After a relatively dull week 2 docket, week 3 offers plenty of excitement, featuring four games between ranked opponents.
With so many big games on the schedule, it’s easy to wonder, “which of these games is the most meaningful?”
That’s a great question, so we will discuss that topic in today’s roundtable.
Q. What is the most meaningful game in week 3?
Kevin Causey
On Twitter: @CFBZ
This Saturday is going to be bananas. There are a ton of good match-ups that will help to shape the 2016 college football season.
When I look at the most “meaningful” game, there are three that really pop off the page…..
Ohio State/Oklahoma
Louisville/FSU
Ole Miss/Alabama
I think Ohio State/Oklahoma and Louisville/FSU will have a greater impact on the current rankings. However, I believe that Ole Miss/Alabama is the game that is the most meaningful.
The primary reason for that is because Alabama looks like a runaway freight train in the SEC this season. The last two years, Ole Miss has had their number. Ole Miss fell to Florida State in week one but only after the Rebels laid a second half egg.
If anybody in the SEC can beat Alabama, it’s Ole Miss. An Ole Miss victory would really send shockwaves through the college football world as it would knock Bama from their perch and it would be three straight for Ole Miss over the Tide.
Phil Harrison
On Twitter: @PhilHarrisonCFB
Yep, that’s a big one for sure Kevin, but I’m going with Oklahoma vs. Ohio State. Why you say? I agree there are other juicy games on the schedule, but most of them pair teams that don’t have a loss yet, meaning there is room for error in the new fandangled College Football Playoff world.
As for Oklahoma though, with the loss already to Houston, it can ill-afford another one. Even if the Sooners were to win out with a Big Twelve title after losing their first two of three, it’s unlikely that they get into the CFP unless the equivalent of college football Armageddon were to strike and we have multiple conference champions with two-losses.
That means Big Game Bob Stoops has a must win on his doorstep if he hopes to have any shot at keeping ta trip to Tampa alive. It’s a second chance, but it’s also likely a last chance.
As for Ohio State, a loss in Norman wouldn’t necessarily derail anything, but it would make the margin of error razor thin the rest of the year with a rather daunting schedule.
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
Meaningful is a relative term. For fans of Kansas and Memphis, that’s the most meaningful game this week. If you’re Joe Fan, pick any number of the titanic clashes above mentioned by Kevin. As noted by someone on Twitter whom I can’t find anymore, this is the first time three AP top 5 teams play ranked foes.
At any rate, because of this newfangled playoff system and its limits on who can get in (and rightfully so), you’re looking honestly at Oklahoma vs. Ohio State or Michigan State vs. Notre Dame as your biggest games of the season because for at least one team on the ledger, it’s a likely elimination game.
Oklahoma probably has a little more leeway than Notre Dame in this aspect, because they can theoretically go on and win the conference and put themselves back in contention, but damn, you’re needing to win out, to have Houston look like Pooston for a week or two, and then relying on another conference to have at least a 2-loss champ.
So I’ll go with Notre Dame vs. Michigan State, because if the Irish lose, they’re not making it back up and getting in. Michigan State probably could if it runs the table in the salty Big Ten East, but MSU has shown they feast on disrespect and could do it. They’d be mindful to not gather said disrespect with a loss. So even though it doesn’t involve any of the top 5 teams, go to the battle for the Megaphone Trophy as the largest one in the land this weekend.
Show of hands if you knew they played for a Megaphone …
Terry Johnson
On Twitter: @SectionTPJ
While you could make a case for Ole Miss – Alabama, I’m picking Florida State – Louisville. After all, this is a divisional game. The team that loses this contest needs for the winner to lose twice in order to have any chance to play for the ACC title.
Without a conference championship, the loser of this contest will almost certainly miss the College Football Playoff. While it’s certainly possible that the Selection Committee would place two teams from the same conference in the field, it’s highly unlikely that it would ever happen. Remember, what makes college football unique is that every game counts. By picking two teams that have already played each other, the committee would be essentially nullifying the regular season meeting. That’s not a path that it wants to go down, given the debacle of 2011.
In other words: no conference championship means no shot at the national championship.
That’s what makes Saturday’s matchup between the Seminoles and Cardinals so important. Whether we like or not – and I know some of you don’t – it’s a de facto College Football Playoff elimination game.
It’s hard to find a contest that’s more meaningful than that.
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