College Football Schedule Week 12: Under the Radar Games to Watch

SMU at Memphis

11:00 AM CT on ESPN2

This is one of the biggest games of the year in the American Athletic Conference. Both SMU and Memphis enter the game with 8-2 records. The Mustangs are undefeated in league play, tied with Tulane and UTSA. Memphis has taken one conference loss. This is a pivotal game late in the year to determine who reaches the AAC title game. And considering the AAC champion almost always earns the Group of 5’s New Year’s Six Bowl bid, the shot at making a marquee bowl game is on the line.

SMU has been one of the more dominant teams in the country as of late. They rank seventh nationally in scoring offense at 40.5 PPG. They rank ninth in scoring defense at 16.4 PPG. In total offense, they’re tenth at 473 YPG. Total defense? Eleventh at 291 YPG. Their only losses have come to Big 12 opponents Oklahoma and TCU, and since taking those losses early in the year, they’ve had just a single one-score game the rest of the way. Sophomore QB Preston Stone has had a breakout season to lead the offense, and senior DE Elijah Roberts has 8.5 sacks.

Where SMU loves to crush the opposition, the Memphis Tigers simply find ways to win. They beat Navy by four, Boise State by three, North Texas by three, South Florida by nine, and Charlotte by six. I should point out that none of those five teams are particularly good. But the Tigers played within a TD of a Missouri team that’s currently ranked ninth. They may not always be impressive, but they find ways to win and can hang with good competition.

Depending on what happens in Louisville-Miami, this could easily end up being the best and most impactful game in the early slate.