College Football Picks Week 6: Top 25 Rankings, Schedule, Odds and Predictions
College football fans will need to clear their schedules for next Saturday with a number of high-profile clashes in Week 6.
The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will host the Indiana Hoosiers, who are fresh off an upset of the Michigan State Spartans. The Red River Showdown between the Texas Longhorns and No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners kicks off in the Cotton Bowl as well.
The SEC slate in particular is juicy, with Bret Bielema looking for what would be his biggest win as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks against the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.
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And those aren't even the most intriguing matchups in Week 6. Below is a look at the Amway Coaches, Bleacher Report and AP Top 25 polls, followed by a schedule for next week and breakdown of the three biggest games.
Week 6 Rankings
Week 6 Schedule
| Friday, Oct. 7 | 7:30 p.m. | Boston College Eagles | No. 3 Clemson Tigers | ESPN | CLEM (-17) |
| Friday, Oct. 7 | 9 p.m. | New Mexico Lobos | No. 9 Boise State Broncos | CBSSN | BOISE (-16.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 12 p.m. | No. 18 Florida Gators | LSU Tigers | ESPN | LSU (-1) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 12 p.m. | No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners | Texas Longhorns | FS1 | OKLA (-6.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Navy Midshipmen | No. 6 Houston Cougars | CBSSN | HOU (-17) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes | Indiana Hoosiers | ESPN | OSU (-32) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels | No. 25 Virginia Tech Hokies | RSN | UNC (-5.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies | No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers | CBS | A&M (-6.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 4 p.m. | USC Trojans | No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes | Pac-12 Network | USC (-4) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 7 p.m. | No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks | No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | ESPN | BAMA (-13) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 7 p.m. | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | No. 4 Michigan Wolverines | ESPN2 | MICH (-26.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 7:30 p.m. | Oregon Ducks | No. 5 Washington Huskies | Fox | WASH (-6.5) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 8 p.m. | No. 10 Miami Hurricanes | No. 23 Florida State Seminoles | ABC | Miami (-2) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 10 p.m. | No. 24 Utah Utes | Arizona Wildcats | FS1 | Utah (-9) |
| Saturday, Oct. 8 | 10:30 p.m. | No. 15 Stanford Cardinal | Washington State Cougars | ESPN | STAN (-12.5) |
Predictions
Texas A&M Aggies vs. Tennessee Volunteers
Sooner or later, the Tennessee Volunteers' luck has to run out, right?
Last week, Tennessee came back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Florida Gators. On Saturday, Joshua Dobbs hit Jauan Jennings with a 43-yard touchdown pass as time expired to beat the Georgia Bulldogs on the road.
The Vols could be in for a rude awakening when they meet the Texas A&M Aggies.
The Aggies are averaging 3.2 sacks a game, tied for 22nd in the country, while their 10 tackles for loss per game are second-best. Texas A&M's front seven is nasty, which is bad news for Dobbs and the Tennessee offense.
Dobbs' numbers and performance often belie his experience at the college level. He's completing 57.9 percent of his passes, and he still looks shaky in the pocket at times, which is concerning since he's in his senior year.
Defensive end Myles Garrett is a major part of Texas A&M's pass rush. Pro Football Focus' Steve Palazzolo argued he deserves to be in the Heisman Trophy discussion:
"Last season, quarterbacks in college football saw their passer rating (NFL version) drop from 95.0 in a clean pocket to 59.4 while under pressure. That’s the equivalent to taking an All-American candidate and relegating him to third-string. Garrett creates pressure as well as any every-down edge rusher in the country, particularly when factoring the speed in which he gets to the quarterback. This season, opposing quarterbacks have only completed 36.4 percent of their passes on plays in which Garrett has created pressure – that’s impacting the game without putting a sack on the stat sheet.
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Garrett missed the Aggies' win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, but the Houston Chronicle's Brent Zwerneman reported his absence may have been a precautionary move. As long as Garrett is healthy, Texas A&M should have success pressuring Dobbs.
On offense, the Aggies are starting to resemble almost every other SEC team in that the running game is becoming their bread and butter. Trayveon Williams has 487 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while Trevor Knight has rushed for 392 yards and six TDs.
As a team, Texas A&M is 13th in rushing offense (258.6 YPG). Tennessee, meanwhile, is 57th in rushing defense (149.0 YPG).
With the Aggies playing at home, they should continue their unbeaten start.
Prediction: Texas A&M 31, Tennessee 21
Florida Gators vs. LSU Tigers
Les Miles probably isn't mad the LSU Tigers gained 634 total yards in their first game after his firing; he's likely laughing about it. It's actually funny to him.
LSU's offense looked liberated in interim coach Ed Orgeron's first game. The Missouri Tigers aren't as good defensively as they were a few years ago, but they're not one of the worst defensive teams in the country.
Yet they had no answer for what had been a pedestrian Tigers offense heading into the weekend. Danny Etling threw for 216 yards, while the combination of Derrius Guice and Darrel Williams ran for 293 yards and six touchdowns.
As Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee tweeted, Orgeron is at least making a case to take over full-time coaching duties:
If LSU beats the Florida Gators in Week 6, Orgeron might receive a contract extension on the 50-yard line of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Getting a read on the Gators is tough. They dominated the Kentucky Wildcats in a 45-7 win and followed up with a great first half against Tennessee. Then, Florida collapsed in the second half. The Gators are coming off a win over the Vanderbilt Commodores in which they gained 236 yards and scored 13 points.
LSU's defense has been as good as the offense has been bad in 2016. The Tigers rank ninth in S&P+ defensive rating, according to Football Outsiders.
That doesn't bode well for a Florida offense that has yet to get consistent quarterback play from either Luke Del Rio or Austin Appleby.
In terms of offense, LSU and Florida cancel each other out, and defensively, little separates the two. The Gators are second in S&P+ defensive rating.
Assuming the Tigers turned a bit of a corner under Orgeron, they get the slight edge, even with Saturday's game in The Swamp.
Prediction: LSU 17, Florida 14
Miami Hurricanes vs. Florida State Seminoles
Most regarded the Miami Hurricanes' hiring of Mark Richt as an astute move. Not only is Richt an alumnus of the school, but he was a proven winner with the Georgia Bulldogs.
Still, few expected Richt to deliver such immediate returns. USA Today's Dan Wolken also lauded the hiring of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz:
The Florida State Seminoles have been equally surprising, but not in a good way. They were throttled by the Louisville Cardinals and lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels on a last-second field goal.
To his credit, head coach Jimbo Fisher admitted in his postgame press conference that he and his staff need to improve in order to turn things around:
This has all the makings of being a potential banana peel for Miami after the team climbed to No. 10 in the AP Top 25 poll.
One of the biggest knocks on the end of Richt's tenure at Georgia was the Bulldogs' inability to win their most critical games, according to ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach: "The Bulldogs also struggled to beat their stiffest competition. After Georgia went 25-13 against ranked opponents in Richt's first seven seasons, it has gone 14-23 against them in the eight seasons since, including a 0-2 mark [in 2015]."
The saving grace for Miami could be Florida State's putrid defense. Without safety Derwin James, the unit has been terrible. The Seminoles are allowing 438.4 yards (94th) and 35.4 points (105th) per game.
With that said, Florida State has the offensive firepower to go toe to toe with what has been a great Miami defense. Running back Dalvin Cook is back to his best after his lackluster start, and freshman quarterback Deondre Francois has shown nice poise under center given his lack of experience.
Miami hasn't really been tested this year. The Hurricanes' 45-10 road win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers is nice, but the Mountaineers aren't yet in the elite of college football.
Hurricanes fans will learn the hard way not to put too much faith in a hot start by a Richt-coached team.
Florida State has everything to play for, and that desperation will be evident when the Seminoles take the field in Miami.
Prediction: Florida State 30, Miami 17
Stats courtesy of NCAA.com unless otherwise noted, and betting lines are courtesy of Odds Shark.
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