Week 3 is upon us with the action kicking off on Thursday night. However, the big action begins on Friday night when the Arizona Wildcats and Kansas State Wildcats face off in a top-25 clash. The winner will have a leg up in the race for the Big 12 title.
That won’t be the only game on the radar in the upcoming week. FOX Big Noon Kickoff will be in Madison, Wisconsin, as the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to take down the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. ESPN’s College Gameday will travel to Columbia for the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks’ SEC opener.
If you are looking for the top games to check out in Week 4 of the 2024 college football season, here are the top ones. Honorable mention goes to the Backyard Brawl featuring the West Virginia Mountaineers and Pitt Panthers. If Pitt was a better team this would have made the list.
As for my top 10, here is the list:
Alabama Crimson Tide (4) at Wisconsin Badgers
The Alabama Crimson Tide makes the rare trip to Madison this week to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The last time the Tide were in Madison was 1928 when they lost to Wiscy, 15-0. Alabama evened the series in 2015 when they won 35-17 in Arlington, Texas. New head coach Kalen DeBoer wants to keep it rolling with another victory. The Badgers are looking to keep their perfect season intact for now. This would be a massive victory if Luke Fickell and company could pull it off. Not an easy task against a top-five team.
Arizona Wildcats (18) at Kansas State Wildcats (15)
This Wildcats showdown features two top 25 teams that are looking to start off on the right foot in their chase for the Big 12 title. Arizona not only faces a top 15 squad in Kansas State this week but the Utah Utes await them in Week 4, a victory could be crucial. Kansas State in the meantime is looking to return to the title game after missing out last season. Is Avery Johnson ready to fill the role of Will Howard by leading them to another title? It all begins against Arizona on Friday night.
Oregon Ducks (6) at Oregon State Beavers
A trade on the schedule with the Texas Tech Red Raiders allowed this game to resume following the Oregon Ducks‘ departure from the Pac-12. Oregon has had a rough start to the year despite being 2-0. The Ducks need some positive momentum before starting Big Ten play against the UCLA Bruins next week. As for the Oregon State Beavers, this is all about retribution after being left in the dust as their bitter rivals moved on to a better conference.
LSU Tigers (17) at South Carolina Gamecocks
It was a bit of an odd choice when College Gameday chose this matchup as their host game. Both teams still have plenty to prove as they jockey for position in the recently expanded SEC. The South Carolina Gamecocks barely survived the opener against Old Dominion before dominating a poor Kentucky team, which one will show up against the LSU Tigers? As for the Bayou Bengals, the team looks to build on last week’s victory but it was a little too close for comfort against Nicholls in the first half. They need to stiffen up on defense.
Washington State Cougars vs Washington Huskies (22) in Seattle
The Apple Cup comes early with both teams sporting identical 2-0 records. Wazzu hopes to get the better of UW, who owns the all-time series 76-33-6. The Cougars have won just twice since 2009 against their bitter rivals. This isn’t the same Washington Huskies team of the last couple of seasons but quarterback Will Rogers looks to keep things rolling.
UNLV Rebels at Kansas Jayhawks
This weekend features a rematch from the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl game between UNLV and Kansas. A pair of 21-point outbursts in the second and fourth quarters put the game out of reach for the Rebels. After a heartbreaking loss to Illinois, the Jayhawks are ready to get back in the win column but it comes against a pretty tough UNLV squad that turned things around in 2023.
Memphis Tigers (25) at Florida State Seminoles
The Memphis Tigers have been a trendy selection to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoffs. This week they have a chance to improve their resume even if the Florida State Seminoles aren’t living up to the expectations they set for the season. After an open week, the Noles need to come out and send a message that they aren’t dead yet despite starting 0-2 in ACC play. This game is massive ahead of their showdown with Clemson in Week 4.
Boston College Eagles at Missouri Tigers (8)
It wasn’t that long ago that a BC-Mizzou matchup would lull you right to sleep. The Eagles have some juice after knocking off the FSU Seminoles in Week 2. Not a bad way to begin the tenure for new head coach Bill O’Brien. The Tigers are coming off a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State in 2023 and began 2-0 with wins over Buffalo and Murray State. This will be a bigger test but a game they must win if they want to contend for one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoffs.
Texas A&M Aggies at Florida Gators
The Florida Gators turned to freshman stud QB DJ Lagway against Samford. Graham Mertz should be back under center for this game, with some packages for the young quarterback. It will be worth watching to see how they deploy the future starting quarterback. For Texas A&M they got back on the winning side against McNeese, with all of their goals still in front of them, the Aggies need a win in the Swamp.
UCF Knights at TCU Horned Frogs
The UCF Knights and TCU Horned Frogs have gotten off to a good start to the campaign at 2-0. These two squads need a win to keep it rolling after both had disappointing outcomes in 2023. TCU will face the SMU Mustangs and the Kansas Jayhawks in the following weeks, going 2-1 in that stretch will be crucial if they want to compete for a Big 12 title. As far as the Knights go, this is their first actual test after blasting Sam Houston and New Hampshire in the first two games of the year.