It's the magnificent 7

Every so often, when the planets are aligned in the college football universe, you have a Saturday such as tomorrow, in which a plethora of games have the potential to become ``Instant Classics."

Get your TiVo warmed up because you'll need it. There are seven games that pit Top 25 teams against each other. The marquee matchups are No. 11 Michigan at No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 6 Louisiana State at No. 3 Auburn, and No. 7 Florida at No. 13 Tennessee.

Those are the main events. But in the same galaxy are No. 19 Nebraska at No. 4 Southern California, No. 15 Oklahoma at No. 18 Oregon, No. 17 Miami at No. 12 Louisville, and No. 24 Texas Tech at No. 20 Texas Christian.

Not even making the cut is Bowden Bowl VIII, Clemson at Florida State, in which Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden and his son, Tigers coach Tommy Bowden, face off. Then there's Iowa State at No. 16 Iowa, which has emotional connections beyond the X's and O's.

No national championship will be decided this weekend, but the path will be clearer for tomorrow's winners. Take Notre Dame, for example. If the Irish knock off the Wolverines, it is not a stretch to project Charlie Weis's team as unbeaten entering the season finale at USC, a game that could be for a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

The LSU-Auburn winner will be the early leader in the Southeastern Conference West, the Florida-Tennessee winner the early leader in the SEC East.

USC should get tested by a Nebraska team that has rolled over a pair of lower-tier teams, Louisiana Tech and Division 1-AA Nicholls State. Neither win impressed the oddsmakers, who have installed USC as nearly a three-touchdown favorite.

Oklahoma should have a difficult time handling a talented Oregon team in Eugene, Ore. The Ducks might be USC's biggest Pacific-10 challenge. But that Nov. 11 meeting is at USC.

All of it is part of a day that should be special. ``I think this is what college football is all about," said Florida coach Urban Meyer, who will attempt to establish the kind of dominance over Tennessee that former Gators coach Steve Spurrier had. ``This is why you get up in the morning and go to work, shave, and take care of yourself, because you can coach and play in a game like this."

Or games like this.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has given much of the credit for his development to Weis, who ran the Patriots' offensive schemes before heading to South Bend, Ind. Now quarterback Brady Quinn is receiving the same guidance as he emerges as Notre Dame's offensive leader. But there might be another quarterback rising on the horizon. Tennessee's Erik Ainge has emerged as a star in the Volunteers' victories over California and Air Force. Against Air Force, Ainge completed 24 of 29 passes, with three touchdowns and an interception, and had a string of 15 straight completions. This from a quarterback who had been relegated to the also-ran heap after Tennessee's 5-6 record of a year ago. The difference? New offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe has instilled confidence in Ainge. Cutcliffe, a mentor for both Peyton Manning (first stint at Tennessee) and Eli Manning (at Mississippi), was hired by Weis a year ago at Notre Dame, but health problems forced Cutcliffe to pass on the offer after he'd been fired as head coach at Ole Miss . . . One of the defensive stars for Ohio State in last week's 24-7 victory over Texas was linebacker James Laurinaitis, who comes from Minnesota. Laurinaitis is the first scholarship player from Minnesota at Ohio State since legendary player and coach Sid Gillman played for the Buckeyes from 1931-33. Against Texas, Laurinaitis recorded a career-high 13 tackles, forced two fumbles, and intercepted a pass . . . Bobby Bowden is 5-2 in games against his son Tommy. Although it doesn't make this week's list of matchups pitting ranked teams, it will continue the streak to eight years that one of the two has been ranked. FSU grabs the honors this week at No. 9 . . . With Texas losing for the first time in 21 games, TCU has the longest winning streak in Division 1-A at 12, but that could come to an end against Texas Tech . . . New Hampshire's win over Northwestern last week gives Division 1-AA teams four victories over 1-A opponents in the first two weeks . . . Look for LSU, which beat Arizona, to continue its nonconference meetings with Pac-10 teams. The Tigers have a nine-game winning streak against Pac-10 foes. And look for Michigan, which knocked off Eastern Michigan, to continue its nonconference meetings with Mid-American Conference teams. The Wolverines are 21-0 against MAC teams . . . The Texas Tech Red Raiders, living up to their nickname in last week's 38-35 overtime victory over Texas-El Paso, wore red pants for the first time since 1991 . . . Old Dominion is making a move to bring back football on the 1-AA level in 2009. The ODU administration has hired former Virginia coach George Welch and former North Carolina coach Dick Sheridan as consultants.

When Michigan meets Notre Dame tomorrow, it will be the first time since 1994 both teams have been ranked in the top 12 when they met . . . Florida's success over the past few years has been gauged by the Gators' record against their main rivals -- Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida State. The Gators won all three games last season and have won two straight from the Seminoles. That's impressive enough, but none of the 67 freshmen, redshirt freshmen, and sophomores on Meyer's roster has ever trailed against those rivals, which should create a sense of confidence in Knoxville . . . When Auburn hosts LSU , it will be the first time both teams have been in the top 10 when they met since 1972 . . . It's a good thing Illinois is returning home this week to face a Syracuse team that could not score a touchdown on seven attempts inside the Iowa 2-yard line, resulting in Iowa's 20-14 double-overtime win last Saturday. The Illini are coming off a 33-0 loss at Rutgers, which means they have been outscored, 110-5, in their last three road losses . . . How bad has Florida State's rushing game been in narrow victories over Miami and Troy? The Seminoles are averaging .87 yards per carry, which is 118th of 119 Division 1-A programs. Hawaii is ranked No. 119, but has only played one game. Negative offensive teams of the week: Mississippi State, which hasn't scored a point, and Temple, which has not scored a touchdown. Sounds like a nice bowl matchup.

Material from wire services was used in this report. ON CAMPUS: For more college football views by Mark Blaudschun, go to www.boston.com/sports/colleges/

extras/colleges_blog/