Week 10 of the college football schedule is stacked with 61 total games, the most on offer since Week 6. It’s also the first of four straight Tuesday nights of college football, all featuring MAC games.
Breaking it down – two games are on Tuesday night (both already played), one on Wednesday, four on Thursday, three on Friday and 51 on Saturday.
Ranked vs. ranked games are down from three to two, but they are whoppers – (1) Alabama and (6) Ohio State both facing Top 15 opponents who can’t afford another loss. Get your remote, picture-in-picture and/or secondary television cranked up because both games are slated for Saturday night at 8pm EST.
After averaging 18 since Week 6, byes are slashed to eight this week. The only Power teams not in action are from the Pac-12, meaning that all of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC schools are hitting the field.
FBS vs. FCS action stays static at two with only Tennessee (Tennessee Tech) and UTEP (Houston Baptist) playing down.
As a note, this week we’ll start using the CFB Playoff rankings as opposed to those from the AP, the first of which were released this Tuesday night.
OFF THIS WEEK (8)
- Arizona State
- Eastern Michigan
- Houston
- Kent State
- New Mexico State
- USF
- UNLV
- (16) Utah
RANKED vs. RANKED (2)
- (1) Alabama at (13) LSU
- (10) Nebraska at (6) Ohio State
FIRST-EVER MEETINGS (2)
- Georgia Southern at Ole Miss
- UMass at Troy
LONGEST SERIES OF THE WEEK
(17) Baylor and TCU meet for the 112th time this Saturday. The series is tied at 52 games apiece (seven ended in ties) and the two have split the last four.
The first meeting was in 1899 in Waco, also the site of the first 24 games. It was the same year that Al Capone (Jan. 17), Duke Ellington (Apr. 29), Fred Astaire (May 10), James Cagney (July 17), Ernest Hemingway (July 21) and Humphrey Bogart (Dec. 25) were all born.
OLDEST SERIES OF THE WEEK
Virginia and Wake Forest first played 127 years ago in 1889 in Richmond, Va. Game two wasn’t until 22-years later, in 1911 in Charlottesville and the third meeting was another 44 years later, in 1955. Since then the two have played 46 times in 60 years, most recently in 2012.
The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 34-14 but Wake won the last two.
STREAKS OF THE WEEK
6: Stanford has won 6 straight over Oregon State, Georgia has won 6 straight over Kentucky, and East Carolina has won 6 straight over Tulsa.
9: (11) Florida has won 9 straight over Arkansas.
12: (24) Boise State has won 12 straight over San Jose State.
17: (14) Oklahoma has won 17 straight over Iowa State.
MOST-LIKELY WEEK 10 WINNERS BASED ON HISTORY (FBS vs. FBS only):
American: East Carolina (8-5 all-time and 5-0 in the last five) vs. Tulsa
ACC: (22) Florida State (24-11 all-time and 4-1 in the last five) vs. NC State
Big 12: (14) Oklahoma (73-5-2 all-time and 5-0 in the last five) vs. Iowa State
Big Ten: Rutgers (2-0 all-time) vs. Indiana
CUSA: Marshall (2-0 all-time) vs. Old Dominion and Rice (2-0 all-time) vs. Florida Atlantic
MAC: Central Michigan (13-12-1 all-time and 4-1 in the last five) vs. Miami (Ohio)
MWC: (24) Boise State (12-0 all-time) vs. San Jose State
Pac-12: UCLA (9-2 all-time and 5-0 in the last five) vs. (15) Colorado
SEC: (11) Florida (9-1 all-time and 5-0 in the last five) vs. Arkansas
Sun Belt: Arkansas State (3-0 all-time) vs. Georgia State
HARDWARE UP FOR GRABS
The Bridger Rifle – Utah State at Wyoming – series started in 1903 – Utah State leads all-time 38-24-4 and has won four straight.
An actual firearm, Bridger’s Rifle (a .50-caliber Rocky Mountain Hawken rifle) honors Jim Bridger, the “foremost mountain man in the history of the American West.” One of the first Americans to visit the territory that became Yellow Stone National Park, Bridger also is credited with discovering the Great Salt Lake.
For Utah State-Wyoming the tradition of “Bridger’s Battle” started in 2013, the winner of the rivalry’s name inscribed on the maple stock of the rifle. Thus far, the gun has only been in residence at Utah State.
The Chancellor’s Spurs – Texas at Texas Tech – series started in 1928 – Texas leads 49-16, Tech won last years’ game in Austin, its first win there since 1997.
The Chancellor’s Spurs were first awarded in 1996, both the first year of the new Big 12 conference and the first year that both Texas and Texas Tech had a university system chancellor.
Since then, the Longhorns have worn the Spurs home 15 times vs. the Red Raiders five.
The Commander in Chief’s Trophy – Air Force at Army – series started in 1959 – Air Force leads 35-14-1 and has won nine of the last ten.
The three-way contest between Army, Navy and Air Force, the Commander in Chief was established in 1972 to ensure that the newer Air Force Academy (which kicked off football in 1957) would play Navy and Army (both dating back to 1891) yearly.
Air Force’s 28-14 win over Navy in Week 5 this season means that a victory at West Point on Saturday would earn the Falcons their 20th Commander in Chief and their first since 2014.
FUN FACTS
Arkansas has NEVER beaten (11) Florida in the regular season
Not only have the Razorbacks dropped nine straight games to the Gators, they’ve only beaten them once in history – a 28-24 win the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston.
That was 34 years ago, when Arkansas, under Lou Holtz, went 9-2-1 and finished No. 9 in the final AP. It was the highest postseason ranking they’d earn until 29 years later, in 2011, when Bobby Petrino led the Hogs to an 11-2 record and a No. 5 rank in the final AP.
(9) Auburn has NEVER lost to Vanderbilt at home
Did you know that Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with Auburn 21-20-1? Despite that, the Commodores have never, ever beaten the Tigers at Auburn.
All-time Vandy is 0-8 at Auburn, losses stretching from 1951-2007. Interestingly, the two met 25 times before playing at Auburn, meeting instead in Montgomery or Birmingham 14 times from 1893-1950.
Michigan State has won 7 straight at Illinois
The last time the Spartans lost in Champaign, George H. W. Bush (the elder) was President. The year was 1992 and MSU fell 14-10 to Illinois in the season finale.
Despite finishing 6-5-1 that season, the Illini also managed wins at No. 21 Ohio State and at Wisconsin. As for the tie, that was a 22-22 draw at then No. 3 Michigan
(10) Nebraska has NEVER won at (6) Ohio State
The Cornhuskers have had three chances to win a game in Columbus, Ohio and have fallen short on each occasion. The first two losses date back to 1955-56 when Nebraska hit the road in back-to-back seasons losing 28-20 and then 34-7. The most recent was in 2012 when the then No. 21 Huskers rolled into the Horseshoe only to get upended 63-38 by the No. 12 Buckeyes.
Nebraska’s only ever win over Ohio State came the year before, in 2011, also the Cornhuskers first season in the Big Ten. That game was in Lincoln, a 34-27 win over an Ohio State squad that would go on to finish 6-7 under interim coach Luke Fickell, bridging the gap between Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer.
Syracuse has NEVER beaten (2) Clemson in the regular season
Syracuse’s only-ever win vs. Clemson came in the 1996 Gator Bowl. The 41-0 shutout over the then No. 21 Tigers earned the Orange a No. 23 rank in the final AP.
Since then Syracuse has fallen to Clemson three straight times, in 2013, 2014 and 2015. After getting thumped 49-14 in the ’13 game, the Orange lost by exactly ten points in the last two.
(19) Virginia Tech hasn’t lost at Duke since 1981
The last time the Hokies left Durham, North Carolina with a loss was 35 years ago. That Virginia Tech team went 7-4 under Bill Dooley and allowed a mere 11.6 points per game, the sixth best scoring defense in program history.
Historical data courtesy of Stassen.com and College Football Data Warehouse.