College Football Weekend Watch Party: A Clash of Styles in Stanford-Washington State

For the second week in a row, college football has an awful slate of games, with just one matchup between top 25 teams. So, yet again, our best bet is to turn on a game with major upset potential and see what happens.

That game is No. 8 Stanford at Washington State. While College GameDay will broadcast from Philadelphia for the Notre Dame-Temple game, it really should have gone to Washington State. Wazzu fans have sent a Cougars flag to every GameDay show since October 18, 2003; if GameDay had gone to Pullman, coach Mike Leach claimed, it would have been "on the scale of Woodstock as far as being a historic event where people gather."

Most important for those of us not in Pullman, the Cougars are actually good. They're almost certainly not Stanford good, which is why I'm hesitant to tell you to watch this game, but they keep winning and proving me wrong. After starting the season with a loss to FCS-level Portland State, Wazzu is now 5-2, one win away from bowl eligibility and with road wins against Oregon and Arizona already banked. They're doing it all behind sophomore quarterback Luke Falk, who is thriving in Leach's air raid offense: last week he was named the national quarterback of the week after completing 50 of 74 passes for 505 yards and five touchdowns.

Now, Falk and company get to face a Stanford buzz saw that's playing as well as anyone in the country. The Cardinal inexplicably lost to Northwestern to start the season, but they've steamrolled everyone since, including a 41-31 win at USC and 56-35 home win against UCLA. The defense isn't as good as some Stanford defenses have been, but the explosiveness of the offense, behind do-everything utility man Christian McCaffrey, has been the story.

Stanford should steamroll Washington State as well, given how poor the Cougars' defense has been at times, but this will be a fascinating clash of styles that could produce an upset. Will Washington State's air raid take advantage of a good-but-not-great Stanford defense? Or will the traditional, powerful Cardinal blow the Cougars off the line of scrimmage?

This kind of matchup is always fun to watch, and if Washington State can keep proving the doubters wrong, we'll have a very fun game on our hands.

USC at Cal

USC has gone through a lot of turmoil in the past month, losing at home to Washington and then losing coach Steve Sarkisian. Interim coach Clay Helton has done a good job, as USC nearly knocked off Notre Dame in South Bend and dominated No. 3 undefeated Utah at home. Are the Trojans turning a corner? We'll see against a Cal team that started the year off well, but has since lost two straight. This game will provide some clarity about which team is for real.

Texas at Iowa State

Don't watch this because it will be great football. Watch it because something crazy is bound to happen. The last time these two teams met in Ames, Iowa State nearly pulled out a win but was foiled by a blown call on the goal line, and coach Paul Rhoads went off on the refs. Strange things happen in Ames, and strange things happen with Texas officiating. This might be an interesting one to watch.

No. 12 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

Oklahoma State is undefeated, but the Cowboys had the easiest non-conference schedule of any contender, and their only semi-impressive wins are at Texas and West Virginia. We won't know if OSU is for real until it faces TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma in the final four-game of the season, but this will be an interesting test. Playing Texas Tech in Lubbock is never easy, and this Red Raiders team is vastly improved. This could be an upset in the making.

No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 21 Temple

I'm not sure this will be a good game, but it's the only matchup of ranked teams. Temple has been a surprise this year. The Owls have struggled at times against the likes of UCF and East Carolina, but they're still undefeated and have a win against Penn State. Notre Dame is by far the best opponent they've seen this season. The Irish should roll, but they've played poorly on the road, leaving the door open for a possible Temple upset (though the stadium should have a ton of Notre Dame fans, too). Also make sure to watch GameDay that morning, set up outside Independence Hall.

No. 3 Clemson at NC State

This is a game you might have watched in the past, waiting to find the game that Clemson would "Clemson" away. Well, Dabo Swinney is mad about the "Clemsoning" term, and although Swinney is the kind of person who is always mad online about something, he has a point here. Clemson is really, really good. The Tigers are ranked third in the country and probably still underrated. NC State is bad. This is going to be a beatdown.