Week 9 of the college football schedule is here and all eyes are focused on Georgia vs. Florida where the loser will be eliminated from SEC East contention.
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party hasn’t had a ton of SEC implications in recent years, but it does this season. The winner will stay alive in the race to win the SEC East. The loser is going to face a real uphill battle if they want to make it to Atlanta.
The showdown in Jacksonville is one of three matchups pitting two Top 25 teams against one another this weekend. Washington State will travel to the Farm to take on Stanford and Iowa will head to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. Neither game has significant College Football Playoff implications, but both contests are important for conference positioning.
In all fairness, this isn’t a great weekend for college football, but there are several games that deserve your attention. As usual, we’re providing you with the full slate of Top 25 games. My predictions are in bold.
Thursday, Oct. 25
Baylor at No. 13 West Virginia 7 p.m., Fox Sports 1 | fuboTV
No. 25 Appalachian State at Georgia Southern 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Friday, Oct. 26
No. 23 Utah at UCLA 10:30 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Oct. 27
No. 2 Clemson at Florida State Noon, ABC
No. 20 Wisconsin at Northwestern Noon, FOX | fuboTV
No. 9 Florida vs. No. 7 Georgia 3:30 p.m., CBS | fuboTV
Kansas State at No. 8 Oklahoma 3:30 p.m., FOX | fuboTV
No. 18 Iowa at No. 17 Penn State 3:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 21 South Florida at Houston 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2
No. 12 Kentucky at Missouri 4 p.m., SEC Network
No. 15 Washington at Cal 6:30 p.m., FS1 | fuboTV
No. 14 Washington State at No. 24 Stanford 7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks | fuboTV
No. 16 Texas A&M at Mississippi State 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 22 N.C. State at Syracuse 7 p.m., ESPN2
No. 3 Notre Dame at Navy 8 p.m., CBS | fuboTV
No. 6 Texas at Oklahoma State 8 p.m., ABC
No. 19 Oregon at Arizona 10:30 p.m., ESPN
I don’t call big upsets every week, but I’m calling for one in Stillwater on Saturday night. Oklahoma State will be able to move the ball against the Texas defense and I like them to win a shootout. At the very least, back the Cowboys to keep it close.
Everything else should go roughly according to plan. Keep an eye on Kentucky’s tough trip to Missouri. If the Tigers can put up points on the Wildcats’ physical defense, they might be able to score a big win. Texas A&M faces a tough trip to Starkville on Saturday night and while I like the Aggies to win, it’s going to be a close game.
If you have to take your family to a pumpkin patch, do it early on Saturday. Be back in front of your television before Georgia-Florida begins.