Each week, The Game Haus will preview every college football game featuring teams in The Associated Press Top 25. We’ll also give an expanded look at three Week 11 Top 25 matchups especially worth watching.
Here we go with our Week 11 Top 25 previews (all times Eastern):
Scouting the Nittany Lions: They find themselves among the top four in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but Ohio State still awaits on the schedule. However, Penn State has no reason to take Minnesota lightly in the teams’ first meeting since 2016.
P.J. Fleck / Photo Courtesy of footballscoop.com
Scouting the Golden Gophers: This special season continues for Minnesota, which now begins a rather tough final four-game stretch that includes a stop at Iowa and the annual finale with Wisconsin. Coach P.J. Fleck is sticking around the Twin Cities, and should have the boat ready to row for the biggest game of his Gophers’ tenure.
Winner: Penn State
Scouting the Tigers: LSU and Alabama might not be Nos. 1 and 2 in the CFP rankings, but in the AP Poll they are. Not only the game of the Week 11 Top 25 slate, but of the year in college football. The Tigers have dropped eight straight to the Tide since winning 9-6 in their last 1 vs. 2 regular-season matchup from 2011.
Scouting the Crimson Tide: It’s all about the status of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who appears set to be ready for this huge Week 11 Top 25 contest. However, this game should come down to which defense proves to be stingiest against a couple of potent offenses.
Winner: LSU
Scouting the Hawkeyes: They’re aiming for a third straight victory overall, but have lost three in a row and six of the last seven against Wisconsin. Considering the Badgers’ potentially fragile state, that trend could be halted this year.
Scouting the Badgers: One has to ask if it’s become a mental thing now for Wisconsin. Two consecutive defeats while allowing 62 points, and the Badgers once-promising season has unraveled. They last dropped three straight Big Ten games in 2008.
Winner: Wisconsin
The Skinny: Time for the Gators to bounce back from that loss to Georgia. This should be the perfect opportunity against a Vandy squad that hasn’t beaten a Top 25 team on the road since October 2007.
Winner: Florida.
The Skinny: Expect the top team in the CFP rankings to have another easy time. Why? Because the Buckeyes have looked unstoppable thus far, and Maryland has yielded at least 34 points in four straight games.
Winner: Ohio State
The Skinny: Undefeated no more, the Mustangs focus is to bounce back while still a Week 11 Top 25 team. SMU’s downfall appears to be a defense that’s allowing 30.7 points per contest.
Winner: SMU
The Skinny: After struggling to get by a middling West Virginia team at home, Baylor knows it should be in for a major test this weekend. The Bears have lost four straight to TCU, and we think that slide continues.
Winner: TCU
Photo courtesy of cincinnati.com
The Skinny: The highest Group of Five team at the moment (No. 20 in the CFP rankings), the Bearcats should have an easier time here than against East Carolina last week. They’re 8-0 at home against UConn.
Winner: Cincinnati
The Skinny: The Wildcats have beat both Oklahoma and TCU, two things Texas was unable to do this season. That’s a big reason the Wildcats are ranked and the Longhorns seem lost. Injuries have plagued Texas, but we think it rebounds with a fourth straight home win in this series.
Winner: Texas
The Skinny: Starting here, Wake plays three of its final four games on the road. The Deacons will be trying for a sixth straight road win while facing an agitated Virginia Tech squad for the first time since 2014
Winner: Virginia Tech
The Skinny: Georgia controls its own destiny in the SEC East, and possibly with the CFP. The Bulldogs are sixth in the initial rankings, and it they win out and claim the SEC title, they could be playoff bound.
Winner: Georgia
Ian Book / Photo courtesy und.com
The Skinny: Quarterback Ian Book still has the trust of Irish coach Brian Kelly after rallying them by Virginia Tech last weekend. It will be interesting to see how Book and Notre Dame fare on the road after that Michigan debacle.
Winner: Notre Dame
The Skinny: Clemson is fifth in the first CFP rankings, and coach Dabo Swinney should be thrilled. Why? Because the pressure is presumably off the Tigers, who have outscored their last four opponents 208-45 and should not lose before the final rankings are announced.
Winner: Clemson
The Skinny: Back in action for the first time since losing at Kansas State, the Sooners get the chance to prove their season is not lost. While a national title has become a long shot, there is still plenty to play for in Norman. It starts with continuing their success over the Cyclones.
Winner: Oklahoma
The Skinny: Boise got by upstart San Jose State to bounce back from that loss at BYU. They’ll be home for the first time since Oct. 12 to take on the Cowboys, who have never beat the Broncos on the blue turf.
Winner: Boise State
The Skinny: A new addition to the Week 11 Top 25, SDSU aims for a fifth consecutive victory since losing at home to Utah State on Sept. 21. The Aztecs enter the weekend ranked eighth in the nation allowing 14.1 points per contest.
Winner: San Diego State
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