ESPN’s SP+ is leaning toward Texas in Saturday night’s SEC clash with Ole Miss, calling for the Longhorns to beat the Rebels 31-24 in Austin.
That forecast comes with plenty of context around a matchup that has plenty riding on it for Texas. The game kicks off around 7:30 p.m.
ET on ABC, and the home team enters having dropped two straight and slid from No. 1 to No. 19.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, arrives at No. 7 and on a roll.
The spotlight is squarely on Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian as Texas looks to stop the skid and keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive. A loss to Oklahoma and another to Florida - both unranked - have brought a wave of criticism down on Sarkisian, including on Friday morning from ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky. A strong showing against a quality Rebels team would give him some relief, at least for now.
On the other side, Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss have a chance to walk into Austin and keep pushing Texas deeper into trouble. The Rebels bring the momentum, but SP+ still sees the team without it finishing the night in front.
Texas is only a slight home favorite, so the prediction would not register as a major upset. Still, it runs against the current form of both teams heading into one of Week 8’s biggest games.
Here are the rest of ESPN’s SP+ picks for the week:
Indiana 26, Michigan 18
Utah 33, Houston 25
BYU 32, UCF 17
Horns 31, Rebs 24
LSU 30, Auburn 19
Miami 35, Pitt 17
Hawkeyes 27, Gophers 19
USC 28, Wisconsin 23
Bama 32, A&M 21
REALLY low point totals this week. Odd.
All games:
In Other News...
Texas Faces One Brutal Test Protecting Arch Manning Against Ole Miss
Ole Miss has already spent much of this season proving it can handle high-end competition, with Pete Goldings defense navigating four ranked opponents and coming away with three wins. That track record is a big part of why the Rebels are getting attention heading into the matchup with Texas, a program that has slid from No. 1 to No. 19 after back-to-back losses and now has even more pressure on every snap.
The conversation starts up front, where Ole Miss has leaned on a pass rush that can change the tone of a game and force quarterbacks into hurried decisions. Texas will spend plenty of time worrying about that edge pressure and the Rebels disruptive front, while Ole Miss still has its own offensive cleanup work to handle if it wants to make the most of another marquee SEC chance. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Gets One More Jolt Of Hype Before Texas Showdown
The No. 7 Rebels head to Austin for a ranked SEC showdown with No. 19 Texas that already carries real College Football Playoff weight, and the pregame buzz has only grown louder. The Longhorns are dealing with notable absences in Colin Simmons and Hollywood Smothers, while the quarterback situation has also been unsettled enough that backup KJ Lacey Jr. has been getting more first-team reps than usual.
Ole Miss has also picked up a little extra fuel from the national conversation, with several familiar voices weighing in on the matchup. Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Dalton Kincaid have all offered predictions for the game, and most of them landed on the Rebels as the team more likely to leave Austin with a win. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Pressure Is Suddenly Rising Before Ole Miss Showdown
The Texas Longhorns have gone from the top spot in the rankings to No. 19 after back-to-back losses, and the fallout has put Arch Manning squarely in the middle of the conversation ahead of the upcoming Ole Miss matchup. Even with a passer rating above 150 in each of the last two games, the bigger issue has been the turnovers, which have undercut Texas at the worst possible times and turned a promising season into one suddenly searching for answers.
Josh Pate raised the possibility that Manning could be on a shorter leash moving forward, a sign of how quickly the pressure can build when losses pile up. For Ole Miss, the situation adds another layer of intrigue to a game that already carries plenty of weight, because the quarterback Texas puts on the field could come in with more scrutiny than ever and little room for another costly mistake. [Read more 🡒]