And then there were two. Just not the two we thought at the start of the season.
No. 1 Georgia and No. 11 Kentucky are the last remaining unbeatens in the Southeastern Conference after Alabama’s stunning loss to Texas A&M.
After Saturday, there will be one as the Bulldogs host the Wildcats in what should be a decisive game in the race for the SEC East title. Georgia has been dominating the league so far, winning its four SEC matchups by an average of 37.5 points.
Kentucky has been the surprise of the season in the conference with its defeats of Florida and LSU. Should the Wildcats pull off another stunner, only two wins against a remaining league schedule of Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt would secure their first trip to the SEC title game.
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There are no other games between ranked opponents, however that doesn’t mean this week has only one matchup worth watching.
In the Big 12, there’s No. 12 Oklahoma State at Texas and Baylor steps out of conference to host No. 20 Brigham Young.
No. 22 Arizona State travels to Utah in what is shaping up to the decisive game in the Pac-12 South. The SEC has several interesting matchups with No. 14 Mississippi visiting suddenly dangerous Tennessee and No. 19 Arkansas welcoming Auburn in a significant game in the West division.
Bold predictions
In the crazy world of college football, there are always surprises and unexpected results. Some of our experts offer their forecasts for some unlikely events this weekend.
Scooby Axson
One team that has been hiding in the shadows has been Oklahoma State. While many top preseason teams have fallen prey to being upset, the Cowboys have been inching their way towards the top 10 and would solidify their status with a win over Texas on Saturday. The usually explosive offense under Mike Gundy has been fairly pedestrian this season, ranking next to last in scoring in the Big 12 (only Kansas is worse). While the Longhorns defense is nothing to write home about, it should make enough stops in route to a victory, sending another conference foe to a loss that has them staring up at Oklahoma.
Jace Evans
In three seasons at Central Florida, Josh Heupel’s offense finished no lower than eighth in points per game. He’s kept that momentum rolling in his first season at Tennessee as the Volunteers rank seventh in FBS after dropping 62 points and 45 points against SEC foes. Yes, those teams were Missouri and South Carolina, respectively, but still! Tennessee being 4-2 at this point after the chaos of the last few years is nothing to sneeze at, and they have a chance at sending a major message Saturday as the Lane Train arrives at Neyland Stadium. Former Vols coach Lane Kiffin has the Ole Miss offense humming once again. Unfortunately for the No. 14 Rebels, their defense is only marginally better than the putrid performance it put up in 2020. Tennessee will pull off a surprising upset in a shootout in front of what should be a hostile home crowd.
Paul Myerberg
Texas A&M follows up last week’s upset of Alabama by losing in a shootout at Missouri. The Tigers have been a disaster on defense but have yet to score fewer than 28 points in their first six games. Losing to Missouri would be a devastating setback for a team looking to build off the win against the Crimson Tide and be a factor in the New Year’s Six bowl race.
Erick Smith
Michigan State has cruised through six opponents to start the season and are one of the season’s biggest surprises. Handling success for the Spartans, who last posted more than seven wins in 2017, might be their biggest challenge this week instead of their trip to Indiana. Are they peeking ahead to a showdown against Michigan the following Saturday? They could leave Bloomington disappointed if they’re not fully focused on the Hoosiers. Indiana might not have starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr., but it does have experienced backup Jack Tuttle available, if needed. The Hoosiers defense should be able to slow down Michigan State, which sets this up as a close, hard-fought Big Ten game that goes to the wire.
Eddie Timanus
What happens when an irresistible force meets a movable object? We’ll find out when Mississippi visits Tennessee.
Sure, the Vols’ faithful will be a little fired up when Lane Kiffin walks out on to the field. But the real fireworks will start when the Tennessee running game that is churning out over 250 yards a game meets the Rebels’ ground defense that ranks 108th in the country.
Ole Miss will score more than a few points as well, of course, but the Vols will control the ball longer and come away with the biggest win thus far of the Josh Heupel era.
