1) No. 1 Alabama at No. 9 Tennessee
Tennessee (5-1 overall, 2-1 SEC) has earned a reputation for playing poorly, then rallying. That has earned the Volunteers so much respect from voters that a close loss to Texas A&M didn’t even hurt them in the polls. Suffice it to say, that kind of play won’t cut it against Alabama (6-0, 3-0). Tennessee will be without two top defenders, which is bad news against anyone and terrible news when you’re about to play the Tide. The most important player for Alabama will be true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has thrown for nine touchdowns with only two interceptions. 3:30 p.m., WTKR
2) No. 2 Ohio State at No. 8 Wisconsin
Ohio State (5-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) has looked like Godzilla all season, but now is when the schedule gets tougher. The Buckeyes still must play all the top Big Ten teams, and they have a couple problems to solve – most notably a poor passing attack. QB J.T. Barrett’s average play hasn’t mattered against the likes of Rutgers and Tulsa, but Wisconsin (4-1, 1-1) plays top-flight defense and won’t be bothered by pressure. This is the Badgers’ fourth game against a top-10 foe this season. Still, Wisconsin will need to generate more offense to earn the upset – the 14-7 loss to Michigan proved the defense-first approach can keep the Badgers in the game against good teams, but can’t secure a victory. 8 p.m., WVEC
3) North Carolina at No. 16 Miami
Miami (4-1 overall, 1-1 ACC) has made it this far largely because of its excellent defense. The Hurricanes allow only 13 points and fewer than 300 yards per game. They may need to do it again today because QB Brad Kaaya has a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, UNC (4-2, 2-1) has some recovering to do from last week’s soggy beat-down by Virginia Tech. The loser of this game likely will be out of ACC Coastal Division race. 3:30 p.m., WVEC
4) No. 12 Mississippi at No. 22 Arkansas
How unbalanced are the SEC’s two divisions? Both of these teams would be threats to win the SEC East, but they don’t play there. So Ole Miss (3-2, 1-1) is fifth and Arkansas (4-2, 0-2) is seventh in the SEC West. Mississippi will play its first true road game of the season – the second will be next week against LSU – and it needs a win to have any chance at a top-tier bowl. Arkansas has beaten Mississippi two straight times. 7 p.m., ESPN
5) No. 20 West Virginia at Texas Tech
In the offense-crazed world of the Big 12, West Virginia (4-0, 1-0) is what passes for a defensive power because it only allows 20 points per game. Texas Tech, meanwhile, is doing what it always does: scores a lot of points, then waits for its defense to allow yet another touchdown. For example, the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1) scored 55 points against Arizona State two weeks ago … and lost by 13. For all you wannabe NFL draft scouts, the person to watch here is Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes II. The son of a former MLB pitcher, he leads the nation with 2,274 passing yards. Noon, Fox Sports 1
Also on the air
Iowa at Purdue, noon, ESPN2
Kansas St. at No. 19 Oklahoma, noon, ESPN, 94.1FM
Minnesota at Maryland, noon, ESPNU
N.C. State at No. 3 Clemson, noon, WVEC
Lafayette at Army, noon, CBSSN
Illinois at Rutgers, noon, ESPNEWS
Vanderbilt at Georgia, noon, SEC
JMU at New Hampshire, noon, CSN, WTVZ
Pitt at Virginia, 12:30 p.m., WGNT, 850AM
VMI at Samford, 3 p.m., 1650AM
No. 10 Nebraska at Indiana, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2
Wake Forest at No. 14 Florida St., 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Northwestern at Michigan St., 3:30 p.m., BTN
No. 24 W. Michigan at Akron, 3:30 p.m., CBSSN
Air Force vs. New Mexico, 3:30 p.m., ESPNEWS
Southern Cal at Arizona, 3:30 p.m., WVBT
Kansas at No. 11 Baylor, 3:30 p.m., FS1
Villanova at Richmond, 3:30 p.m., CSN
Louisiana Tech at UMass, 3:30 p.m., WTVZ
Missouri at No. 18 Florida, 4 p.m., SEC
UConn at South Florida, 7 p.m., CBSSN
Tulsa at No. 13 Houston, 7 p.m., ESPN2
FAU at Marshall, 7 p.m., MASN, WTVZ
Temple at UCF, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Stanford at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m., WAVY
Southern Miss. at LSU, 7:30 p.m., SEC
Colorado St. at No. 15 Boise St., 10:15 p.m., ESPN2
Nevada at San Jose State, 10:30 p.m., CBSSN
UCLA at Washington State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
Also in the top 25
No. 21 Utah at Oregon State, 4 p.m.
?Brian Root, 757-446-2368, brian.root@pilotonline.com
