College football Week 11 is headlined by five games between teams ranked inside the top 25 of the latest College Football Playoff rankings, with two weeks left in the regular season before the conference championship games. No. 1 Georgia hosts No. 22 Missouri, No. 9 Indiana hosts No. 18 USC, No. 21 LSU hosts No. 6 Texas, No. 23 Arizona hosts No. 2 Utah, and No. 25 Oklahoma State hosts No. 12 Texas Tech.
Why it matters
The weekend is make or break for many teams as they fight to make their conference championship games and the playoff. After Week 11, there are just two weeks remaining in the regular season, and then the final conference championship games arrive before the playoff expands next season and those games are lost. Every ranked matchup carries a season on its shoulders.
The upset alerts add to the tension. Tennessee travels to Texas A and M with a concern level of 9 out of 10, according to analyst Josh Pate, while Duke visits No. 7 Miami, Michigan visits No. 16 Oregon, and Illinois visits No. 4 UCLA. The card is loaded from coast to coast, and the expanded 24 team playoff means more teams than ever have a stake in November.
What happens next
The television centrepiece is in Boise, where ESPN College GameDay heads to the blue turf for No. 24 Boise State against Oregon State on Saturday night. Boise State averages 237.1 rushing yards per game, seventh in the nation, but quarterback Maddux Madsen is listed as questionable with a knee injury, and Oregon State starter Braden Atkinson is doubtful with a hand issue.
For now, the playoff picture is still open and the weekend will narrow it. The winners will move closer to championship games and the losers will need help. By Sunday morning, the rankings will look different, and the teams that survive Week 11 will have earned their place in the race.
The playoff race tightens with every week, and the expanded 24 team playoff means more teams than ever have a stake in November. After Week 11, there are just two weeks remaining in the regular season, and then the final conference championship games arrive before the playoff expands next season and those games are lost.
