It's late enough in the college football season that rivalry games are unfolding on an almost weekly basis.
And those regional showdowns begin as soon as tonight, with Syracuse at No. 19, undefeated Pitt in a reprise of those former Big East battles.
There's UNLV hosting Group of Five darling Boise State, the consensus No. 1 team in the FootballScoop Group of Five Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the AP Top 25. It's a rematch of their game last December, and it's a contest replete with College Football Playoff implications.
Those contests serve as fabulous appetizers leading into a weekend of lowkey but high stakes clashes from coast to coast.
There's undefeated Navy entertaining one-loss Notre Dame at noon Saturday at MetLife Stadium just outside of New York City.
This almost-century-old series has seen the Midshipmen plenty of times derail the Irish. Can Navy, with its entertaining and unorthodox offense from coordinator Drew Cronic, navigate an upset that would have seismic CFP aftershocks?
Can the Fighting Irish win a sixth-straight game after being good enough to win at Texas A&M to open the season, a victory that also has additional bearing on this weekend's slate of games, but was also way too poor enough to lose to a middling Northern Illinois team?
Can those Texas A&M Aggies of first-year coach Mike Elko continue their winning ways? They've amassed six in a row after that opening loss to the Fighting Irish and host LSU, also a one-loss, top-15 squad, in a game that carries massive SEC Championship game ramifications and as byproduct plenty additional Playoff sway?
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, do the Wolverines find their championship mettle against archrival Michigan State for a much-needed late-season stand, with the still-under-investigation Wolverines slipping perilously close to being entirely out of the bowl picture? Their CFP return dreams long ago dissipated.
At the FCS level, one of the sport's great rivalries unfolds this weekend: The Interstate Series, aka the South Dakota Showdown, pits South Dakota against South Dakota State.
Both programs are FCS Playoff regulars; both are fixtures in the FCS national rankings.
And, as added bonus, it's a rare night kickoff for the contest hosted by South Dakota State.
These games discussed. Many more games discussed. Plus, not hot takes but Scott Takes from FootballScoop President Scott Roussel and Zach Barnett's Lane Kiffin commentary.
So, please. Dive in below. Listen. Hate-listen. Joyously listen. Mixed feelings listen.
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