Current:Home > MarketsShould Oklahoma and Texas be worried? Bold predictions for Week 9 in college football-LoTradeCoin
Should Oklahoma and Texas be worried? Bold predictions for Week 9 in college football
lotradecoin top traders leaderboard View Date:2024-12-25 12:49:17
College football is full of unpredictability and those moments can be more magnified with the calendar reaching the end of October.
The hard part is sorting out when and where those moments are going to come from. This Saturday, however, provides plenty of opportunity for upsets and unlikely results with playoff contenders facing challenges and key conference matchups in the Pac-12 and ACC among the highlights.
That's why we're here to make sense of things. The USA TODAY Sports college football staff — Scooby Axson, Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — weigh in with bold predictions for Week 9 of the college football season.
Caleb Williams, USC get back on track
While Southern California may be out of the national championship picture, don’t count Caleb Williams out of the Heisman race. Despite Washington's Michael Penix Jr. being the front-runner, he too has put up a clunker of a game just as Williams has. But Williams has a higher completion percentage, throwing for more yards a game and has a higher yards per attempt average than he did during his Heisman campaign. It’s not his fault the defense can’t stop anyone, and most teams would certainly take the 23 touchdowns and four interceptions he has this season. For the Trojans, Saturday’s game against California will get Williams back on track, and with three ranked teams coming up, a chance to make some history. — Scooby Axson
Colorado give scare to UCLA
When we last saw the Colorado Buffaloes, they were blowing a 29-point lead to a Stanford team whose only other win has come against Hawaii. Now, after squandering what should have been their fifth win, Deion Sanders’ team is left scrambling for two more victories to reach bowl eligibility. They’re going to have to pull some upsets down the stretch if they want to go bowling. Their first crack at one is Saturday at No. 24 UCLA … which just walloped Stanford on the road while the Buffaloes were off stewing. But college football is a strange thing. I’m not sure Colorado will win, but I think the rested Buffaloes put a real scare into the Bruins in a game closer than expected. — Jace Evans
Oklahoma no longer unbeaten after Kansas trip
Kansas scores one of the year’s biggest upsets by outscoring Oklahoma and handing the Sooners their first loss. Beyond mucking up the Big 12 standings, a KU win would remove OU’s wiggle room, demanding a clean sweep from here capped by a win in the rematch against Texas, and increase the possibility that the Big 12 gets left out of the four-team playoff. And it’s not that ridiculous to think the Jayhawks can get it done: Oklahoma has looked beatable in games against SMU, Cincinnati and most recently Central Florida, while the Kansas offense is once again among the nation’s very best. — Paul Myerberg
Texas facing big challenge from Brigham Young
It was posited in this space last week that we'd find out whether this year's version of Texas was different or whether it would revert to previous years by losing a game it should win. The Longhorns narrowly hung on to beat Houston – with some help from the officials – but lost quarterback Quinn Ewers to injury. That means Maalik Murphy starts against visiting Brigham Young in another game that will test their mettle. Don't be surprised when this one is another nail-biter and maybe goes a different way than the trip to Houston last week because BYU is more than capable of pulling off an upset. — Erick Smith
Florida State finally gets best of Wake Forest … in big way
The following sentence might sound strange, but it’s a fact. Florida State hasn’t beaten Wake Forest since 2018.
They didn’t play in 2020 due to the abbreviated ACC schedule, but the Demon Deacons have actually won the last three meetings with the Seminoles, including last season’s 31-21 decision in Tallahassee.
That streak, however, is about to end in emphatic fashion. FSU is back to its accustomed place near the top of the polls, while Wake has not been putting up points at nearly the same clip as the last few seasons. Look for the ‘Noles to have matters well in hand quickly Saturday in Winston-Salem. — Eddie Timanus
Oklahoma about to fall at Kansas
Oklahoma has played above its head to reach 7-0, and it just doesn’t feel like the kind of team that can get through an entire season without a slip-up. So when you look at the schedule, where’s it most likely to occur? It’s clearly this two-game stretch where the Sooners have to play on the road at Kansas and Oklahoma State, both of which are capable teams. But the Sooners are going to be at full throttle for the last Bedlam possibly in quite some time so I’d be surprised if they’re fully locked in for this trip to Lawrence. This is a huge game for Kansas and Lance Leipold will have his team ready for its best effort in an upset. — Dan Wolken
veryGood! (145)
Related
- Gen Z is 'doom spending' its way through the holidays. What does that mean?
- Wayfair's Memorial Day Sale 2023 Has 82% Off Dyson, Blackstone & More Incredible Deals for Under $100
- Consumer Group: Solar Contracts Force Customers to Sign Away Rights
- Purple is the new red: How alert maps show when we are royally ... hued
- When is the 'Survivor' Season 47 finale? Here's who's left; how to watch and stream part one
- Public Comments on Pipeline Plans May Be Slipping Through Cracks at FERC, Audit Says
- Video: A Climate Change ‘Hackathon’ Takes Aim at New York’s Buildings
- Duck Dynasty's Sadie Robertson Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Christian Huff
- Luigi Mangione's Lawyer Speaks Out in UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder Case
- Honeybee deaths rose last year. Here's why farmers would go bust without bees
Ranking
- Luigi Mangione merchandise raises controversy, claims of glorifying violence
- Book bans are on the rise. Biden is naming a point person to address that
- Helping the Snow Gods: Cloud Seeding Grows as Weapon Against Global Warming
- By Getting Microgrids to ‘Talk,’ Energy Prize Winners Tackle the Future of Power
- Amazon's Thank My Driver feature returns: How to give a free $5 tip after delivery
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $300 Crossbody Bag for Just $69
- Georgia police department apologizes for using photo of Black man for target practice
- Biden's sleep apnea has led him to use a CPAP machine at night
Recommendation
-
Trump will be honored as Time’s Person of the Year and ring the New York Stock Exchange bell
-
Peru is reeling from record case counts of dengue fever. What's driving the outbreak?
-
Canada’s Struggling to Build Oil Pipelines, and That’s Starting to Hurt the Industry
-
Zetus Lapetus: You Won't Believe What These Disney Channel Hunks Are Up To Now
-
Most reports ordered by California’s Legislature this year are shown as missing
-
Supreme Court allows Biden administration to limit immigration arrests, ruling against states
-
Growing without groaning: A brief guide to gardening when you have chronic pain
-
As ‘Tipping Point’ Nears for Cheap Solar, Doors Open to Low-Income Families