Week 7 has the feel of a danger zone for ranked teams, and the warning lights are flashing for more than a few of them.
After six top-25 teams were upset in Week 6 - the third straight weekend with at least five ranked losses - the chaos already has plenty of momentum. Oklahoma’s stunning comeback over No.
1 Texas at the Cotton Bowl headlined the damage, and No. 10 LSU, No.
16 Florida and No. 25 Pittsburgh also got knocked off by unranked opponents.
Texas is right back in the spotlight here, and for all the wrong reasons. The Longhorns just dropped a 27-24 decision to Oklahoma after Arch Manning threw two questionable interceptions in the fourth quarter, and the same kind of volatility has made Texas hard to trust.
When Manning is locked in, he looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the country. But the off stretches keep showing up, and that inconsistency makes it difficult to buy Texas as a legitimate championship team, even with that early-season win over Ohio State.
The offense hasn’t topped 24 points against a P4 opponent, and Florida has the kind of scoring ability that can make things uncomfortable if Texas doesn’t get moving.
Ole Miss is another team that has to stay sharp. The Rebels look back on track after their stumble in Gainesville, and the BYE week clearly helped.
They rolled past Vanderbilt 52-17 last time out, but Missouri is a different kind of problem. The Tigers have cleaned up a shaky start and have put together two eye-opening wins, hammering No.
8 Florida and blowing out Texas A&M. Missouri’s only loss came on the road, and right now this team looks like one of the SEC’s most dangerous groups.
UCLA has turned into one of the more unpredictable stories of the season under Bob Chesney. The Bruins entered the year as an underdog and now find themselves in upset-candidate territory after going into Oregon and beating the Ducks last weekend.
The catch is that they lost starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava in the process. Wisconsin, meanwhile, comes in hot with four straight wins, including a road victory over ranked Penn State.
The Badgers have the chance to hand UCLA its first loss of the season.
Oklahoma is back in the mix too, and not just because of what happened against Texas. The Sooners have some momentum and, despite an unexpectedly rough start, still have the talent to hang in the SEC if John Mateer can get going.
Kentucky is technically the underdog in this matchup, but the Wildcats are the ranked team while Oklahoma is not. Will Stein’s group is 5-1, with the only loss coming against Alabama, though two straight overtime wins have shown just how thin the margins have been.
LSU has its own trouble spot to navigate. Mississippi State may not be favored, but the Bulldogs could still make this more uncomfortable than people expect after downgrading star quarterback Kamario Taylor from questionable to doubtful.
Taylor is dealing with a lower-body injury suffered in the loss to Alabama. LSU, for its part, is coming off that overtime defeat at Kentucky and already has two losses in six games.
That kind of start can create questions inside a locker room. Still, the Tigers have been dominant in their four home games, and Lane Kiffin may have his team ready to answer back in Baton Rouge.
SMU’s season has been messy enough that nothing should be taken for granted. The Mustangs are 4-1, but they’ve had to survive plenty of turbulence along the way.
They escaped Florida State on Labor Day, then were beaten by Louisville by double digits. Since then, things have stayed tight: they trailed Missouri State by double digits before rallying, then had to grind out a narrow win over Boston College.
Virginia has been just as odd in its own way. The Cavaliers were overwhelmed by Florida State, nearly fell apart against Syracuse, and then fought back from a 17-7 deficit.
The rushing attack has been solid enough, and if Beau Pribula gives SMU a lift, this one could turn into another fight.
In Other News...
Kewan Lacy Suddenly Carries Big Stakes For Ole Miss Against Missouri
Kewan Lacys return to availability gives Ole Miss a little more weight in a matchup that already carried plenty of meaning for him. The running back transferred from Missouri and is now back in the conversation for the Rebels after being cleared off the injury report, a welcome development after a season interrupted by injuries. He was back in the starting role in Ole Miss last game and finished it with a touchdown, a reminder that when he is on the field, he can still tilt the offense in a useful way.
Missouri will get its own familiar face across the line of scrimmage in running back Jamal Roberts, a former teammate who spoke about the competitive edge between the two. That adds another layer to a game that already had plenty of personal stakes attached to it, with Lacy set to face the program he left and Ole Miss hoping his health can finally translate into a steadier role. Even before the opening kick, this one feels like more than just another SEC meeting. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Gets Texas At A Moment The Longhorns Desperately Needed Stability
Texas arrives in Oxford already carrying more baggage than anyone in the program would have wanted at this point in the season. Floridas 27-24 win over No. 7 Texas made it back-to-back SEC losses for the Longhorns, and the latest one came with Arch Manning enduring another difficult afternoon, capped by a costly late fumble that helped swing the game. For a team that opened the year with playoff hopes, the margin for error has quickly disappeared.
Ole Miss now gets a Texas team trying to steady itself while the schedule only gets tougher. The Longhorns still have multiple ranked opponents ahead, which means there is not much room for the kind of uneven play that has followed them through conference play. From the Rebels perspective, that makes this matchup more than just another SEC date - it is a chance to catch Texas at a moment when the Longhorns badly need a clean response, and they have yet to show they can find one. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Faces Its Biggest Road Test Since The Tigers Took Off
College GameDay is leaning into the idea that Saturday in Oxford could come down to the final possession, and Rece Davis is now the latest national voice to land on Ole Miss in a game that has plenty of attention around the SEC. After ESPN analysts Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel went with Missouri, Davis flipped his pick and framed it as a tight, back-and-forth matchup with the Rebels squeezing out a narrow win.
For Ole Miss, the appeal is obvious: the Rebels get a chance to prove their fast start is more than a hot streak, and Trinidad Chambliss is set to be a key part of that conversation. Missouri has its own reasons to believe, with Austin Simmons in the spotlight and both teams dealing with injury concerns that could shape how aggressive each side can be. It has the feel of a true measuring-stick game, the kind that can say plenty about where both programs really stand, even before the final score tells the full story. [Read more 🡒]