College Football Picks Week 9: Top 25 Odds, Box Score Predictions, Rankings, Schedule
The College Football Playoff is still two months away, but Week 9 has a playoff feel to it with two potential elimination games in the SEC.
The LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies have climbed the rankings over the last month while plenty of other ranked foes lost games.
Both teams enter Week 9 at 6-1 and the winner seems poised to make the playoff as one of four or five SEC teams.
The Alabama Crimson Tide need a win against the Missouri Tigers to save their season. Kalen DeBoer's team will likely miss out on the CFP if it suffers a third loss.
Meanwhile, Missouri needs a victory to catapult itself back into the Top 15. The Tigers were blown out by Texas A&M and another defeat could put them too far back to be considered for the 12-team field.
Week 9 Top 25 Schedule and Odds
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Thursday, October 24
Syracuse at No. 19 Pittsburgh (-5.5) (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Friday, October 25
No. 17 Boise State (-3) at UNLV (10:30 p.m. ET, CBSSN)
Saturday, October 26
Nebraska at No. 4 Ohio State (-25.5) (Noon ET, Fox)
No. 12 Notre Dame (-12) vs. No. 24 Navy (Noon ET, ABC)
Washington at No. 13 Indiana (-6.5) (Noon ET, BTN)
Oklahoma at No. 18 Ole Miss (-20.5) (Noon ET, ESPN)
No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon (-21.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
No. 11 BYU (-2) at UCF (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 21 Missouri at No. 15 Alabama (-13.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 5 Texas (-17.5) at No. 25 Vanderbilt (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Florida State at No. 6 Miami (-21) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 3 Penn State (-6.5) at Wisconsin (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
No. 8 LSU at No. 14 Texas A&M (-3) (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Kansas at No. 16 Kansas State (-10) (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
No. 22 SMU (-11) at Duke (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
No. 8 LSU (+3) at No. 14 Texas A&M
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The winner of the LSU-Texas A&M clash has a clear path to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Despite being the underdog, LSU holds the edge in Saturday night's SEC battle because of its quarterback play.
Garrett Nussmeier has come into his own with 2,222 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes. Texas A&M's quarterbacks combined for nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
All four of those picks belong to Conner Weigman, who was picked off twice in the Week 8 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The Aggies signal-caller's arm is not as dynamic as Nussmeier's and that could be evident right from the jump in College Station.
Weigman also threw multiple picks in A&M's first home game versus a Top 10 team in Week 1 against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Nussmeier also has two multi-turnover games, but he overcame those errors with two 300-yard, multi-touchdown performances.
LSU's offense can be trusted more to put together a few explosive plays at a time to steal the momentum, and if Nussmeier does not make any mistakes, the Tigers will be difficult to take down.
No. 21 Missouri (+13.5) at No. 15 Alabama
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It's difficult for anyone to trust Alabama as a 13.5-point favorite right now.
The Crimson Tide lost two of their last three games. The one win in that stretch was a two-point victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Jalen Milroe has been inconsistent and the rushing attack was nonexistent over the last three games.
There's always a chance Bama rebounds and takes out all of its frustration on Mizzou, but the Tigers have a ton of offensive firepower to keep the game close.
The only concern with Mizzou is a big one, though, as quarterback Brady Cook missed most of Week 8's contest with Auburn. He left the stadium to receive a MRI, but then returned to lead his team to a come-from-behind victory.
As long as Cook is healthy, Mizzou stands a chance to upset Bama. He has two terrific wideouts in Theo Wease Jr. and Luther Burden III to work with, and if the Tigers get rolling, they could stun the Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd.
One thing is for sure: Both teams will be playing with desperation because one more loss could knock either out of the playoff conversation.
Three-loss Alabama would be hard to include in the 12-team field, while Mizzou likely won't be ranked if it loses.
No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon (-21.5)
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The Oregon Ducks are cruising right along at the top of the Big Ten.
Dan Lanning's team displayed zero signs of a letdown in Week 8, as it crushed the Purdue Boilermakers 35-0 on the road during a short week.
The Ducks have an average margin of victory of 24.5 in their non-Ohio State games dating back to September 14.
Oregon has blown out a majority of its challengers, which is a bad sign for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Illinois is a more respectable team that some of the unranked opponents Oregon blew out, but it is at the end of an emotionally draining stretch of games that began on September 20 with a win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Illini played in three battles against Nebraska, the Penn State Nittany Lions and Michigan Wolverines and went into overtime with Purdue in the last four games.
There should be some fear that Illinois just runs out of gas and struggles to contain Dillon Gabriel.
For Oregon, another dominant win is expected as it sets its sights on the Big Ten Championship Game.
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