Saturday Predictions: Week 6

We're about a third of the way through the regular season now, and this week marks a turning point. No longer are most big teams playing over-matched opponents from lesser conferences. From here on we'll have multiple big-time match-ups every week to look forward to and many games will have conference implications. Last Saturday, we didn't have one game between two ranked teams. This Saturday, we get six.

The Gators are unranked, and so are their opponents, but let's start with them. Although Florida has won nine straight over the Volunteers, if the Gators have learned anything from 2013, it's not to overlook anyone. Tennessee should be a major challenge to the Gators, who have struggled heavily against competent opponents. Last week, the inspired Vols nearly defeated Georgia, a team many believe to be the class of the East, in Athens. Meanwhile, the Gators have had an extra week to rest and prepare, which should play to their advantage. However, Tennessee will have nearly 100,000 fans cheering them on in Neyland Stadium. Tennessee also has what may be the SEC East's best passer in Justin Worley. The Gator secondary will need to play better this game to stop Tennessee's potent passing attack. Florida's offensive and defensive lines should have the advantage over their youthful orange-clad counterparts, and will need to outplay them if the Gators are to leave Knoxville victorious.

Mississippi State looked impressive two weeks ago in Baton
Rouge. Will they stay undefeated after they play Texas A&M
this Saturday? And therefore never send to know for whom 
the cowbell tolls; It tolls for thee. Credit: Wesley Hitt

The Gators weren't the only team enjoying a week off last Saturday. The Mississippi State Bulldogs also had an extra week to prepare, which should come into play for the big game this Saturday in Starkville. The Bulldogs have a tremendous obstacle ahead of them in Texas A&M, though they should be capable of winning. A&M needed overtime to down a good Arkansas team, and MSU should provide a similarly difficult challenge for the Aggies.

The third SEC team that didn't play last Saturday was the one that needed a week off the least. Alabama is going to the Grove to play the highly-ranked Rebels of Ole Miss. Bama should have the advantage at nearly every position on the field, but Mississippi will have their home stadium. Still, I don't imagine the Rebels have enough to win and anticipate the Tide to roll again. Alabama should face a tougher test in two weeks, when they play the well-rested Razorbacks in Fayetteville.

The final SEC game between two ranked teams is the Tiger Bowl – Auburn and LSU. This year the game will be played in Auburn. Both teams are coming off a week of slaughtering innocents. Auburn appears to have the better team this year, but one never knows exactly what's under that hat.

Kentucky and South Carolina play an interesting little game in Lexington. This is Kentucky's chance to prove their performance in Gainesville wasn't a fluke, and that they belong in the SEC East conversation. For South Carolina, this is a must-win. A loss here would be their third in-conference, a mark that seemingly eliminates them from the SEC championship race.

Elsewhere, Oklahoma is playing Texas Christian. This game is hard to predict, as neither team has played an opponent of Top 25 quality (although the Sooners did play Tennessee and WVU while TCU played Minnesota). The Horned Frogs are at home, but Oklahoma had an extra week to prepare. Advantage: OU.

The Stanford Cardinal will travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame. These teams seem evenly-matched, so the home-field advantage may decide the winner. Meanwhile in East Lansing, the Cornhuskers will play Michigan State. Despite their electrifying running back, the overall team quality of the Spartans may prove too much for Nebraska to overcome. Maryland is 4-1 and have looked better than many expected. Ohio State performed well enough against Cincinnati, but the Terps could pull off this upset at home.

Rutgers and Michigan play for the first time ever this
Saturday in Piscataway. Against a struggling Wolverine team,
Rutgers has a golden opportunity to pick up their first ever
B1G Ten victory. Credit: Jim O'Connor-USA TODAY Sports

One last thing: this weekend Rutgers and Michigan meet for the first time ever. Why is this special? Well, the invention of football is attributed to students from Rutgers and the first football game ever was won by Rutgers (against Princeton, naturally) in 1869. Michigan, on the other hand, is the winningest program in college football history. Since their program began in 1878, Michigan has won 912 games (well ahead of Notre Dame's 878). So, it's the team that won the first game ever versus the team that has won the most games ever. It's incredible that in 135 years of coexistence these programs have never come head to head. It seems the Scarlet Knights have the edge this Saturday. While Rutgers hasn't exactly blown the doors off anyone, they are playing at home and appear more competent than this beleaguered Michigan team which can barely keep its head above water.

State of Florida:

• UCF (1-2) over Houston (2-2), 27-20 (UPSET)
• Florida Atlantic (2-3) over FIU (2-3), 38-34
• Florida (2-1) over Tennessee (2-2), 24-20
• #1 Florida State (4-0) over Wake Forrest (2-3), 63-17
• Georgia Tech (4-0) over Miami (3-2), 34-24
• South Florida (2-3), BYE

Southeastern Conference:

• #12 Mississippi State (4-0) over #6 Texas A&M (5-0), 31-28
• #3 Alabama (4-0) over #11 Mississippi (4-0), 34-21
• #13 Georgia (3-1) over Vanderbilt (1-4), 45-7
• #5 Auburn (4-0) over #15 LSU (4-1), 23-17
• Kentucky (3-1) over South Carolina (3-2), 24-17 (UPSET)
• Arkansas (3-2), BYE
• #24 Missouri (4-1), BYE

Top 25:

• #2 Oregon (4-0) over Arizona (4-0), 45-28
• #4 Oklahoma (4-0) over #25 TCU (3-0), 31-24
• #7 Baylor (4-0) over Texas (2-2), 42-27
• #8 UCLA (4-0) over Utah (3-1), 38-24
• #9 Notre Dame (4-0) over #14 Stanford (3-1), 17-14 (UPSET)
• #10 Michigan State (3-1) over #19 Nebraska (5-0), 38-28
• #16 USC (3-1) over Arizona State (3-1), 31-21
• #17 Wisconsin (3-1) over Northwestern (2-2), 30-21
• #18 BYU (4-0) over Utah State (2-2), 34-17
• Maryland (4-1) over #20 Ohio State (3-1), 31-28
• #21 Oklahoma State (3-1) over Iowa State (1-3), 45-31
• #22 East Carolina (3-1) over SMU (0-4), 52-3
• #23 Kansas State (3-1) over Texas Tech (2-2), 38-28