A bad week of college football games?
Nonsense. Just a less good week of college football games.
Nonetheless, College Football Playoff hopes will be decided in a number of Football Bowls Subdivision contests, and the No. 1 overall seed for the impending Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs also could be decided this weekend.
Which is why ESPN College GameDay should have trekked this week to Missoula, Montana, for the annual 'Brawl of the Wild' rather than a return trip to Eugene, Oregon, for a classic PAC-12, oops, traditional Big Ten rivalry contest.
In the FCS showcase, second-ranked and undefeated Montana hosts 9-2, bitter in-state rival Montana State in their annual affair that not only means bragging rights in the 'Treasure State' but also could give Bobby Hauck's Montana squad an argument to be the No. 1 team in the AFCA Top 25 and arguably the No. 1 seed in FCS Playoffs, which will see its bracket revealed Sunday afternoon.
Certainly, a win for the homestanding Griz secures no worse than a national No. 2 seed behind current No. 1 team North Dakota State.
The Bobcats need a win to bolster their case for a top-four seed. Like Hauck, Brent Vigen has done masterful work and has gotten a look in the Colorado State coaching search.
As for that USC at Oregon contest, the Ducks need it to have a truly solid win to solidify their standing as the CFP's seventh-ranked team. Lincoln Riley's Trojans also need another quality win to maintain outside chances for the CFP. The two-loss Trojans are No. 15 in the CFP Top 25 but certainly would be expected to vault upward from that post and maintain their chances going into the regular-season finale against UCLA.
Elsewhere, the most significant games for the CFP field feature No. 22 Missouri at No. 8 Oklahoma while No. 11 BYU visits Big 12 Conference foe Cincinnati, which fell from the CFP rankings this week after losing at home last week to Arizona.
It's all discussed here on the latest FootballScoop podcast.
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