Florida State football fan rooting guide, TV listings

Every week we take a look at what results from across the country could most benefit FSU's chances of returning to the College Football Playoff in 2015.  There are plenty of good games to watch on Saturday before the 'Noles take the field in primetime, so let's get into them.  As always, the matchups are organized below by conference.

ACC

NC State at Virginia Tech: NC State.  Despite the bad loss to Louisville last week, NC State needs to continue to win as many games as possible leading up to its game with FSU in order to help Florida State's SOS.  FSU doesn't face Virginia Tech out of the Coastal this year, and the more Virginia Tech continues to lose, the more Ohio State's SOS takes a hit.

Georgia Tech at #6 Clemson: Clemson.  Georgia Tech has returned to their familiar land of mediocrity and dumpster-fired the high hopes they had for this season.  If Florida State has any chance of making the College Football Playoff, it needs a marque win over a top 5 or top 10 team.  It is in FSU's best interests (and the best interests of FSU's SOS) for Clemson to go 11-1 this year, so long as that one loss comes at the hands of the Seminoles.  With Miami messing up FSU's Gameday hopes this weekend, the Clemson game is also the next best opportunity for Gameday as well.

If you're not thinking Playoff-centric at this point in the season, there is an argument to be made for rooting for a Georgia Tech upset.  Clemson is ranked ahead of Florida State, and a Clemson loss would put FSU in the driver's seat in the Atlantic.  After bringing their own guts (whatever that means) last week in an emotional win over Notre Dame, Clemson may be due for a letdown game.  Georgia Tech's pesky option offense is difficult to prepare for, and this matchup comes at a tough point in Clemson's schedule.  It's possible the Jackets have some fight left in them yet.

Big 10

Maryland at #1 Ohio State: Maryland.  Ohio State nearly blew it last week against Indiana, but remains the top-ranked team in the land.  At what point do the Buckeyes slip up?

#13 Northwestern at #18 Michigan: Michigan.  The Wolverines already have a loss, while Northwestern is still undefeated and ranked closer to FSU than Michigan currently is.  After an opening loss to Utah, the fighting Jim Harbaughs are riding high on hype and could cause some havoc in the Big 10, especiallly if they can beat the Wildcats on Saturday.  FSU fans should pull for Michigan because they have a more difficult schedule remaining than Northwestern.  The week after Northwestern, the Wolverines get Sparty at home, and obviously close the season against Ohio State.  Meanwhile, Northwestern doesn't have to play Michigan State or Ohio State during the regular season.  A potentially undefeated Northwestern would definitely throw a wrench in the playoff race at the end of the season.  On the other hand, if the triad of Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State can somehow manage to beat each other (for example, Michigan beats Michigan State but loses to Ohio State, while Michigan State beats Ohio State), that result would breed chaos in the Big 10 and also work to FSU's playoff advantage.  Therefore, FSU fans should root for Michigan.

#4 Michigan State at Rutgers: Rutgers.  Michigan State escaped with their lives last week against Purdue, and like Ohio State, haven't looked great in recent weeks.  Their Week 2 win over Oregon doesn't look so impressive anymore, either.  However, they still are ranked ahead of Florida State and remain a playoff threat until they lose.  Therefore, FSU fans should pull for the team whose head coach is serving a suspension for inappropriate contact with a professor and who have already dismissed five players during this season to pull off the upset on Saturday against Michigan State.  Next week, Michigan State travels to the Big House to play the streaking Michigan Wolverines in a big test against their inter-state rival.  That game will provide clarity in the Big 10 if Sparty survives Rutgers on Saturday.

Big 12

#3 Baylor at Kansas: Kansas.  Baylor remains ranked ahead of Florida State, and isn't playing a team currently ranked until mid-November.

#10 Oklahoma at Texas: Texas.  Remember a few weeks ago when I said Oklahoma was a bigger playoff threat than Tennessee and that Oklahoma beating Tennessee would be bad for Florida State's playoff chances?  After the "I only want Tennessee to lose because they're in the SEC" crowd got their wish, Tennessee proceeded to gift them an additional loss to UF and then threw in a bonus loss to Arkansas, gaining Florida State nothing.  Meanwhile, undefeated Oklahoma remains a huge threat to FSU's playoff chances and won't play a ranked team until they go to Waco on November 14th.  FSU fans need to hope that Oklahoma drops a game they shouldn't until then.  Texas is flat-out terrible, but with this being a rivalry game, maybe Texas's players will be excited to fight players on another team for a change come Saturday.

#2 TCU at Kansas State: Kansas State.  TCU remains ranked ahead of Florida State, and won't play a team currently ranked until mid-November.  Do you see a trend developing?  The AP Top Ten is in desperate need of some Big 12 clarity, but that may take another month or so.

Pac 12

#23 Cal at #5 Utah: California.  The U of U somehow bumped its way up 5 spots in the AP Poll during its bye week, and now finds itself seven spots ahead of FSU.  Many people believe Utah may be the most impressive team in the nation so far, having handed Michigan a loss during the opening weekend of the season and blowing Oregon off the field two weeks ago.  With UCLA losing last week, Utah represents the Pac 12's best playoff threat.  Let's see how the Utes handle the pressure of having a target on its back before crowning them just yet.  A Utah loss would help FSU, so 'Noles fans should pull for the Golden Bears.

SEC

New Mexico State at #14 Ole Miss: New Mexico State.  Remember 6 days ago when Ole Miss was a national title contender and Chad Kelly was a Heisman Trophy candidate?  Fun times.  Ole Miss will pull this one out because New Mexico State is terrible, but the Rebs are dealing with a sudden influx of injuries to its roster...and if the last 60 years of Ole Miss football history is any indication, that embarrassing loss in Hogtown last weekend may have burst their short-lived bubble.

#7 LSU at South Carolina: South Carolina.  Make no mistake, South Carolina is a bad football team.  Spurrier looks defeated, and is probably regretting his decision to return to coach the Cocks this season.  Now, because of the flooding in South Carolina, the Gamecocks have to play LSU in Baton Rouge instead of at home.  It's in the best interests of the ACC for South Carolina to be serviceable, considering they beat UNC to open the season, and Clemson closes with them.  FSU fans should be pulling for South Carolina to pull the upset over LSU, a team ranked ahead of FSU, but at this point you already have to wonder if the Gamecocks are done.

By the way, does anyone else think it criminal that NO ONE is talking about how close LSU has played Syracuse and Eastern Michigan the last two weeks?  The narrative is all about Fournette's rushing yards.  This team beat Mississippi State by 2, blew out a bad Auburn team, squeaked by Syracuse by 10, and beat Eastern Michigan by three scores in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.  No bias to see here, move along.

#19 Georgia at Tennessee: Georgia.  Although it would be nice from a recruiting standpoint to have Georgia lose and drop out of the Top 25, someone not named Florida needs to win the SEC East.  Unfortunately Georgia remains the most viable option to prevent that from happening.

Arkansas at #8 Alabama: Arkansas.  Bama is ranked ahead of FSU despite having a loss.  Arkansas arguably should've won this game last year and is riding high off their defeat of Tennessee last week.  Meanwhile, Alabama is coming off a blow-out win over Georgia, and suddenly every SEC fan is back on the Crimson Tide bandwagon.  A Saban loss to Bielema in Tuscaloosa would be so entertaining to watch, and I'm still secretly pulling for the Hogs to win the SEC West.  It's still statistically possible, and how hilarious would that be?  Woo Pig.

#11 Florida at Missouri: Missouri.  The two-time reigning SEC East champs need to come out and remind UF who owns the East.  Remember when Auburn was supposed to be a powerhouse at the beginning of the year in the SEC?  And then Alabama?  And then Ole Miss?  And then Georgia?  With all these overrated SEC teams losing, and with no SEC teams in the Top 5 of the AP Poll for the first time in five years, ESPN is scrambling to fill their Top 11 (now a thing) void with another SEC team.  UF jumped 14 spots in the AP Poll last week, tying the record for highest climb in the poll in one week.  Florida also has a lot of recruiting momentum right now.  Let's see how the Gators and their six serviceable offensive linemen react to being semi-relevant and having a target on their back for the first time in over three years.  Hopefully very poorly.