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Beat Duke. That is the first step. But after that, it’s time to scoreboard watch for Louisville fans. Some of you may say that Louisville just needs to win and you don’t care about what other teams do. That’s fine. Others will want to know what teams to cheer for and against on Saturday, including me. So here are the main games to pay attention to that could have an impact on Louisville making it into the College Football Playoff.
These rankings are from the AP Poll. There are still not College Football Playoff rankings just yet.
#3 Clemson vs NC State 12:00 ABC
Who we want to win: Clemson
I am still holding firm in saying that Clemson will not lose two ACC games this year, so we want them to go ahead and win out, and look really good doing it. If Louisville wins out and their only loss was that classic to Clemson, an undefeated Tigers team makes that look better.
#19 Oklahoma vs Kansas State 12:00 ESPN
Who we want to win: Oklahoma
Houston lost last week, but that is still an important game for Louisville. So the more that Oklahoma wins, the better that Houston looks. They can still be a top 15 or top 10 team when Louisville visits in November. So we want Oklahoma to continue to win.
Virginia vs Pittsburgh 12:30 ACCN
Who we want to win: Virginia
A win by Virginia puts them at 3-3 and 2-0 in the ACC. Any quality win the Cards can pick up from here on out is a plus.
#14 Florida State vs Wake Forest 3:30 ESPN
Who we want to win: Florida State
As usual, we want the Seminoles to look as good as possible. They were trending down, but that win over Miami certainly helped out. They need to continue to win to make our 63-20 win over them look better.
#11 Baylor vs Kansas 3:30 FS1
Who we want to win: Kansas
Baylor is creeping up near that top 10 and are undefeated. But they are favored by 35 points. Don’t expect Kansas to pull this one off. Just know that Baylor is lurking.
#1 Alabama @ #9 Tennessee 3:30 CBS
Who we want to win: Alabama
I am going to say that we want Alabama to win this one. You know a one-loss Alabama team would still make the playoff. We don’t need a team from the SEC East to also be considered because you know if they are even close, they will make it. Let Alabama go ahead and put the east out of it. We may want Bama to lose one later, but not this one.
#17 Virginia Tech @ Syracuse 3:45 ESPNU
Who we want to win: Syracuse
Virginia Tech is a hot name right now in college football. Couldn’t hurt for Syracuse to knock them off and help out Louisville’s schedule a little bit.
#13 Houston vs Tulsa 7:00 ESPN2
Who we want to win: Houston
Don’t do it again, Houston. You owe us from last week.
#12 Ole Miss @ #22 Arkansas 7:00 ESPN
Who we want to win: Ole Miss
An Ole Miss win makes Florida State look better, so I am all for that.
#2 Ohio State @ #8 Wisconsin 8:00 ABC
Who we want to win: Ohio State?
Ohio State comes into this undefeated and still plays #10 Nebraska and #4 Michigan. Wisconsin has one loss and still plays #10 Nebraska, but that’s it as far as ranked opponents. I am not 100% sure on this one, but I am thinking that if Wisconsin wins, they will jump Louisville and Ohio State won’t drop behind Louisville. So then there are three Big 10 teams in front of the Cards because Michigan is still there. We may want Ohio State to go ahead and knock Wisconsin out of it and then their game against Michigan at the end of the season can hopefully knock another one out. I will update this if I get some more clarity on who Louisville fans should be cheering for in this one.