4. Oregon Ducks
Opponent: BYU | Time: Saturday, Sept. 17, 3:30 p.m. ET | Spread: ORE -3.5
Outside of this game being in Autzen, I can’t for the life of me figure out why BYU isn’t the favorite in this game. Let’s recap what these two teams have done so far this season.
BYU started the season on the road and hung 50 points on South Florida. They then welcomed a Top 10 team in Baylor to Provo without their two best receivers on the field and clawed out a double-overtime win. Meanwhile, Oregon got blasted 49-3 by Georgia in the Ducks’ opener and then beat up on FCS Eastern Washington like a Power 5 team should.
Yes, the short-handed offense for BYU is a bit of a concern, but they’re already far more proven and battle-tested than Oregon. If the Ducks aren’t a vastly different team than the one that played UGA and if Bo Nix doesn’t clean up his play against better competition, they are going to drop to 1-2 on the season.
3. Texas Longhorns
Opponent: UTSA | Time: Saturday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. ET | Spread: TEX -12.5
If nothing else, the first two games of the season for the Roadrunners have told us that UTSA is going to take this game to overtime as they’ve already played four overtime periods to start the season.
But in all seriousness, what we do know about UTSA is that they’re a great offense even without Sincere McCormick and a defense that is porous. The question is if Texas can take advantage of that. Yes, Quinn Ewers is out, but Hudson Card was also banged up in the loss to Alabama. That could potentially limit the overall juice and effectiveness of the Longhorns offense and put this result into question.
On top of all that, there’s the narrative. It would be perfectly fitting of Texas to challenge the No. 1-ranked team in college football only to lose to UTSA the next week.