The Miami Hurricanes are back in the primetime slot again, which means that fans have all day to check out the college football happenings. It's not the biggest week for marquee games, but there are plenty of interesting matchups that will provide the lead-in to the Hurricanes storming Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina.
This is the weekend watch for Week 9:
These two games could further separate the top three teams in the ACC
No. 19 SMU at Syracuse (Noon, ESPN2)
SMU has a tricky road game against the Orange to kick off a stretch of games that will include Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Notre Dame. If the Mustangs do what they are expected to do over the next couple of weeks, it sets up a showdown against the Demon Deacons on Nov. 14 that could decide one half of the ACC Championship Game. But SMU has been a spotty road team in the past and is playing away from Dallas for just the third time this season.
Virginia at No. 14 Wake Forest (3:45 p.m.; ESPN2)
The Cavaliers are a shell of what they were last season and have lost three of their past four this season. Wake Forest looks like the second-best team in the ACC and a rematch in Charlotte with the Hurricanes feels like a much-greater possibility at this point. The Demon Deacons have been on fire since the Miami loss, and they bear watching down the stretch.
Miami fans will have a special interest in these three national games
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. Navy (Noon; ABC)
I don't have to tell any of you why Notre Dame is on the watch list this week. We're a week away from the biggest game of the season between the Hurricanes and Irish. Navy isn't its usual feisty self this season, so the Irish should roll and in a week's time, it's game on.
No. 17 Florida vs. No. 3 Georgia (3:30 p.m.; ABC)
A few weeks back, the thought of Florida and Miami meeting in the CFP was fresh, then the Gators went in the dumps for a couple of weeks. Now they are feeling good after a win over Texas and if they can manifest the same effort against Georgia, that Gators-Hurricanes CFP grudge match is back in play.
No. 2 Ohio State at USC (7:30 p.m.; NBC)
That No. 2 spot has been a shaky one this season and the Buckeyes are going to have to go out west with a couple of backup quarterbacks to defend that ranking. USC has been on NBC more than Notre Dame this season. Yes, this will be the fifth consecutive week the Trojans are on the network and sixth time overall. Maybe they should just resume that Notre Dame rivalry.
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