By Jordan Lauterbach/ (Photo: November 26,2010- Tom Pennington/ Getty Images North America)

Call it the "week before the week.” The matchups in Week 9 don’t quite compare to the overload we’ll see next week, but some intriguing ones do exist. Here are the top five, according to ACR’s Jordan Lauterbach.

5. Baylor @ # 3 Oklahoma St- Saturday, 3:30 p.m. - Two Heisman candidates on display here.  Robert Griffin III is one of the more electrifying, and strangely underrated, players in the game. His dangerous feet outside the pocket are only enhanced by his ability to throw the ball and make smart decisions. In 182 pass attempts, Griffin has only thrown two interceptions.

Baylor will need a lot more than Griffin to win this one.  A Bears defense that fails to crack the top 100 will be charged with containing the nation’s second best statistical offense. With Oklahoma and Wisconsin falling last week, Oklahoma State’s national title hopes have brightened considerably. With Alabama and LSU facing off next week, the Cowboys are sure to enter the top two if they top Baylor and Kansas State.

4. #15 Wisconsin @ Ohio State- Saturday, 8 p.m.- I wouldn’t want to be Ohio State this week. One week after losing on a crushing Hail Mary pass, Wisconsin will be looking for revenge. Although they play in the weaker of the two Big 10 divisions, the Badgers sit behind Penn State in the standings.

Wisconsin has one of the top defenses in the country, yet was thrashed for 37 points last week. Ohio State doesn’t put up a lot of points, but are coming off a huge win over Illinois two weeks ago. An upset of the Badgers and the Leaders division becomes anyone’s game.

Does Ohio State have enough offense to win another must-win on the road?

3. #6 Stanford @ USC- Saturday 8 p.m.- USC did a great job containing a dangerous Notre Dame offense in a game the Irish needed to win to keep their BCS hopes alive. Holding Michael Floyd to four meaningless catches is no easy feat.  It doesn’t get any easier this week, with the odds on Heisman favorite rifling passes.

Although they can’t make the post-season because of sanctions, don’t think that throwing a wrench in the Pac-12 race won’t be sweet for Lane Kiffin and company. A win this week will keep the Trojans one game ahead of Arizona State in the Pac-12 South. Being that the head- to- head matchup went the way of the Sun Devils, a tie does USC no good.

It’s a more-than-decent quarterback match-up as well. Stanford’s Luck is having another season worthy of accolades, but don’t sleep on the challenger.

Matt Barkley is largely forgotten because of the tricky circumstances at USC, but he is elite. The junior has thrown for 2006 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.

Although Stanford demolished ranked Washington last week, USC will be their biggest test thus far.

2. #11 Michigan State @ # 14 Nebraska- Saturday 12 p.m. - A win for the Spartans and they would emerge from the toughest part of their schedule unscathed. Nebraska is the final ranked team on the schedule (as of this week) and is in the thick of the Big 10 Legends division race.

Michigan State has the opportunity to pull two games ahead of Nebraska, leaving Michigan (whom they beat) as the only likely challenger for the Spartans spot in the first ever Big 10 title game.

It wasn’t without some divine intervention that Michigan State find themselves in this position. A Hail Mary win over Wisconsin was one of the more impressive wins of the season from any top 25 team. To put up 37 points against a Wisconsin team that has done almost everything right since the beginning of 2010 says something about a group that looked highly overrated at the beginning of the year.

Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions against one of the best ten defenses in the country. Nebraska isn’t in the top 50 in defense.

In fact, it’s sort of a wonder that Nebraska is still in the divisional race. The Cornhuskers needed the biggest comeback in school history and a Braxton Miller injury to beat Ohio State two weeks ago.

For a team that is one dimensional offensively and has trouble stopping teams, a hot Michigan State is certainly not a good sight.

1. # 9 Oklahoma @ # 8 Kansas State- Saturday, 3:30 p.m.- This is THE TEST for Kansas State. The Wildcats have been the darling of the fall. 7-0 and making people notice. But now, the hard part starts. Saturday marks the first of four consecutive ranked opponents. K-State beat it’s only other ranked opponent, Baylor, by one point in Week five.

Oklahoma is a bit of a bigger test than the Baylor Bears, especially after they were embarrassed by Texas Tech last week.

If quarterback Collin Klein can use his legs to keep the ball out of Landry Jones’ hands then this one could get interesting. If not…oh,boy.