ACC & Big 12 Week 3 Preview: Clemson and Louisville Clash in Top 15 Battle & the Holy War Returns

In the third week of the college football season, members of the Florida Citrus Sports Team Selection Committee are making visits throughout ACC and Big 12 country, meeting with fans across both conferences in advance of the Camping World Bowl on December 28.

No. 3 Clemson at No. 14 Louisville – 8:00 p.m. on ABC

This Saturday the Louisville Cardinals (2-0, 1-0 ACC) will be out for retribution after last year’s heartbreaking defeat in Death Valley to the eventual national champion Clemson Tigers (2-0, 0-0 ACC).

In last season’s meeting, Louisville had the ball inside the red zone trailing by six points with under a minute to play, and on 4th-and-12, Lamar Jackson found receiver James Quick in the flat. However, Quick was pushed out of bounds one yard shy of the first down, allowing Clemson to take over inside their own 5 and run out the clock for the victory.

Jackson’s Heisman defense has started much like his breakout 2016 season, with over 1,000 yards of total offense through the Cardinals first two games. The Cardinals have also won nine of their last 10 games at home, but the Tigers bring in a streak of 10 consecutive true road victories into the game. Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant faces the tough task of replacing last year’s national championship Offensive MVP and NFL first round draft pick Deshaun Watson, but he has been successful so far, passing and rushing for a combined 553 yards and four touchdowns through two starts. .

The two teams have squared off each season since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014, with Clemson taking all three matchups. The Tigers earned a 20-17 victory in their last meeting in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 2015.

Notre Dame at Boston College – 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

Notre Dame (1-1) travels to Chestnut Hill to meet Boston College (1-1, 0-1 ACC) for the 24th installment of the Holy War. After earning six straight victories to even the series, Boston College has lost the past four meetings against the Fighting Irish, allowing the Green and Gold to enter the matchup with a 13-9 edge.

In their most recent clash, in 2015, a fourth-ranked Notre Dame squad with College Football Playoff hopes survived a five-turnover scare at Fenway Park to move to 10-1 on the year with a 19-16 win. Both teams enter this week’s contest coming off a loss, with the Eagles falling 34-10 to Wake Forest at home, and Notre Dame losing late to Georgia, 20-19. Boston College’s last home win in the series came in 2008.

No. 9 Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh– 12:00 p.m. on ESPN

Mason Rudolph leads Oklahoma State (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) into Heinz Field to do battle with Pittsburgh (1-1, 0-0 ACC) a week after the senior quarterback broke Brandon Weeden’s all-time Cowboys passing yards mark during the team’s 44-7 road rout of South Alabama last Friday

The Panthers, meanwhile, enter their second straight game against a Top 10 team in the AP Poll after falling to Penn State 33-14 over the weekend. Pitt’s last win over a Top 10 team came last year, when they took down undefeated Clemson in Death Valley, 43-42. Their last victory over a Top 10 team at home, however, came in 2003, when they topped No. 5 Virginia Tech 31-28.

Oklahoma State won a barnburner in the first-ever meeting between the two teams last season, coming away with a 45-38 victory in Stillwater.

Here are the rest of the ACC and Big 12 games our selection committee members will attend:

Baylor (0-2, 0-0 Big 12) at Duke (2-0, 0-0 ACC) – 12:30 p.m. on ACC
Arizona State (1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) at Texas Tech (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) – 8:00 p.m.

Other ACC and Big 12 games being played this week:

Connecticut (1-0, 0-0 AAC) at Virginia (1-1, 0-0 ACC) – 12:00 p.m. on ESPN 2
Kansas (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) at Ohio (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American) – 12:00 p.m. on ESPN
Delaware State (0-2, 0-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic) at West Virginia (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) – 12:00 p.m.
Iowa State (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) at Akron (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American) – 12:00 p.m. on CBSSN
Furman (0-2, 0-1 Southern) at NC State (1-1, 0-0 ACC) – 12:20 p.m. on ACC Network
Utah State (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West) at Wake Forest (2-0, 1-0 ACC) – 3:00 p.m. on ACC Network
No. 16 Virginia Tech (2-0, 0-0 ACC) at East Carolina (0-2, 0-0 AAC) – 3:30 p.m. on CBSSN
North Carolina (0-2, 0-1 ACC) at Old Dominion (2-0, 0-0 USA) – 3:30 p.m.
Central Michigan (2-0, 0-0 Mid-American) at Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 ACC) – 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network
SMU (2-0, 0-0 AAC) at No. 20 TCU (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) – 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU
Tulane (1-1, 0-1 AAC) at No. 2 Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) – 6:00 p.m.
No. 18 Kansas State (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) at Vanderbilt (2-0, 0-0 SEC) – 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU
Texas (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) at No. 4 USC (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) – 8:30 p.m. on FOX
Georgia Tech (1-1, 0-0 ACC) at UCF (1-0, 0-0 AAC) – Cancelled, will not be rescheduled