College Football Picks Week 4: Predictions for Top 25 Games on Upcoming Schedule

The SEC makes its debut on the college football schedule in Week 4. 

With each of the 14 programs playing a 10-game conference schedule, we should be treated to high-quality matchups every week. 

The Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn Tigers fit that billing Saturday afternoon, as they face off in the only Top 25 clash between SEC squads.

The other two ranked matchups come from the ACC and The American. The one in the ACC between Louisville and Pittsburgh pits a team looking bounce back from a home loss against one off to a 2-0 start.

Week 4 College Football Schedule

All Times ET; Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Kansas State at No. 3 Oklahoma (-27.5) (Noon, Fox)

No. 5 Florida (-13.5) at Ole Miss (Noon, ESPN)

No. 7 Notre Dame (-19) at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC)

No. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn (-8) (Noon, SEC Network)

No. 13 UCF (-25.5) at East Carolina (Noon, ESPN+)

Georgia Southern at No. 19 Louisiana (-15) (Noon, ESPN2)

No. 24 Louisville at No. 21 Pittsburgh (-3.5) (Noon, ACC Network)

Mississippi State at No. 6 LSU (-18.5) (3:30 p.m., CBS)

No. 8 Texas (-17.5) at Texas Tech (3:30 p.m., Fox)

No. 22 Army at No. 14 Cincinnati (-11.5) (3:30 p.m., ESPN)

West Virginia at No. 15 Oklahoma State (-8.5) (3:30 p.m., ABC)

No. 4 Georgia  (-24.5) at Arkansas (4 p.m., SEC Network)

No. 2 Alabama (-28) at Missouri (7 p.m., ESPN)

Vanderbilt at No. 10 Texas A&M (-29.5) (7:30 p.m., SEC Network Alternate)

Florida State at No. 12 Miami (-11) (7:30 p.m., ABC)

No. 16 Tennessee (-3) at South Carolina (7:30 p.m., SEC Network)

NC State at No. 20 Virginia Tech (-10)(8 p.m., ACC Network)

Troy at No. 18 BYU (-14.5) (10:15 p.m., ESPN)

Predictions against the spread in bold. 

Predictions

No. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn (-8)

The first window of Saturday's SEC slate gives us an intriguing battle between an upstart team in the SEC East over the last few years and a consistent figure in the SEC West. 

Kentucky has four consecutive winning seasons under Mark Stoops, and it has found a way to win amid difficult situations over the years. In 2019, the Wildcats rode Lynn Bowden to a 7-5 regular season and bowl win over Virginia Tech after quarterback Terry Wilson suffered an injury. 

Wilson is back under center in 2020, but he needs to develop chemistry with skill position players thrust into larger roles. 

Running backs Asim Rose and Christopher Rodriguez, and wide receivers Josh Ali and Allen Dailey carry experience, but they all took a backseat to Bowden's dynamic play-making ability in the second half of last season. 

The Wildcats could be in good shape moving forward, but it may take some time for Wilson to regain a rhythm in the pocket without reps to regain his in-game confidence. 

Auburn has the edge in experience between its quarterback and wide receivers since Bo Nix returns alongside Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove, who had the three best reception and receiving yards totals for the Tigers in 2019,

Nix was not the best quarterback in the SEC as a freshman, but he was consistent with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, one of which occurred in the final six games. 

If Nix avoids turnovers and works well with his experienced receiver trio, the Tigers could get off to a much-needed 1-0 start ahead of a road trip to Georgia to start October.

No. 24 Louisville at No. 21 Pittsburgh (-3.5)

Louisville has plenty of defensive errors to fix ahead of its trip to Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals were gashed on countless occasions by Miami's play-action game Saturday that put them in a hole they could not dig out of. 

Scott Satterfield's team faces the treacherous combination of a rolling offense and an in-form defense in Week 3. 

Pittsburgh outscored Austin Peay and Syracuse 76-10 in the first two of four home games to start the campaign.

Of course, there was a steep upgrade in opponent from the FCS Governors to Pitt's first ACC foe, but both performances are worth noting because of how dominant the defense was.

In the 21-10 win over Syracuse, the Panthers limited the Orange to 171 total yards and 51 rushing yards while forcing a pair of turnovers. 

If they apply the same defensive pressure to Malik Cunningham, the Louisville quarterback may not have time to find Tutu Atwell on deep balls. 

Pitt's stingy defense could also limit the output of Javian Hawkins, who put up 235 rushing yards on 46 carries in Louisville's first two games. 

If the Panthers take away one or two of the Cardinals' top offensive weapons, they could continue to rise up the ACC standings.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.