Week 7 in College Football: What to Watch in the Pac-12 and Elsewhere

Saturday:

USC at Arizona (12:30pm, Fox)

There’s finally a hint of fall in the air, and Trojan fans are hoping for a relaxing afternoon of football on Saturday. If SC can take care of business in Tucson, it will make the rest of the day’s match-ups that much more interesting. Here’s the best of the bunch:

No. 1 Alabama at No. 9 Tennessee (12:30pm, CBS)

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

If you haven’t been watching Tennessee this year, you’ve been missing out on a wild ride. A home game against Alabama should be no different. You just wonder, with so much fourth quarter drama already, will the Vols have enough in the emotional tank to challenge the country’s undisputed No. 1?

Reason to watch for USC: Outside of Washington, the Pac-12 is on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. But that doesn’t mean we can’t root for a shakeup. There’s got to be an Alabama loss out there somewhere, right?

Stanford at Notre Dame (4:30pm, NBC)

A few weeks ago this looked like a lock to be a contest between two top-ten teams. Now, both teams have fallen completely out of the rankings. Notre Dame is in bad shape, but Stanford can still save their season.

Reason to watch for USC: Trojans are rising while these two are fading. This game might give us a pretty good read on what kind of Notre Dame team we’ll see in November.

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 8 Wisconsin (5:00pm, ABC)

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Talk about a heavyweight fight. The Buckeyes are on a roll, but the Badgers are always tough at home. Wisconsin is well rested too, and looking to bounce back after a tough loss against Michigan.

Reason to watch for USC: Huge implications here - for both the Playoff and the Rose Bowl.

Arizona State at Colorado (5:00pm, Pac-12)

Will the real Pac-12 contender please stand up! The Sun Devils and the Buffs have both had impressive starts, but a loss will be a tough blow for whoever takes it.

Reason to watch for USC: The Trojans handled each of these teams over the last two weeks, but this is still a key match-up in the race for the South.

UCLA at Washington State (7:30pm, ESPN)

Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images

Two teams going in opposite directions. The Cougars are coming off big wins against Oregon and Stanford. UCLA is bruised and battered, and nobody ever wants to travel to Pullman. Look for Wazzu to stay hot.

Reason to watch for USC: The might be the dagger for UCLA, and that’s worth watching.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Other games to set the DVR for:

NC State at No. 3 Clemson (9am, ABC)

No. 21 Utah at Oregon State (1:00pm, Pac-12)

Did we forget anyone? Let us know who you’ll be watching with your comments.