College Football Picks Week 6: Top 25 Rankings, Schedule, Odds and Predictions
The first weekend of October poses a interesting set of tests for the nation's top college football programs.
Three of the top five teams in the AP Top 25 face road contests in Week 6, while three Top 10 sides go head-to-head with ranked foes.
In total, seven Top 25 teams head to the road in Week 6, but only Kentucky is listed as an underdog.
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The line for the Wildcats' trip to Texas A&M doesn't make a ton of sense upon first glance, but it gives an extra dose of motivation to use as it continues to surprise many observes of the sport with their fast start.
As for the favored programs, they don't need more motivation than they already have as the dream of winning a national championship inches closer by the week.
AP Top 25
1. Alabama (5-0)
2. Georgia (5-0)
3. Ohio State (5-0)
4. Clemson (5-0)
5. LSU (5-0)
6. Notre Dame (5-0)
7. Oklahoma (5-0)
8. Auburn (4-1)
9. West Virginia (4-0)
10. Washington (4-1)
11. Penn State (4-1)
12. UCF (4-0)
13. Kentucky (5-0)
14. Stanford (4-1)
15. Michigan (4-1)
16. Wisconsin (3-1)
17. Miami (4-1)
18. Oregon (4-1)
19. Texas (4-1)
20. Michigan State (3-1)
21. Colorado (4-0)
22. Florida (4-1)
23. NC State (4-0)
24. Virginia Tech (3-1)
25. Oklahoma State (4-1)
Week 6 Schedule and Odds
All Times ET.
Saturday, October 6
No. 1 Alabama (-35.5) at Arkansas (Noon, ESPN)
No. 19 Texas vs. No. 7 Oklahoma (-8) (Noon, Fox)
Kansas at No. 9 West Virginia (-26) (Noon, ESPN2)
Maryland at No. 15 Michigan (-17.5) (Noon, ABC)
Northwestern at No. 20 Michigan State (-9.5) (Noon, FS1)
Boston College at No. 23 NC State (-3.5) (12:30 p.m., ACC Network)
No. 4 Clemson at Wake Forest (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
No. 5 LSU (-3) at No. 22 Florida (3:30 p.m., CBS)
Florida State at No. 17 Miami (-12.5) (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
Iowa State at No. 25 Oklahoma State (-10) (3:30 p.m., ESPN2)
Indiana at No. 3 Ohio State (-27.5) (4 p.m., Fox)
Arizona State at No. 21 Colorado (-2) (4 p.m.
SMU at No. 12 UCF (-25) (7 p.m., ESPNU)
No. 13 Kentucky at Texas A&M (-6) (7 p.m., ESPN)
Vanderbilt at No. 2 Georgia (-27.5) (7:30 p.m., SEC Network)
No. 8 Auburn (-4) at Mississippi State (7:30 p.m., ESPN2)
No. 10 Washington (-21) at UCLA (7:30 p.m., Fox)
Nebraska at No. 16 Wisconsin (-23.5) (7:30 p.m., BTN)
No. 6 Notre Dame (-5.5) at No. 24 Virginia Tech (8 p.m., ABC)
Utah at No. 14 Stanford (10:30 p.m., ESPN)
Available odds obtained from OddsShark.
Predictions
Oklahoma Wins But Fails To Cover
The No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners deserve to be favored by more than one possession against the No. 19 Texas Longhorns, but there's no guarantee they'll cover.
Despite facing a bump in the road against Army two weeks ago, the Sooners are the better of the two teams entering the Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl.
Texas has built up momentum into Saturday's clash following an embarrassing Week 1 defeat at Maryland, which was a performance that showed how bad the Longhorns could be if they don't show up for a game.
Oklahoma's had an advantage in the rivalry of late with six wins since 2010, but the majority of the clashes this decade have been close.
Each of the last four meetings between the Sooners and Longhorns has been decided by seven points or fewer, with three of them being five-point victories by Oklahoma.
The difference between Saturday's clash and past years is Texas is ranked for the first time since 2012 for the Red River Showdown.
Texas will give Oklahoma one of its toughest tests of the season, as it will be motivated by the rivalry and opportunity to prove they're a serious player in the Big 12 title race.
Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray will end up being the difference-maker in the fourth quarter, but his defining play won't come until late in the contest.
With Texas playing the Sooners tight before the seventh-ranked program in the nation pulls away, taking Texas to cover is the right move.
Kentucky Proves Oddsmakers Wrong
No. 13 Kentucky is the only ranked team listed as an underdog versus an unranked foe in Week 6.
It's understandable that the Wildcats are the underdog in a difficult road environment at Texas A&M, but a six-point spread is disrespectful to Mark Stoops' team.
Kentucky is 2-0 against ranked opponents and passed its only road test in Week 2 with a 27-16 win over Florida, so it's not like the Wildcats have given oddsmakers an opportunity to doubt them.
The spread looks a bit more questionable given Texas A&M's play since its two-point home defeat to Clemson in Week 2.
After crushing Louisiana-Monroe, the Aggies were steamrolled by No. 1 Alabama and only beat 1-4 Arkansas by seven points at a neutral site in Week 5.
While most of the attention focused on Kentucky goes to running back Benny Snell, its defense deserves praise as well for holding all five of its opponents to 20 points or fewer.
Since Kentucky's put together the better collection of performances compared to Texas A&M, it feels like an easy pick to take the Wildcats as a road underdog.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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