It's not even November, and college football's national championship might already be on the line today. Five of the six unbeaten Top Ten teams meet opponents that are either ranked or have been ranked this season.
No. 1 Notre Dame (7-0) meets seventh-ranked Pittsburgh, which also comes into the game unbeaten with one tie in six games. The Irish have won 18 in a row."We do not match up very well against Pitt, particularly the last couple weeks when we've given up about three 300-yard games in a row," Irish coach Lou Holtz said.
After a week off, No. 2 Miami (6-0) faces No. 9 Florida State (5-2) and the Hurricanes might actually be underdogs at Tallahassee, Fla. The Seminoles were one-point favorites most of the week.
No. 3 Colorado (7-0) meets Oklahoma, which fell to 25th after losing to Texas two weeks ago, then dropped out of the poll - for the first time since 1983 - after struggling to a 43-40 victory over Iowa State.
This week, it's Nebraska's turn to play Iowa State. The fourth-ranked Cornhuskers are 7-0. Also, No. 6 Alabama (6-0) meets No. 14 Penn State (5-1).
The other Top Ten games have Indiana at No. 5 Michigan, Wisconsin at No. 8 Illinois, and Stanford at No. 10 Southern Cal.
Elsewhere, it's No. 11 Tennessee at Louisiana State, No. 12 Houston vs. No. 13 Arkansas at Little Rock, No. 15 West Virginia at Boston College, Mississippi State at No. 16 Auburn, Pacific at No. 17 Arizona, No. 18 Brigham Young at Hawaii, No. 20 North Carolina State at No. 25 South Carolina, No. 21 Texas A&M at Rice, Wake Forest at No. 22 Clemson, and No. 23 Washington St. at Arizona State.
While Notre Dame has been grinding it out on the ground, producing 22 rushing touchdowns, Pitt has taken to the air. Alex Van Pelt averages 235 yards per game passing, and lately, the Irish have been susceptible.
The Irish allowed more than 300 passing yards against Southern Cal and Air Force, and Stanford passed for 282 against Notre Dame. All were Irish victories, though.
"What they do is force you to pass," Pitt coach Mike Gottfried said. "But nobody wins."