It’s a lighter than usual schedule with eight of the Top 25 teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll having the week off, including new No. 1 Texas. But with conference play now in full swing, there are still plenty of potential upsets for our staff prognosticators to consider.
The lone meeting of ranked teams features No.9 Missouri hitting the road for the first time to take on No. 21 Texas A&M for a key early showdown in the crowded SEC. Elsewhere in that league, No. 11 Mississippi looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season but faces a tricky visit to South Carolina.
In the Big Ten, No. 10 Michigan makes its first trip to the league’s new west-coast wing to meet Washington, technically a rematch of last season’s national championship game although both programs have since undergone nearly complete overhauls. A couple more familiar Big Ten rivals renew acquaintances as No. 3 Ohio State returns home to meet Iowa.
Here’s how our panel of pickers think those and other contests involving ranked teams will go.