Notre Dame and BYU walk into Week 7 carrying the kind of stakes that make the College Football Playoff conversation come into focus fast.
The Fighting Irish are trying to stay on track for a finish inside the top 12 of the final CFP rankings, and that means winning one of the two heavyweight tests still ahead of them. BYU is one of those chances.
Miami is the other. For the Cougars, the math is just as unforgiving.
The Big 12 does not offer many marquee chances, so if BYU wants real playoff consideration, it probably needs something big on the résumé beyond an automatic bid through the conference title game. Knocking off Notre Dame would certainly qualify.
That sets up an unusually meaningful top-10 matchup in Provo, where the early line has Notre Dame favored by 11.5 points. It is only the eighth all-time meeting between the schools, and this will be the first one in Provo since 2004. It is also the first time both teams have been ranked in the series history.
Lavell Edwards Stadium should be plenty loud when Notre Dame makes its first visit in more than 20 years, and the Irish are getting their toughest test of the season so far.
The Week 7 board has plenty of other games with serious weight attached.
Ohio State opens as a 3.5-point favorite at Indiana in a rematch of last season’s Big Ten Championship Game. It pairs two top-10 teams and national title contenders, and it will be Ohio State’s first trip to Indiana since Curt Cignetti took over the Hoosiers. Indiana enters at 6-0 and will host its most anticipated home game of Cignetti’s tenure, while Ohio State has rolled since a Week 2 loss at Texas.
Missouri’s trip to Ole Miss comes with a 6.5-point line for the Rebels and plenty of intrigue at quarterback. Former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons is heading back to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to face the team and the quarterback who replaced him. The Simmons-Trinidad Chambliss matchup leads the way in the ninth all-time meeting between the programs and their third as SEC opponents, with CFP positioning on the line as both teams still have tough schedules ahead.
Alabama is also favored by 6.5 points at Tennessee in a rivalry game that keeps finding ways to matter. Tennessee has won its last two home games against Alabama, but since beating the Crimson Tide in 2024, the Volunteers have dropped four straight home games against ranked teams.
Alabama has not celebrated with its usual postgame cigar inside Neyland Stadium since 2020, and the Tide will be eager to change that after a Week 6 loss to Georgia. Tennessee’s quarterback issues only add to the pressure on the home side.
Elsewhere, Wisconsin heads to UCLA as a 3.5-point underdog after the Bruins’ stunning 17-15 win at Oregon. UCLA is 5-0 and 3-0 in the Big Ten in Bob Chesney’s first season and looking like a serious playoff threat. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is 4-1 and 2-0 in conference play since losing to Notre Dame in Week 1, and the Badgers come in off a bye with a chance to start looking like contenders themselves.
A few other Week 7 lines stand out on the early board: Mississippi State at LSU (-10.5), Florida at Texas (-9.5), Northwestern (-9.5) at Michigan State, Kentucky at Oklahoma (-6.5), Wake Forest (-7.5) at Cal, Auburn at Georgia (-18.5), Nebraska at Oregon (-6.5), Utah (-16.5) at Colorado, Oklahoma State at Houston (-3.5), Florida State at Miami (-20.5), Penn State at Michigan (-5.5), Arizona State at Texas Tech (-12.5), and Virginia at SMU (-7.5).
In Other News...
Tennessee Escaped Arkansas But A Bigger Problem Just Followed Them Home
Tennessee finally got back in the win column with a 24-17 escape at Arkansas, and DeSean Bishops late touchdown provided the finish the Volunteers needed after a difficult stretch. The result stopped the skid, but it did not do much to quiet the larger questions hanging over the program, because the performance again left Tennessee looking like a team still searching for something more stable on offense and sharper in the moments that decide tight games.
George MacIntyres play remained part of that conversation, and the same was true of Tennessees repeated issues late in the first half, where opportunities have been slipping away in ways that can change a games rhythm. The coaching decisions also come under the microscope after a win like this, because the Volunteers return home with relief from the result but plenty of uncertainty about how well this group is positioned for the tougher games ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Coach Defends Late Decision After Tennessee Escapes Fayetteville
Arkansas came up short against Tennessee, 24-17 in Fayetteville, and the postgame conversation quickly turned to the margins of the loss. Ryan Silverfield spent his media availability walking through what went wrong, with the defense holding up long enough to keep the Razorbacks in it while the offense struggled to finish enough drives to shift the pressure back onto the Volunteers.
Silverfield also faced the inevitable questions about his late-game choice to punt instead of going for it on fourth down, a decision that loomed large with the score still within reach. He said he had a rationale behind the call and pointed to the areas Arkansas needs to clean up going forward, leaving the focus on execution as much as strategy after a game that slipped away in one possession. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees In-State Push For Lucas Cornwell Just Got More Interesting
Tennessees recruiting work on the road took another in-state step forward when the Vols hosted several 2028 prospects at Neyland Stadium for an SEC game, including tight end Braxton Rein, Jake Payne, Lee Steele and Lucas Cornwell. Cornwell, a Smith County High School standout from Carthage, got a closer look at the program and came away speaking highly of the visit, particularly his conversations with Tennessees tight ends coaches and head coach Josh Heupel.
The part worth watching now is how the Vols continue to shape their evaluation of Cornwell. There is still no offer in hand, but the interest is clearly there, and the staff has already had conversations about whether he could eventually grow into a tackle spot in college. For an in-state prospect this early in the process, that kind of versatility talk can matter, and Tennessee has at least put itself in position to keep the conversation going. [Read more 🡒]