Sometimes the biggest surprises come when we least expect them. Welcome to Week 6 of the college football season. With just one game matchup ranked opponents Saturday, the schedule seems light on potential for major changes and upsets. But maybe that means we will have a weekend full of wild results that impact the College Football Playoff.
A number of ranked teams do hit the road for conference matchups. Which ones should be on upset alert? What about unbeatens that have yet to taste defeat? Are they possibly overconfident?
That’s why the USA TODAY Sports college football staff is here. Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken weigh in with their bold predictions for the weekend ahead.
Ole Miss bounces back after last week’s upset
After last week’s defeat at home by Kentucky, Ole Miss knows they have no room for error if they plan on competing for a spot in the playoffs. Their next opponent, South Carolina is no slouch and beat the very Kentucky team three weeks ago that held the Rebels to 1-10 on third down and 353 total yards. Jaxson Dart and the offense know they have to put up points, cut down on the penalties and do more when they do have the ball. Expect the Rebels to right the ship at least for one week and get back on track. — Scooby Axson
WEEKEND FORECAST: Expert picks for every Top 25 game in Week 6
California introduces Miami to ACC after dark
No matter where its conference members go, Pac-12 after dark lives on. Cal has arguably its biggest game of the past decade with Miami visiting in a late kickoff that will welcome all sorts of shenanigans. The Golden Bears’ defense tough and should give Cam Ward problems, but what’s key is running back Jaydn Ott should be at full strength and provide plenty of big runs for an offense that’s struggled so far. It’ll be a big day in Berkeley, and the late game on Saturday ends with a big upset. Hopefully enough people in the East Coast are still up to see it. — Jordan Mendoza
Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Duke fall from unbeaten ranks
Three unranked unbeaten teams get into the loss column for the first time. Pittsburgh loses to North Carolina in a game Mack Brown and the Tar Heels have to get or risk missing bowl play. Later, Rutgers loses at Nebraska as the Cornhuskers continue to do a good job avoiding turnovers and win a close one. And in prime time, Duke loses as about a touchdown underdog at Georgia Tech. — Paul Myerberg
Washington gets revenge on Michigan
Nine months ago, the Wolverines and Huskies met to decide the season’s national champion. Now they’re conference rivals and each is facing a must-win game to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive. Washington surely won’t have forgotten about that night in Houston and it will be happy to welcome Michigan to its home in Seattle. While the Huskies have already dropped two games, they are much better offensive than the lethargic Wolverines that will have Alex Orji making his first road start in one of the loudest environments in college football. Michigan has escaped a defeats at home. It won’t be able to do it Saturday in Seattle. — Erick Smith
Navy grounds the Air Force to stay unbeaten
The cliché that says you can throw the records out the window when – insert two teams here – get together is one of the oldest and most worn out in all of sports. Of course, like all cliches, there’s an element of truth in it, and in the case of service academy football it always seems to apply.
As Navy heads west to take on Air Force in the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series, a couple of recent trends are working against each other. On one hand, the Midshipmen haven’t won on the Falcons’ home field since 2012, and Air Force has won the last four meetings overall.
But the first month of the season has gone a lot better for Navy. The Mids are off to a 4-0 start, including an impressive win against a ranked Memphis squad. They’re averaging 46 points a game with quarterback Blake Horvath running the offense to near perfection. The Falcons, meanwhile, have struggled mightily out of the gate after winning their first eight games a season ago. Air Force is 1-3 but winless against Bowl Subdivision competition and putting up just 12.5 points per contest, fourth worst in the FBS.
So while these academy encounters rarely go according to script, we’ll take the Midshipmen to snap their losing streak against Air Force and take the first step toward bringing the trophy back to Annapolis. — Eddie Timanus
Mississippi has second stumble at South Carolina
Lane Kiffin is a great coach, but he’s not most steady port in the middle of a proverbial storm. Can Ole Miss get right this week after its shocking loss to Kentucky last weekend? I don’t think so. When things are going well, Kiffin is a terrific frontrunner as a coach. When they’re not going well? Things can spiral a bit historically. South Carolina is kind of a weird team but it’s a fairly capable team, especially at home. They’re also coming off a bye week and a blowout win over woeful Akron before that. In other words, Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks have had two full weeks to get ready for this game. A rest advantage, a preparation advantage and a vibes advantage will equal a South Carolina upset. — Dan Wolken