Top College Football Games in Week 6
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
With Week 5 of the college football season in the books, Week 6 offers 10-12 games that have conference and/or national title contention shaping outcomes. The conference that could come into sharper focus when the week is over is the Big Ten with the Pac-12 right behind.
The Big Ten East Division is seemingly a two-team race with Ohio State and Michigan State, but what about the West Division? Northwestern and Iowa are undefeated and undefeated in the conference at 5-0, 1-0, with Illinois ready to make some noise after topping Nebraska over the weekend. The Fighting Illini travel to Iowa to help give greater focus to the West.
Northwestern can continue on their upward trend if they can handle Big Blue on the road. Michigan is shaping up and could be a co-East Division title winner if they can knock of Michigan State and Sparty beats Ohio State. Michigan beating both Ohio State and Michigan State in the same year seems like a long shot, but first they have to stop Northwestern to prove they are the real deal.
In the Pac-12, Washington travels to Los Angeles to face USC. USC got a reprieve when Arizona State beat UCLA leaving just Utah atop the South Division. The Utes will have their hands full with an up and coming Cal team. Cal struggled at home against Washington State in Week 5 but some of that could have been a look ahead mentality by the Golden Bears.
For now Oklahoma State is a contender in the Big 12, a conference without an end of the season championship game. TCU and Baylor are considered the top teams in the conference but OSU can keep in the running, if they get past West Virginia on the road this week, until Nov. 7 when TCU comes to town. The Cowboys get Baylor and Oklahoma the last two weeks of the season to help settle any uncertainty in-conference if all is not sorted before then.
Oklahoma gets Texas in the Red River Rivalry right when the Longhorns are at their worst. The Sooners do not face the other elite teams in the conference until the last three weeks of the season meaning OU could be undefeated and in the Top 5 when heading to Waco on No. 14 after beating up on Charlie Strong and company this week.
Al Golden has seemingly run out of supporters willing to go out on a limb for him. The Hurricanes lost to Cincinnati 34-23 in Week 5 and faced fans on the road with “fire” Al Golden signs. All could be forgiven with a road win against a Florida State team that has not looked sharp yet this season.
Georgia Tech started the year ranked No. 16 in the AP preseason polls but are now down and out at 2-3. A season saving win on the road against Clemson would do wonders for the program and the team. No. 6 Clemson is coming off a close 24-22 win over then No. 6 Notre Dame. Could there be an emotional letdown for the Tigers?
One of the surprise teams of the 2015 season is Florida. The Gators are undefeated sitting at 5-0 after downing No. 3 Ole Miss in convincing fashion, 38-10 in the Swamp. Traveling to Missouri could be a trap game with a road trip to No. 7 LSU in Week 7. If the Gators take care of business in Columbia, the Week 7 showdown against the Tigers in Death Valley could be a Top 10 matchup.
Georgia gets a chance to reassemble their shattered national title hopes with a road game against Tennessee. Tennessee is coming off another heartbreaking loss, this one to Arkansas. Will the Volunteers be emotionally ready for Georgia? If the Vols can pull off an upset Mark Richt might be done in Athens.
Few college football fans may give Arkansas a legitimate shot against Alabama, the opening line gives the Razorbacks 16 points, but this is a matchup that fits both teams style of play – line them up and let the big boys pound and ground. The Hogs cannot afford a moral victory and the Crimson Tide cannot get down another game to LSU or Texas A&M in the loss column making this a must-win for Bama. Arkansas nearly upset Alabama last year before falling 14-13. Could be an interesting game.
Top Games in Week 6 per Conference
Thursday, Oct. 8
Pac-12
Washington at No. 17 USC
Saturday, Oct. 10
Big Ten
Illinois at Iowa
Indiana at Penn State
No. 13 Northwestern at No. 18 Michigan
Big 12
No. 10 Oklahoma at Texas
No. 21 Oklahoma State at West Virginia
No. 2 TCU at Kansas State
ACC
Georgia Tech at No. 6 Clemson
Miami at No. 12 Florida State
Pac-12
No. 23 Cal at No. 5 Utah
SEC
No. 19 Georgia at Tennessee
Arkansas at No. 8 Alabama
No. 11 Florida at Missouri
AP Rankings Week 6
- Ohio State (38)
- TCU (5)
- Baylor (10)
- Michigan State
- Utah (7)
- Clemson
- LSU
- Alabama
- Texas A&M (1)
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Florida State
- Northwestern
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Stanford
- USC
- Michigan
- Georgia
- UCLA
- Oklahoma State
- Iowa
- California
- Toledo
- Boise State
Photo credit: Patrick Semansky; Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh looks for a call from the refs against Maryland.