Weekend Game Guide: It’s winning time

It’s that time of the year where the fortunes of teams can change in a blink of the eye. For fans, that also means its a great time to watch football.

B1G Games to Watch

Michigan State vs No. 15 Michigan. While this matchup lacks the marquee billing befitting this rivalry owing to Michigan State’s poor season, this game is still a must watch for just about everyone in, or with a connection to, the State of Michigan. The Spartans come in with a 4-5 record, needing to win at least two of their remaining three games to become bowl eligible. The Wolverines come in hoping to build momentum after their bye week. The SP+ favors Michigan by 13 points, which is just about where most sportsbooks have the line. This game kicks off at Noon on Fox.

No. 8 Minnesota vs No. 20 Iowa. This matchup is the last best chance to stop Minnesota from seizing the Big Ten West division title this season. The Golden Gophers need to win two of their remaining three games (or some combination of wins and Wisconsin losses), and I don’t see P.J. Fleck’s squad losing to Northwestern next week. That means if Minnesota beats Iowa in this one, the division title and Big Ten Championship game appearance is all but theirs. Vegas favors Iowa by three points, but the SP+ favors Minnesota by the same margin. Either way, this should be a close game with Big Ten title implications. It kicks off at 4:00 p.m. on Fox.

National Games to Watch

No. 4 Georgia vs No. 12 Auburn. Another week, another clash of SEC titans. While this matchup lacks some of the gravity of last week’s tilt between Alabama and LSU, there’s still plenty to get excited about in this Georgia and Auburn game. One-loss Georgia sits atop the SEC West standings, and, despite their earlier inexplicable loss to South Carolina, is a contender for a College Football Playoff slot. Two-loss Auburn would like nothing more than to knock Georgia down a peg, and secure their own big time win, after a narrow loss to LSU two weeks ago. The SP+ favors Georgia by five, while Vegas favors the Dawgs by 2.5. This game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.

No. 10 Oklahoma vs No. 13 Baylor. Undefeated Baylor seeks to stretch their record to a perfect 10-0 in this Big 12 matchup, and they’re surely looking to change some minds on the CFP committee after they ranked one-loss Oklahoma ahead of the Bears even though the latter is tops in the Big 12 standings. The committee is surely hesitant about Baylor given they hold only one win over a ranked team this year. Vegas is hesitant too, favoring Oklahoma by 10 points in this one. The SP+ also favors Oklahoma, but by a slightly narrower 7 points. This game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

The Grid

Just because we highlighted the games above doesn’t mean they’re the only ones on TV this weekend. Below we have a list of every Big Ten and Top-25 Matchup. All games take place on Saturday unless otherwise noted.

Think we missed a game that we should have highlighted? What games are you watching this weekend? Chime in down in the comments below.