This is Part 8 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!
Feel free to flip 1st and 2nd if you feel like it. For my rankings, I see 1st place as a matchup between undefeated teams. In the 2nd place game, I expect there to already be a loss for one of the participants. Also, what’s up with the ACC? They haven’t been featured in this series in a while.
3rd – Utah at USC
Utah won their conference 2 years in a row. I don’t think anybody remembers that. USC has the reigning Heisman winner. I think everybody knows that.
Utah beat USC twice in 2022 and has their QB returning. So, why is USC the Pac-12 favorite? Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. That’s all that needs to be said. Lincoln expects to return USC to the glory days of the early 2000s, and Williams is almost a lock for 1st overall in the 2024 draft.
Utah is Wisconsin west. They outperform their recruiting rankings by having phenomenal development and playing tougher than their competition. Kyle Whittingham might be the most underrated coach in America.
USC wants revenge, and Utah wants to prove nothing has changed. This will be a good one.
2nd – Tennessee at Alabama
Another potential revenge game. Over the last 15 years, Alabama has dominated the 3rd Saturday in October, winning every game from 2007 to 2021. Then last year happened, and the goalposts of Neyland Stadium wound up at the bottom of the Tennessee River.
Alabama wants to put Tennessee back in its place.
In the last few seasons, we’ve witnessed 2 very different Alabama teams. Alabama on the road has struggled with penalties and execution, winning games close. Alabama at home leaves no doubt about the talent they have on the field and on the coaching staff.
Tennessee came into this game undefeated last year. They relied on unstoppable offense to make up for mediocre defense. They should look very similar this year, even with new/old QB Joe Milton running the offense instead of Hendon Hooker this time.
1st – Penn State at Ohio State
The first of 3 absolutely titanic matchups in the B1G East division.
According to the Big Ten League office, Penn State has no conference rivals. The fan base will likely take exception to that statement. Penn State vs Ohio State has become a rivalry out of competitiveness. No team has taken OSU to the edge more consistently in the playoff era than Penn State.
6 of the last 9 meetings were decided by single digits, and I would only call 1 of the other 3 a blowout. Both teams have been ranked in every game since 2017, and when Penn State was unranked in 2016, they beat #2 Ohio State.
Both teams have tons of talent, but the edge would go to OSU. Both teams are excited to see their new QBs, but the hype around PSU’s Drew Allar is deafening compared to OSU’s Kyle McCord.
And after this game, both teams still have to play Michigan. Will they be riding high or in survival mode when they face the B1G favorite?
Honorable Mention: Minnesota at Iowa
They play for a statue of a pig. And, Minnesota chants that they hate Iowa at every home game (Even though PJ can’t beat Iowa). This game had to be mentioned for these facts alone.
Want more Walk On Fan?
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