College Football Week 9 live discussion, open thread: Dogs barking and barking dogs

At long last, we’re nearly here: to the real rankings.

It shouldn’t take this long, but it’s fun to watch when the College Football Playoffs finally put out their real rankings. Not the fugazi, still clinging Associated Press or the Coaches’ Poll. Not that the committee seems to have a recognizable habit to what they do, but they’re the ones with power after all so they still call the shots round these parts.

Figuring out what the committee wants and desires is like arguing with a whiteboard. Is it style points? Strong conferences? Quality losses? Some other nonsense excuse just to try to get the biggest brands to the grand dance? The coming week will tell us, thank God.

It’ll reveal the fate of several things: the Pac-12, deemed strongest conference, and the respect they will garner (assuming, of course, we don’t get weirdo stuff from Washington and Utah). And what of the Big Ten, where the conference has appeared miserable outside of its “Big 2” (and even then, Michigan’s played nobody and Ohio State has looked shaky). What about someone like James Madison, who has forced their way into the top 25 for the AP, and should deserve some bowl game respect?

We’ll find out soon, plus all the usual action on Saturday. Enjoy chavales.

Noon ET

No. 6 Oklahoma at Kansas — FOX

Indiana at No. 10 Penn State — CBS

No. 4 Florida State at Wake Forest — ABC

UMass at Army — CBSSN

Maryland at Northwestern — Big Ten Network

South Carolina at Texas A&M — ESPN

Houston at Kansas State — ESPN2

West Virginia at UCF — FS1

3:30 p.m. ET

No. 1 Georgia vs. Florida — CBS

BYU at No. 7 Texas — Longhorn Network

No. 8 Oregon at No. 13 Utah — FOX

Pitt at No. 14 Notre Dame — NBC

No. 20 Duke at No. 18 Louisville — ESPN

Mississippi State at Auburn — SEC Network

Michigan State at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

Purdue at Nebraska — FS1

No. 24 USC at Cal (4 p.m.) — Pac-12 Network

No. 22 Tulane at Rice (4 p.m.) — ESPN2

7 p.m. ET and onward

No. 5 Washington at Stanford (7 p.m.) — FS1

No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky (7 p.m.) — ESPN

No. 19 Air Force at Colorado State (7 p.m.) — CBSSN

No. 3 Ohio State at Wisconsin (7:30 p.m.) — NBC

Vanderbilt at No. 12 Ole Miss (7:30 p.m.) — SEC Network

Colorado at No. 23 UCLA (7:30 p.m.) — ABC

Cincinnati at Oklahoma State (8 p.m.) — ESPN2

No. 17 North Carolina at Georgia Tech (8 p.m.) — ACC Network

Old Dominion at No. 25 James Madison (8 p.m.) — ESPNU

No. 11 Oregon State at Arizona (10:30 p.m.) — ESPN