinely compared to the SEC.

1st – Michigan at Penn State

Round 2 of the B1G East round robin.

Both of these teams have been thoroughly discussed in this series. That’s because I expect them to play in a lot of big games. That being said, I would be shocked if either had more than one loss going into this matchup. This would make this game have plenty of post-season implications. 

Penn State will have already played Ohio State, so this will be their last chance to prove they belong in the upper echelon of college football. (Or if they beat OSU, they can reaffirm they belong in the upper tier.)

Depending on how Minnesota and Nebraska turn out, this could be Michigan’s first real test of the season. And it will be a test. Michigan and Penn State are about equal in talent, Michigan just has the edge on experience. 

Happy Valley on B1G Noon Kickoff will be a great start to Saturday on a great week for the fans.

Honorable Mentions: Utah at Washington and Texas at TCU

Utah at Washington could easily be as big as USC at Oregon. I gave the edge to USC, I expect them to be a bigger deal than Utah, and Utah isn’t on its way to the B1G.

Texas at TCU hinges on TCU not taking a step back, and Texas not failing to live up to the hype. Like that’s never happened before.

Want more Walk On Fan? 

Check out part 10 of this series here.

Check out part 9 of this series here.

Check out part 8 of this series here.

Check out part 7 of this series here.

Check out part 6 of this series here.

Check out part 5 of this series here.

Check out part 4 of this series here.

Check out part 3 of this series here.

Check out part 2 of this series here.

This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene