The Athletic has live coverage of Notre Dame vs. Pitt from Saturday’s college football action.

With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, conference title races and the College Football Playoff bracket are coming into focus, including must-win situations for a number of teams.

Here are the top 10 games of Week 12, and how they factor into the Playoff discussion, starting with a few honorable mentions and counting down.

Honorable Mention: Clemson at No. 20 Louisville (Fri.), Minnesota at No. 8 Oregon (Fri.), South Carolina at No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 18 Michigan at Northwestern, North Texas at UAB, UCF at No. 6 Texas Tech, App State at JMU, Memphis at ECU, Florida at No. 7 Ole Miss

(All point spreads are courtesy BetMGM. All kickoff times are Eastern and on Saturday unless otherwise noted.)

10. Arizona (6-3) at No. 25 Cincinnati (7-2), Noon, FS1

This one is mostly about setting up next week’s matchup between Cincinnati and BYU. A win for the Bearcats — coming off a bye and blowout loss at Utah, their first in conference play — would keep them controlling their own destiny to the Big 12 championship game, with the Cougars and at TCU remaining. Arizona has been much better in Year 2 under Brent Brennan, but will have to fight time zones and body clocks for a noon Eastern kickoff.

Line: Cincinnati -6

9. NC State (5-4) at No. 15 Miami (7-2), 3:30 p.m., ESPN

How ridiculous is the ACC? Miami is the conference’s highest-ranked team in the eyes of the CFP committee at No. 15, yet sits seventh in the league standings. There are five teams with one conference loss, all ahead of two-loss Miami, as well as two-loss Louisville. There’s fleeting hope for the Hurricanes to reach the Playoff — The Athletic’s projection model puts the odds at 7 percent. Even the non-conference win over Notre Dame has done them little good, ranked six spots below the Irish with the same number of losses. Beyond the ACC eating its own and sneaking the Canes into the ACC championship game — which shouldn’t be ruled out! — Miami needs to win out and hope for continued ACC chaos.

Line: Miami -14.5

8. No. 13 Utah (7-2) at Baylor (5-4), 7 p.m., ESPN2

The Utes have a blowout loss to Texas Tech, a close loss to BYU, a blowout win over Cincinnati and little else of note on the resume. But that’s enough to be No. 13 in the eyes of the CFP committee. The Utes finish at Baylor, home for Kansas State and at Kansas — three winnable games. What happens if Utah wins out and the teams near it in the rankings slip up? It’s doubtful the Utes will make the Big 12 title game, and The Athletic’s projection gives them a 22-percent chance at the CFP … but could 10-2 be enough to sneak in as an at-large?

Line: Utah -7.5

7. No. 24 South Florida (7-2) at Navy (7-2), Noon, ESPN2

Entering the weekend, the winner of the American Conference still seems most likely to nab that fifth automatic bid to the 12-team Playoff. USF is tops among Group of 5 schools in The Athletic’s projections with a 34-percent chance to make the CFP, followed by North Texas with a 23-percent chance and then James Madison in the Sun Belt (21 percent). After a 7-0 start, Navy has been thumped its last two games against North Texas and Notre Dame, but the Mids are the toughest remaining regular-season test for the Bulls, who have at UAB and home against Rice on deck. A win on Saturday would set the table for USF to reach the conference title game in a still-crowded American race.

Line: USF -10

6. No. 19 Virginia (8-2) at Duke (5-4), 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

Among the many peculiarities of the ACC is the fact that 5-4 Duke, fresh off a loss to UConn, is 4-1 in conference and in the hunt for an ACC championship. The Blue Devils went 1-3 in non-conference but have only lost to Georgia Tech in league play. Also weird: Virginia, 5-1 in the ACC, has two losses overall, one of which is a non-conference game against … NC State, a fellow ACC member. Now both teams are fighting to stay in the mix for the most wide-open power conference. Of the five current teams with one loss in conference play, the only remaining matchup aside from this one is Pitt at Georgia Tech next weekend. Get ready to bust out the tiebreaker scenarios.

Line: Duke -4

5. No. 21 Iowa (6-3) at No. 17 USC (7-2), 3:30 p.m., BTN

A USC win keeps its at-large CFP hopes alive — currently 20 percent, according to our model — with a potential Playoff elimination meeting at Oregon next Saturday. At 5-1 in Big Ten play, the Trojans are still looking up at Ohio State and Indiana, but a victory over Iowa would bode well for a two-loss winner of USC at Oregon on Nov. 22 to make it as an at-large, if Oregon beats Minnesota this week. Getting there won’t be an easy task for the Trojans, as Iowa showcased against the Ducks last week, losing 18-16 on a last-second field goal.

Line: USC -6.5

4. TCU (6-3) at No. 12 BYU (8-1), 10:15 p.m., ESPN

A “Big 12 After Dark” nightcap to close the loop. A BYU victory, paired with a Cincinnati win earlier in the day, would set up a ranked BYU-at-Cincinnati clash next weekend with huge Big 12 title stakes. The Cougars got bottled up (only 255 total yards) on the road at Texas Tech for their first loss of the season, but still control their path to the Big 12 championship game. The first challenge is a TCU squad coming off a loss to Iowa State yet top 10 in passing offense at 300-plus yards a game. A BYU loss would put the league’s hopes of multiple CFP teams in jeopardy.

Line: BYU -3.5

3. No. 9 Notre Dame (7-2) at No. 22 Pittsburgh (7-2), Noon, ABC

Allow us to introduce the most influential team in the CFP rat race: Pitt! Winners of five straight and the top scoring offense in the ACC (39.7 points per game), the Panthers have Notre Dame, at No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 15 Miami the rest of the way. Pitt’s best chance to make the CFP is winning the ACC crown, which has nothing to do with Saturday’s non-conference showdown, as Pat Narduzzi (hilariously) acknowledged this week. However, taking down Notre Dame widens the path for the ACC and everyone else — the Irish are a near lock for the Playoff with a win, but their odds drop to 30 percent with a third loss, according to our model.

Line: Notre Dame -12.5

2. No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2) at No. 4 Alabama (8-1), 3:30 p.m., ABC

The first of two blockbuster SEC games that could reshape the Playoff. This one is a must-win for Oklahoma, currently the “first team out” of the 12-team field. The Athletic’s projection model gives the Sooners a 22-percent chance to reach the CFP; a win bumps that up to 52 percent, with Missouri and LSU left to play, but a loss plummets them to 3 percent. Oklahoma’s defense, sixth in FBS at 4.2 yards per play allowed, relented a bit in the loss to Ole Miss and road upset over Tennessee, but the team should be well-rested coming off a bye. For Alabama and Heisman hopeful quarterback Ty Simpson, a win essentially locks down a CFP spot.

Line: Alabama -6

1. No. 10 Texas (7-2) at No. 5 Georgia (8-1), 7:30 p.m., ABC

The Longhorns have an uphill climb to reach the Playoff, and it starts with another must-win on Saturday. An upset would boost Texas’s CFP chances from 8 to 35 percent in The Athletic’s model, with home games against Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M to finish out the regular season. A loss drops those odds to 2 percent. Quarterback Arch Manning looked like the player we expected to see this season in the win over Vanderbilt (25 of 33, 328 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT), the defense is still formidable (34 sacks, plus-8 turnover margin), and Texas has won four in a row to scratch back into the top 10. But that ugly October loss to Florida will likely doom the Horns unless they can topple Georgia, which is managing just fine with Gunner Stockton behind center.

Line: Georgia -6.5