Under The Radar Games For College Football Week 12
Week 11 saw the numbers two, three, and four all lose to shake up College Football Playoff rankings. Week 12 has some big games with #3 Louisville at Houston, #20 Washington State at #12 Colorado, #13 Oklahoma State at TCU, #21 Florida at #16 LSU, and #8 Oklahoma at #10 West Virginia.
We will focus on games that may not appear to offer much at first glance. These games might not have a national impact, but they could affect a team’s bowl chances or a conference title race. Note that these games are listed in order of when they will be played and all times listed are Eastern.
1. Kansas State at Baylor (11/19 at 12 PM) – This game is a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. Kansas State has gone 2-1 since their crushing defeat to Oklahoma including a 6 point loss to Oklahoma State on November 5. At 5-4, a win for Kansas State will put them in a bowl game.
Baylor is 6-3 and have been thoroughly dismantled the last two weeks by a combined score of 46 to 107. They have lost three in a row and also lost Seth Russell to a gruesome injury against the Sooners. They do not have to worry about missing a bowl game, but this is a game where they can try to stem the terrible streak they are currently on.
2. Duke at Pittsburgh (11/19 at 3 PM) – Two teams enter this contest off of massive and surprising victories. Duke defeated then #17 North Carolina at home 28-27 to keep their bowl hopes alive. The Blue Devils are 4-6 overall and need to defeat both Pitt and Miami (FL) to reach a bowl.
Pittsburgh comes off the last second shock victory over #2 Clemson. The win put them at 6 victories to reach bowl eligibility, but this was a team that just struggled closing out games, especially on the road. They got it done versus the Tigers and this game will be interesting to see how each team plays off their big upset.
3. San Diego State at Wyoming (11/19 at 3:30 PM) – The Mountain West has two division leaders meeting here. San Diego State has already clinched the West Division and now just awaits to see which team from the Mountain Division they will play.
Wyoming was in the perfect spot to win the Mountain Division until last week’s triple overtime loss to UNLV 69-66 on the road. They had defeated Boise State 30-28 on October 29, but the loss erases their cushion. They are tied at 5-1 in MWC play with both Boise State and New Mexico. The Cowboys do control their own destiny as long as they win out against the Aztecs and New Mexico.
4. Northwestern at Minnesota (11/19 at 3:30 PM) – Northwestern’s season has been strange to say the least. They started 1-3 including losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State. They responded with three straight wins before losing to both highly ranked Ohio State and Wisconsin. They crushed Purdue last week to move to 5-5 and the Wildcats have a chance to secure a winning season with wins over Minnesota and Illinois to end the season. That did not seem remotely possible after September.
Minnesota has been quietly good this year. They sit at 7-3 overall and their 3 losses have all been by 7 points or less. The Gophers have an outside chance of winning 10 games but must defeat both Northwestern (home) and Wisconsin (road) as well as win their bowl game. That is a tall order, but this team will be a nuisance to end the year.
5. South Florida at SMU (11/19 at 7 PM) – South Florida is still in contention to win the AAC East Division, but they need another loss from Temple to do so. The Bulls lost 46-30 to the Owls on October 21. Their final two games are against SMU and Central Florida (home). They will certainly have a legitimate chance to go 7-1 in AAC play, but that may not be enough.
SMU is still alive for a bowl game at 5-5 overall, but their final two games are not easy. They play both South Florida and Navy at home, but those are two of the best teams in the conference. Should they win a game, the Mustangs would play in their first bowl game since the 2012 season.
6. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt (11/19 at 8 PM) – This is a big game for both teams. Ole Miss is coming off their surprising win at Texas A&M last week without Chad Kelly. The Rebels are 5-5 overall and still need to win one of their final two games to make a bowl game (the face Mississippi State next week at home).
Vanderbilt has a faint hope of making a bowl game, but will need a lot to go their way. They need to defeat both Ole Miss this week and Tennessee next week. Vandy’s defense will keep them in this game, but it is the offense that will need to come through to give the Commodores the shot at upsetting Tennessee and making a bowl game.
7. Tulsa at Central Florida (11/19 at 8 PM) – Both teams have already hit the 6 win mark and thus will be in a bowl game this year. Tulsa is not likely to win the AAC West (would need both Navy and Houston to lose out in conference play), but at 7-3 could win 10 games for the first time since 2012. Tulsa needs to win out against UCF and Cincinnati along with the bowl game to reach 10 wins.
Central Florida is a great story this year. After going 0-12 in 2015, they brought in Scott Frost and he paid immediate dividends by getting them back to a bowl game (UCF is currently 6-4). They could guarantee a winning season with a win against Tulsa or South Florida next week.
Check back next week for the week 13 edition of Under The Radar Games. In addition, you can find the previous columns below.