4 football games BYU fans need to watch during the bye week

The undefeated BYU Cougars will not take the field this week as they will take their second bye of the season in preparation for the biggest game of the year in the Holy War revival.

So with the Cougars on hiatus, but our appetite for college football growing more insatiable by the minute, how can we ever suppress our appetite? Where shall we turn our empty gaze? Which college football games this week should hold my attention?

Well, for one undefeated and top 10 ranked football team, suddenly, almost every top-10 matchup matters a lot to BYU. If a team loses by one win ahead of Kalani's undefeated Cougs, BYU can move up without doing anything to necessarily earn it.

If BYU isn't on the weekend schedule, we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief that the undefeated season will last another week. The following teams don't have that luxury, and a loss could have a major impact for teams like BYU, Iowa State, Indiana and other disrespected unbeatens.

Here are three matchups to keep an eye on this weekend.

Team with the most wins: Penn State

Team with the most to lose: Ohio State

A top-4 Big 10 battle has major implications for both teams, and Penn State will host the Ohio State Buckeyes this weekend for an afternoon Eastern time kickoff. The Nittany Lions enter this game with an undefeated record on the line, while Ohio State can't bear to lose this game for fear of falling in the polls.

Both teams have looked shaky at different points in the year, but Ohio State is the only one with a lasting blemish on their record. Although they played a good game against Oregon, the Ducks are now undefeated at the top of the sport. A second loss would be catastrophic for Ryan Day's Buckeyes.

Ohio State is favored to win this battle, but a Penn State win could essentially seal the Nittany Lions' spot in the battle. College Football Playoff. BYU fans should be cheering for PSU this weekend; a loss to Ohio State could see the Cougars take a leap.

Team with the most wins: Iowa State

Team with the most to lose: Iowa State

A few weeks ago, we might have expected Texas Tech to walk into this game undefeated in conference play. Suddenly, a two-loss skid has left the Red Raiders in disarray. Lose this game and their hopes of playing for a conference championship are gone.

But Iowa State has a lot more at stake here, as the Cyclones fight not only for a shot at the Big 12 championship, but for the first 10-win season in history. program history. I'm sure Matt Campbell feels no pressure to succeed at this point.

The Cyclones enter November undefeated and have three more wins before securing that elusive tenth win. However, this year's Big 12 Conference is pure chaos, and this could be the week they fall, despite all indications that they should use Tech.

Team with the most wins: SMU

Team with the most to lose: Pitt

Despite what their rankings might suggest, Pitt is undefeated this year. Besides Army and Indiana, an undefeated record doesn't hold much value in today's era of Big 10 and SEC bias in the polls. You know what do help teams trying to earn national respect? Defeat an opponent from the top 25. That's the difference between Pitt and BYU right now.

Speaking of BYU, the SMU Mustangs enter this game with a 7-1 record. For the team's first season in the ACC, that is a very impressive figure. So what happened with that one loss to the otherwise untouched Mustangs? That would be BYU.

Still unable to escape the consequences of their only loss to BYU, SMU goes into this game with something to prove: undefeated or not, this Dallas team wants to ruin your season and is confident they can do it.

The stakes of this battle are clear: win and take control of the ACC together with Clemson. Lose, and fade into obscurity, and probably out of the top 25 entirely.