Miami-Notre Dame tops wall-to-wall slate of must-watch games as the playoff race begins in earnest

This is the week the race kicks off in earnest for the College Football Playoff now that the selection committee has released its initial set of rankings.Let the games begin. And there are some good ones on tap Saturday.The marquee showdown is No. 1 Miami (8-0) at No. 4 Notre Dame (7-1). Miami tops both The Associated Press Top 25 and the CFP rankings. The Irish are playing for their playoff lives after starting out No. 11 in the CFP rankings.With a win, the Hurricanes very well could keep that No. 1 ranking through the regular season with unranked Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College their remaining opponents, all at home, ahead of the ACC championship game. The only teams that have started No. 1 in the CFP rankings and won the national championship were Alabama (2020) and Georgia (2021).Early slateControl of the Big 12 race is at stake when No. 7 BYU (7-1) visits No. 3 Utah (8-0) in the Holy War rivalry. Utah has turned over the ball twice in each of its last four games and the Ute