5 Crucial Games this weekend for Louisville fans

As the College Football Playoff gets a week closer, No. 7 Louisville is trying to work its way up the rankings and into the Top Four. Here are 5 games to watch this weekend...

For any of the rest of this column to matter, Louisville has to take care of business vs. Wake Forest this weekend. The Demon Deacons are a much better team than the one that took Louisville down to the wire last season, and coach Dave Clawson has them believing they have turned the corner. Louisville needs to score early and often to prevent Clawson from trying the "Duke Method" of keep-away against the Cardinal offense. Wake's head-scratching loss vs. Army gives UofL fans confidence, but a quick look at other scores like a 24-14 win at Duke and a 27-20 win vs. Virginia ring alarm bells. Louisville beat Duke 24-14 in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and won at Virginia 32-25.

Washington will be favored in the rest of its games this season, but this game this weekend and the Washington State game at the end of the regular-season could both be losses. USC has the athletes to stay with Jake Browning and the Huskies' passing attack, and USC has won its last five games including 20-plus point wins over Oregon, Cal and Arizona the last three weeks. With a 1-3 start, 2016 USC will remind Louisville fans of 2015 Louisville, surging after a rough start. USC freshman QB Sam Darnold became the starter in Week 4 and has passed for 1,738 yards and 18 touchdowns in the last six games.

The Buckeyes are the lone 1-loss team that should worry Louisville fans. They already have three College Football Playoff Ranking Top 25 wins and they could add another at the end of the season vs. Michigan. So Louisville fans should be rooting hard for the Buckeyes to take more losses. OSU plays at Maryland this weekend and at Michigan State, a bad Spartan team, next weekend. Maryland just lost to Michigan 59-3 so an upset this weekend doesn't seem likely, but UofL fans can hope.

BONUS: Michigan (9-0) at Iowa (5-4) - You know what they say about night games in Iowa City... Actually, I'm not sure what they say, but it would be a pretty incredible upset if the Hawkeyes take down Michigan. Iowa has lost its last two games and is 0-2 vs. AP Top 25 teams so far this season so expecting them to beat Michigan seems far-fetched, but nobody expected a bad Mississippi State team to take down A&M last week either.

Pittsburgh has been one of the most disappointing teams in the ACC this season after looking so good for most of last year. They have a chance to "Right the Ship" with the final three games of the season, a trip to Clemson and home games vs. Duke and Syracuse. At 5-4 now, you could easily see Pitt finishing 7-5 and making a bowl. Can they beat Clemson this weekend? Probably not, but they have a better shot at knocking off Clemson than either Maryland or Iowa does in their games, so that is what makes this game interesting for Louisville fans.

While most think the Big 12 is out of the running for a College Football Playoff spot this season, the lone team who could make a run into the Top Four might be West Virginia with just one loss. Texas coach (for now) Charlie Strong could do his former school a solid by knocking off the Mountaineers, insuring that every Big 12 team has at least two losses. If the Longhorns get the job done, they'd move to bowl eligibility and help Louisville out in the process. Win, win.

Tuesday at 7:30 - Undefeated Western Michigan at Kent State (ESPN2)

Thursday at 7:30 - #21 North Carolina at Duke (ESPN)

Friday at 7:30 - #22 Florida State vs. Boston College

Saturday at Noon - #17 Baylor at #14 Oklahoma (ESPN2), Mississippi State at Alabama (ESPN), West Virginia at Texas (Fox)

Saturday at 3:30 - #9 Auburn at Georgia (CBS), Pitt at #2 Clemson (ABC), #6 Ohio State at Maryland (ESPN)

Saturday at 7:00 - Wake Forest at #7 Louisville (ESPN2)

Saturday at 7:30 - USC at #5 Washington (Fox), Ole Miss at #4 Texas A&M (SEC)

Saturday at 8:00 - #3 Michigan at Iowa (ABC)