***Sorry, short write-ups this week due to focusing more on Clemson/FSU***

#11 Miami  at  North Carolina – Thursday, 10/17 7:30 pm EST,  ESPN

Miami travels to Chapel Hill for a Thursday night billing against the Tar Heels.  Thursday nights on the road are seemingly always difficult for the favorite, so Miami will have to be careful in this one.  Chapel Hill hasn’t been kind to the Canes in the past either, as Miami dropped their first 4 games at North Carolina until getting a victory in their last trip there in 2011.   On paper, this one shouldn’t be close as Miami comes in with a good offense and an improved defense against a Carolina team that is really struggling.  North Carolina ranks 94th in the nation scoring just 23.6 points per game and 95th in the nation giving up 31.4 points per game.  Miami is 9th in the nation in both of those categories.  It’ll take some Thursday night craziness for UNC to pull this one out.

Central Florida  at  #6 Louisville – Friday, 10/18  8:00 pm EST, ESPN

Louisville gets what should be their last real test of the season on a Friday night this week.  With no ranked teams on the docket, the Cardinals schedule will most likely keep them out of any legitimate National title consideration. However, their inclusion in the Top 10 does effect the way things play out.  Central Florida is a good under the radar team this season.  They have already gone up to Happy Valley and beat Penn State.  Then they took #9 South Carolina to the wire in a close 28-25 loss in Orlando.  Louisville is the better team in this matchup, but Central Florida can’t be overlooked and have a good enough defense to keep this one close and make this a good game.

#22 Florida  at  #14 Missouri – Saturday, 10/19 12:21 pm EST,  SEC Network

Will any available players please raise your hand?  What could have been an intriguing matchup has turned into the Walking Wounded Bowl.  Florida, already down starting quarterback Jeff Driskel and stud defensive tackle Dominique Easley among other starters, now has lost running back Matt Jones for the season.  On the other side of the ball, Missouri isn’t quite as bad off, but they’ve lost the most dynamic playmaker for either team in quarterback James Franklin.  A low scoring, defensive game will most likely be on tap in this one.  Missouri was already going to have a difficult time facing one of the top defenses in the nation, now without their quarterback, they’re in a very unenviable position.  Florida hasn’t had a real strong offensive showing this year and will have a hard time scoring a bunch of points against what is a decent enough Missouri defense.

#10 UCLA  at  #13 Stanford – Saturday, 10/19 3:30 pm EST, ABC

Some of the shine has been taken off of this game after Stanford was upset last weekend by Utah.  However, this is still an intriguing game among Top 15 Pac-12 teams.  UCLA has been a bit of a surprise team this year opening up the season 5-0 with a potent offense and some nice quality wins including a romp over a ranked Nebraska team in Lincoln.  We’re gonna find out more about the Bruins in the next two weeks with a double dip at Stanford followed up by a trip to Eugene, Oregon to take on the Ducks.  They have a chance to immediately jump into the national title conversation, but it has to start with a victory here.   Stanford has been a team that thus far hasn’t done anything exceptional, but is solid in all aspects of the game.

USC  at  Notre Dame – Saturday, 10/19 7:30 pm EST, NBC

This matchup has little impact in conference races and will make little waves nationally.  However, two of the most storied programs matchup up under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.  There’s not much that says college football more than that.  Both teams have gotten off to rough starts this year, but they’re also both coming off nice wins in their outing.  Notre Dame righted the ship a bit with a victory over a ranked Arizona State team.  USC got back to winning ways with a victory over Arizona.  The offenses for USC and Notre Dame have been underwhelming this year and both defenses have been very average.  I suggest you watch this one for 30 minutes, get a deep breath of nostalgia, then turn over to ABC and watch Florida State and Clemson.