Notre Dame revives New York tradition with game vs. Syracuse in Yankee Stadium

1:30 p.m., New York (Ch. 11)

Notre Dame was a regular visitor to the New York area during the first half of the 20th century, when wanderlust turned Fighting Irish football into America's team.

Notre Dame's famous Four Horsemen rode through upper Manhattan in 1924 at the Polo Grounds. When Knute Rockne implored the Fighting Irish to "Win one for the Gipper" in 1928, it was at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Fighting Irish played mighty Army every season from 1923 to '46, all but once in New York City and 21 times at Yankee Stadium, cultivating a huge following of so-called Subway Alumni.

The third-ranked Irish (10-0, No. 3 AP) return to their East Coast stronghold Saturday to face No. 12 Syracuse (8-2, No. 12 AP) in the highest-stakes college football game played at Yankee Stadium since the 1946 Game of the Century between No. 1 Army and No. 2 Notre Dame.

These Fighting Irish also bring national championship hopes to the Big Apple, two victories away from likely securing a spot in the College Football Playoff. Plenty of Notre Dame supporters are upset such an important game, so late in the season, is being played away from South Bend, Ind., forcing the Irish to travel to the East Coast this week and then the West Coast next to play at Southern California. That will be the second trip to California for Notre Dame in five weeks.

This game is part of Notre Dame's Shamrock Series, an almost annual off-site home game the Fighting Irish have played since 2009. It's a nod to Notre Dame's history of adventurous independence and the vision Jesse Harper, the coach of Notre Dame's first great teams, had for turning a small Catholic school in the Midwest into a national powerhouse.

"It's born of that, but I think it has current value," Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. "If you're going to be independent you have to use independence. You have to take advantage of it."

3:30 p.m. (BTN)

Both teams lost their chance at playing in the Big Ten Championship Game by losing last weekend. The Boilermakers are trying to bounce back after an awful road performance against the Gophers. The Badgers have lost more than four times in a season only once since 2009, in 2012, when they still made it to the Rose Bowl.

Central Florida hopes to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 23 games and clinch the American Athletic Conference East Division title, as well as a spot in the league's championship game. Cincinnati, which leads the conference in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense, hopes to extend the East Division race another week.

6 p.m. (ESPN2)

This weekend has many SEC teams playing walkover nonconference games, but A&M doesn't have one of them. UAB didn't field a team in 2015 and '16 but is playing in the Conference USA Championship Game in its second year back. The Blazers are giving up 13.2 points per game, lead the nation in third-down defense and have a school-record 38 sacks.

Both teams are fighting for second place in the Big 12 and a chance to slip into the conference championship game. Both need help to get there and neither can realistically afford to lose. Texas is seeking its eighth win, a mark it hasn't reached since 2013