College Football Week 11 Watch Guide and Open Thread

If last week’s slate of games was the bottom of the barrel for college football viewing, this week is the cream of the crop. There are a number of good matchups on deck today and the football gods have been kind enough to spread them across a number of windows.

Early Games

As usual, things get started at 11am. The headliner here, and certainly the one Hawkeye fans should care most about, is #4 Penn State at #17 Minnesota. That’s on ABC.

FOX has top-ranked Ohio State hosting Maryland in their first game without star defensive end Chase Young. ESPN has #10 Florida hosting Vanderbilt. Undefeated and 12th ranked Baylor will be at TCU on FS1. And ESPNU has #25 SMU hosting East Carolina.

Afternoon Games

In the afternoon slate, things get started at 2:30 with the game of the century between the top two ranked teams in the world who hail from the same division of the greatest conference in the history of the universe!

Wait, hold on....

I’m being told Alabama and LSU are not, in fact, the top two ranked teams, despite all of ESPN’s hype. In any event, the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams are slated to face off at 2:30 on CBS with the winner locked into the playoff and the loser.. also locked in because bias.

Elsewhere you’ve got #16 Kansas State at Texas on ESPN. ABC has USC at Arizona State. And Illinois at Michigan State is on FS1.

At, you’ve got our beloved Hawkeyes in Madison taking on the Badgers. We’re on FOX in case you missed it.

Evening Games

Things fall off a bit in the evening Slate. At 6, ESPN has Missouri at #6 Georgia. At 6:30, ABC has #5 Clemson at NC State. The ACC Network has #15 (don’t get me started) Notre Dame at Duke. And at 7 pm, FOX turns to Iowa State at #9 Oklahoma.

In the night cap, #22 Boise State hosts Wyoming at 9:15. That’s on ESPN. At 9:30, ESPN2 has Nevada at San Diego State. And that’s about it.

Here’s the full slate of games for today.