Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 4

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

Opponent: Wisconsin | Time: Saturday, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. ET | Spread: OSU -18.5

Given how heavily Ohio State is favored in this game, it might seem a bit outlandish to have the Buckeyes on upset alert for their date with Wisconsin on Saturday evening. And given that the Badgers have already been upset by Washington State, that makes it look even stranger.

However, when you look at the teams that have given Ohio State trouble over the past two seasons, it’s been physical, hard-nosed teams that are able to dominate on the ground and control the lines of scrimmage. That just so happens to be the bread and butter of Wisconsin and their recipe to win almost every week.

If Ohio State is able to get the wheels rolling on offense with the C.J. Stroud led passing attack, then they could very well cover this spread. But if the Buckeyes aren’t prepared for a war in the trenches, the game could also very much start to tip in favor of the Badgers.

1. Tennessee Volunteers

Opponent: Florida | Time: Saturday, Sept. 24, 3:30 p.m. ET | Spread: TENN -10.5

For my money, Tennessee — particularly at Neyland Stadium — is the better team in this SEC East rivalry matchup. But the truth of the matter is that these are two teams that could really give us a variety of different types of games because of the situations at play for either side.

With the Vols, we know that the offense is going to move with pace and almost surely move the ball well against a Florida defense that has been a bit leaky to start the season. At the same time, though, there is a world in which Anthony Richardson recaptures some of the magic he showed in upsetting Utah to gash a Tennessee defense that is improved but still has numerous flaws.

On top of that, Florida has tortured Tennessee over the years and, in these types of annual conference rivalry games, those demons can sometime be difficult to exorcise. Again, the Vols are the better team, but that doesn’t mean the better team will win on Saturday.

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