Once Rivalry Week concludes Saturday night, next week’s conference championship games will be all that is standing between some of the top teams in the nation and the College Football Playoff. Those opportunities are dwindling with every Saturday that passes as the penultimate week of the season continues, and some of those aforementioned contenders will be involved in hotly contested rivalry games, the type of contests that can make or break a season.
The biggest game of the day is The Game itself. No. 2 Ohio State hosts No. 3 Michigan with the winner advancing to the Big Ten Championship Game and earning an inside track to the CFP. The loser will watch from the outside and hope some form of chaos allows it to sneak into the four-team field. Jim Harbaugh is looking for his second straight win after leading the Wolverines to their first series victory since 2011 last season, while Ryan Day is hoping to avoid becoming the first Buckeyes coach to lose consecutive games to their rival since John Cooper (1999-2000).
Slotting in second in terms of playoff implications is Saturday night’s rivalry showdown between No. 6 USC and No. 10 Notre Dame. A win could potentially vault the Trojans into the fourth spot of the CFP Rankings next Tuesday, while a loss would again knock the Pac-12 out of playoff contention for the sixth time in eight editions of the event.
Also on deck is No. 7 Alabama visiting Auburn for the Iron Bowl in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week, No. 8 Clemson hosting a South Carolina team that shockingly destroyed Tennessee last week, and the Civil War with No. 9 Oregon visiting No. 21 Oregon State in what’s been a tremendous season already for both programs.
Be sure to stick with CBS Sports throughout the day for college football coverage from the opening kickoff onward. Let’s take a look at our expert picks for the best games during Rivalry Week.
No. 5 LSU at Texas A&M
Featured Game | Texas A&M Aggies vs. LSU Tigers
7 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — Texas A&M wants its season from hell to end. LSU has a potential College Football Playoff berth on the line. The difference in…
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