College GameDay spent Saturday morning laying out its Week 4 board, and the picks leaned hard into the kind of games that can shake up the rankings fast. With a loaded slate featuring a dozen ranked teams meeting head-to-head, the show’s crew made clear they expect plenty of movement when the dust settles.
Guest picker Johnny Knoxville joined Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and Kirk Herbstreit for the selections, and the biggest decisions came in the SEC and Big Ten. Alabama drew a clean sweep at home against South Carolina, while Georgia got the same treatment for its matchup with Oklahoma.
The Bulldogs were a popular call because the Sooners still have not shown enough on offense to convince GameDay they can handle a defense like Georgia’s. The front seven should make life difficult, but the bigger issue remains Oklahoma’s ability to move the ball with any consistency.
At Michigan, Saban and McAfee went with Iowa, but the full group ultimately backed the Wolverines in the writeup, with Bryce Underwood’s legs carrying much of the load. The expectation is a tight, low-scoring game, and Michigan’s ground game is seen as enough to edge it at home.
Oregon also picked up support to get back on track at USC. Herbstreit and Saban leaned Ducks on the show, and the reasoning centered on the Trojans’ defense giving up too many manageable gains. Jayden Maiava was expected to keep things close, but not close enough to stop Oregon from responding.
Texas A&M’s trip to LSU was another spot where the panel tilted heavily one way. Herbie, Pat, and Saban all took the Tigers, with the Aggies trying to recover from last week’s loss to unranked Kentucky. Death Valley, the LSU defense, and Marcel Reed’s shaky start were all part of the case against Texas A&M.
Florida got one of the more interesting splits against Ole Miss. Herbstreit took the Gators, while the others sided with the Rebels. The books had Florida as a field-goal favorite at home, basically treating it like a toss-up, but the final call in the written breakdown went to Ole Miss thanks to quarterback Trinidad Chambliss being the best player on the field, even if Florida’s defense is expected to land some punches.
Missouri also found support on the road at Mississippi State, with Johnny Knoxville joining Herbstreit in taking the Tigers to hand Kamario Taylor and the Bulldogs their first loss. Still, the final written prediction flipped to Mississippi State, with the nod going to Taylor until proven otherwise and Ahmad Hardy still out for Mizzou.
Texas at Tennessee brought one of the livelier moments of the morning. Saban joked that, unlike his last trip to Rocky Top, the Volunteers’ goal posts would be safe if Tennessee pulled the upset, but he still projected Texas to win. McAfee went the other way and backed the Vols to knock off the Longhorns.
The written breakdown also landed on Texas over Tennessee, noting that the Longhorns are a narrow favorite in their SEC road opener. The expectation is that Texas will have enough at the skill spots and enough overall defense to absorb what Tennessee throws at it.
In Other News...
Texas Had To Address A Tennessee Celebration Vols Fans Wont Forget
Texas left Neyland Stadium with a hard-earned 20-17 win over Tennessee, but some of the attention afterward centered on behavior rather than the final score. Head coach Steve Sarkisian met separately with Colin Simmons and Raleek Brown to address celebrations that crossed the line, including the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Simmons drew after a touchdown. For a road win that already carried plenty of weight, it became clear the postgame conversation had to include discipline as much as execution.
Sarkisian made clear he was not brushing it off, especially with Simmons viewed as a potential first-round NFL draft pick and expected to carry himself accordingly. The message was about professionalism and setting a standard moving forward, the kind of correction that can linger long after the scoreboard is forgotten. Tennessee fans may not have liked the result, but they certainly noticed the celebration, and Texas had to answer for it. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Gave Vols Fans A New Respect Debate
Tennessees narrow 20-17 loss to top-ranked Texas at Neyland Stadium left the Vols with the kind of mixed review that tends to linger. The defense and special teams did enough to keep the game tight, but the offense never fully found its rhythm, and that imbalance showed up again when the latest 247Sports SEC poll landed after Week 4.
Georgia claimed the No. 1 spot, Texas settled in at No. 2 and Tennessee slid to No. 8, a drop that adds another layer to the ongoing respect conversation around the program. Florida and Mississippi State made noticeable climbs, while Texas A&M and Ole Miss also moved down, but for Tennessee the bigger question is how much a close battle with the nations top team actually changes the conference view of the Vols. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Gets A Charged Auburn Test After One Ugly Wake-Up Call
Tennessee gets back on the road Saturday, Oct. 3, and the timing of Auburn could hardly be more instructive. Both teams are 3-1, and for Josh Heupels group, the trip comes with a quick chance to reset after the offense sputtered in the loss to Texas, a game that forced the head coach to talk openly about what needs cleaning up.
Champions Weekend adds another layer to the afternoon in Auburn, with Tennessee honoring past championship teams and individuals while the current roster tries to restore some momentum. The Vols do not have much margin for another clunker this early, and this matchup should say plenty about how quickly Heupels offense can respond to the wake-up call it just got. [Read more 🡒]