Around CFB: Let the Sorting Begin

They’ve come to your city:

This weekend the eyes of College Football decent on Clemson as ESPN College Gameday emanates from Bowman Field in Tiger Town as No. 5 Clemson faces No. 10 NC State in primetime on ABC. 

It should be a lot of fun as 2x national champions, and Clemson great Chrisitan Wilkins is the guest picker. I just hope he gets more camera time and not just a short segment at the end like usual. Wilkins has too much personality to be locked into a 15 min piece. 

There are just 21 remaining undefeated FBS teams-- just 19 in the Power Five-- and four of those teams reside in the ACC-- all in the Atlantic Division.

The Tigers are 4-0 for the seventh time in the last eight years and NC State is 4-0 for the first time since 2018. As for the other two teams in the Atlantic without a blemish, Florida State is 4-0 for the first time since 2015 and Syracuse is 4-0 for the first time since winning 10 games in 2018, and the Orange are seeking their first 5-0 start since 1987.

Around the country, there are five games between ranked AP teams and the ACC is featured in two of those – No. 22 Wake Forest at No. 23 Florida State (3:30 p.m./ABC) and No. 10 NC State at No. 5 Clemson (7:30 p.m./ABC). 

The other three contests include No. 2 Alabama at No. 20 Arkansas (3:30/CBS), No. 7 Kentucky at No. 14 Ole Miss (12:00/ESPN), and No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 16 Baylor (3:30/Fox).

Back to Clemson and NC State for a second. According to TheACC.com, the two teams have played five times previously when both teams were ranked as members of the ACC.

• 1986: No. 20 NC State def. No. 16 Clemson, 27-3
• 1991: No. 19 Clemson def. No. 12 NC State, 29-19
• 1992: No. 23 NC State def. No. 18 Clemson, 20-6
• 2017: No. 6 Clemson def. No. 20 NC State, 38-31
• 2018: No. 3 Clemson def. No. 16 NC State, 41-7 

Saturday’s broadcast will be Clemson’s 30th overall appearance – and eighth home appearance (including Thursday editions) – on College GameDay. This will be NC State’s second appearance on College GameDay.

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SEC Battles

As we mentioned, two marquee contests highlight a big weekend in the SEC as well with Arkansas hoping to top the Alabama Crimson Tide at home. Sam Pittman has created a buss around Arkansas that we haven’t seen since McFadden and Jones were doing work in Fayetteville. 

This is a fascinating game given the fact that Alabama has a rematch with Texas A&M next week and while Nick Saban is as good as anyone with keeping the eye on the prize, it wouldn’t be a shocker if the Tide show up a step slow this weekend.

Will it be enough for Hog Nation to snag a monster win? Probably not, but most perhaps things get wild and Arkansas pulls the upset.

The other SEC matchup to watch is Kentucky at Ole Miss. The Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin called out the fans-- specifically the students-- for going to The Grove and not returning to the game. It’s probably not a good thing for your head coach to compare your one home field as being similar to “a high school game.” 

Kentucky is an underdog today, but if they win today, the Wildcats become one of the most interesting teams to follow as they don’t face Georgia until the final game of the SEC slate. 

Must Watch Games 

Look, we’ve laid out several to tune into already-- so these will not be the ‘best of the best’ but they might be worth catching for sure!

No. 18 Oklahoma at TCU, 12:00 on ABC

Brent Venables suffered his first loss as a head coach last weekend against his Alma Mater Kansas State. The Sooners, who blazed out of the gates this year really struggled at times against the Wildcats. 

For Venables and Co., today’s game marks a chance to put their first loss in the rearview and not let that game beat them twice. Oklahome is a five-point favorite, but look out for TCU as the Horned Frogs average 46.3 points per game.

No. 22 Wake Forest at No. 23 FSU, 3:30 on ABC

The last time Florida State finished ahead of Wake Forest in the ACC was all the way back in 2016. If you had a time machine and said that to yourself back in 1995, your past self would think you had escaped from an asylum. 

The Noles were the standard. Wake Forest was the floormat. 

Now the Demon Deacons look to bounce back from a painful loss to Clemson last weekend and hold on to a spot above the Seminoles, who appear to be on the rise under Mike Norvell. If Dave Clawson and the Deacs can pull off a win, it would be a kick in the gut for an FSU fan base who-- like Miami and Texas-- just wants to be back.

No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 16 Baylor, 3:30 on Fox

Quarterback Spense Sanders is the straw that stirs the drink for the Cowboy offense, and one can only imagine how much Oklahoma State wants revenge for that heartbreaking loss in the Big 12 title game a year ago.

This one has been on the minds of everyone in Stillwater all off-season. I’ve said for a while I think Baylor is overrated this year, but the truth is, this is a chance for the Bears to prove me wrong-- and they get to do it on their home field as a favorite.

The ball is in your court Baylor-- prove me wrong.