It’s a stellar slate of games this Saturday..

Big one in Auburn as the No .18 Tigers host the No.10 Ole Miss Rebels. The game is of gigantic importance, but in other major news out of Auburn, Bryan Harsin is still not stating whether he received the vaccine or not. By not saying, it’s a pretty sure thing he hasn’t, as Kay Ivey says, “taken the vaccine.” ‘

If he wants to keep his job, he better hurry up and get it because both Auburn and Alabama have a deadline of December 8th for all their employees to get the vaccine or they will not get millions of dollars of federal funding from the government. So like it or not, those are the rules, so Harsin needs to get it together before it’s too late and he’s out of a job. He’s a Boise, Idaho native and was the coach at Boise State previously. Idaho is the second lowest vaccinated state in the nation just ahead of West Virginia. Idaho has vaccinated 43.6% of its residents. So, whatever is keeping Harsin from getting vaccinated, it may land him back in Boise for the winter if he doesn’t get his act together. It’s a bad example for his team and his University.

So Harsin needs to do some soul searching and figure out if he wants to keep a well paying job with a chance to excel on the college football landscape. He’s done some good things as a coach so far, but he’s going to have to step up for his players and his coaches or else he won’t be employed by Auburn come December 8th.

But the game Saturday is expected to be phenomenal. The high flying Rebels and the new found Bo Nix and the Auburn offense will lock horns. The defenses are above average, though not certain Ole Miss is there yet on defense. But Matt Corral and the offense will test Derek Mason’s defense severely. Can Bo Nix keep his momentum and super play going in a critical game for the Tigers. Those are a couple of the storylines heading into the 6 PM game Saturday on ESPN.

The No.3 Crimson Tide is off this week in anticipation of hosting the LSU Tigers next Saturday at Bryant-Denny next Saturday, 11-6. Game time not been announced yet, but I’m expecting 2:30 PM CT on CBS. LSU is a shell of itself and Coach O has had a tough time since his 2019 National Championship season. Losing Joe Burrow, Joe Brady and that talent from that team set him back severely, and injuries and scandals have cost him his job. Theodopolous told me last week that Coach O is “charismatic.” I agree with Teo. I like Coach O and hope he can get back in the game. Just ran into a buzzsaw of problems in the last couple of seasons. His 2021 team was beset by injuries, and they just couldn’t recover. So, I feel bad for Coach O. The Crimson Tide will try to rebound from a good performance, at times, but a little uneven against Tennessee last Saturday Night at Bryant-Denny. I will say, Tennessee is a pretty good team. The Tide had problems in the secondary, so S and his team have a chance to fix that this week and next before the Bengal Tigers come to town. S is celebrating his 70th birthday on Sunday, the 31st. He says he will have 12 couples to his house in North Georgia. Sounds good. He may have a chance this weekend to cut another AFLAC commercial with Coach Prime. Those are fun.

The Cocktail Bash will commence several hours prior to the 2:30 PM CT kickoff between Georgia and Florida. The game itself could be an interesting one. The Dawgs seem really locked in right now. What’s interesting to me is how Kirby Smart is going to handle his quarterback predicament. Like any good coach, he said on Monday that he’ll decide on how they both practice this week. It’s hard to sit Stetson Bennett with all that he’s done, but if you want to look at the glass half full, it’s a pretty great problem to have with J.T. Daniels, potentially a prolific player as well under center. This shouldn’t be a major problem and I bet Kirby has learned from his Justin Fields/Jake Fromm controversy 3 years ago and will make the right decision this time.

An interesting national slate headlined by a key matchup in East Lansing, Michigan as the No.6 Michigan Wolverines invade Spartan Stadium to face the No.8 Michigan State Spartans. Critical Big Ten and national implications in that one. A game that’s lost a little bit of its marquee value takes place in Columbus as No. 5 Ohio State, which is on a roll though it’s been playing inferior competition, hosts now unranked Penn State. James Franklin said quarterback Sean Clifford is 100% this week, so that should help the Nittany Lions’ cause, though they took a major body blow last Saturday at home losing in 9 overtimes to Illinois, 20-18. With the new overtime rules, after the first overtime, each team has to go for 2 if they score a TD in the second overtime, and starting in the third overtime, each team only goes for 2 every OT period. Illinois won it in the 9th OT. I like the new rule. It speeds up overtime and it’s exciting.

So here’s this week’s action.

Last Week, 14-10, Overall: 134-59, 69%

ATS, last week, 8-16 (brutal), overall, 102-90, 53%.

No. 18 Auburn 35, No. 10 Ole Miss 30

Jordan-Hare Stadium

6 PM CT

ESPN

Sean, Todd, Molly

Auburn by 2 1/2

Harsin and the Tigers outlast Lane, Corral and the Rebels in a major victory for the Tigers.

No.1 Georgia 34, Florida 17

TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL.

2:30 PM CT

CBS

Brad, Gary, Jamie

Dawgs by 14

The starting quarterback will be an interesting call for Kirby, but whoever is under center is talented and there is a ton of talent around him and the best defense in the country at least in the last 5 years, maybe even longer.

No.12 Kentucky 31, Mississippi State 27

Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville

6 PM CT

SEC Network

Tom, Jrodg, Cole

Kentucky by 1 1/2

Still very bullish on Mark Stoops’ team. They get a major victory on the road.

Missouri 35, Vanderbilt 14

Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville

2 PM CT

SEC Network

Dave, Deuce, Andraya

Mizzou by 16 1/2

Off, No.3 Alabama, No.14 Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Nationally

Michigan 23, Michigan State 20

Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI.

11 AM CT

FOX

Gus, Joel, Jenny

Michigan by 4

Jim Harbaugh gets a signature victory as his team aims to be elite this season. It’ll be a tussle though against a scrappy Spartans team under the great Mel Tucker, who is a candidate for the LSU job. Should be a classic in the Big Ten.

No.5 Ohio State 31, No. 20 Penn State 27

Ohio Stadium, Columbus

6:30 PM CT

ABC

Fowler, Herbstreit, Rowe

Ohio State by 18 1/2

I’m expecting a closer game than anticipated. Penn State’s defense can slow up the Buckeyes’ offense, and with a healthy Clifford, the Nittany Lions have a shot to make it real interesting.

No.2 Cincinnati 45, Tulane 17

Yulman Stadium, New Orleans

11 AM CT

ESPN2

Anish Schroff, Mike Golic Jr., Taylor McGregor

Cincy by 26

Cincy was taken to the wire by Navy last Saturday, and I hate to use this word but they do need some more “style” points. They’re going to take it out on Tulane.

No.4 Oklahoma 48, Texas Tech 34

Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK.

2:30 PM CT

ABC

Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Lugues

OU by 19 1/2

The Sooners have made it interesting all season. This one is a little more of a breather, but they’ve still got their work cut out for them if they want to be elite.

No.7 Oregon 42, Colorado 14

Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR.

2:30 PM CT

FOX

Aaron Goldsmith, Brock Huard

Ducks by 24

After a tremendous victory on the road over UCLA last Saturday, the Ducks are back in the thick of things in the national landscape. They’ve got work to do to get into the Final Four, but if they take care of business and get some help, which they should with these highly ranked teams playing each other head to head, they’ve got a shot. The 42-35 victory at Columbus will loom large at the end of the season if the Ducks win out.

No. 11 Notre Dame 35, North Carolina 31

Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN.

6:30 PM CT

NBC

Tirico, Breesy, Kathryn Tappen

Irish by 3 1/2

The Irish keep a very good season going as they are hoping to win out and get help.

Wisconsin 24, No.9 Iowa 20

Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI.

11 AM CT

ESPN

Bob Wischten, Dan Orlovsky, Kris Budden

Whisky by 3 1/2

Wisconsin earned a season changing convincing victory over then No. 25 Purdue a week ago at Purdue after Purdue had gone into Iowa City the week before and upset the Hawkeyes. The Badgers keep up the good work.

No. 16 Baylor 42, Texas 38

McLane Stadium, Waco, TX.

11 AM CT

ABC

Tess, Gregory, Katie George

Bears by 3

I expect the Bears to keep their stellar play going. Sark has his work cut out for him in Austin.

No. 13 Wake Forest 42, Duke 21

Truist Field, Winston-Salem, N.C.

3 PM CT

ACC Network

Wes Durham, Roddy Jones, Taylor Davis

Wake by 16

The Demon Deacons are putting themselves in the conversation for a New Year’s Six Bowl if they can keep this up.

No. 17 Pittsburgh 35, Miami 28

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh

11 AM CT

ACC Network

Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich, Jalyn Johnson

Pitt by 9

This Panthers team is for real with their super quarterback, Kenny Pickett. But I expect the Canes to keep it close.

No. 19 SMU 45, Houston 42

TDECU Stadium, Houston

6 PM CT

ESPN 2

Taylor Zarzour, Stinch, Alyssa Lang

Even

Like the Ponies to keep their undefeated season going in a wild offensive contest.

No. 25 BYU 34, Virginia 31

Lavell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT.

9:15 PM CT

ESPN 2

Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, Dawn Davenport

BYU by 2 1/2

If you can stay up for this one, it promises to be a classic with the understudy, BYU Coach Kalani Sitake, outlasting his mentor and previous coach at BYU, Bronco Mendenhall.

West Virginia 34, No.22 Iowa State 31

Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West VA.

1 PM CT

Big 12 Network/ESPN+

Cyclones by 7

Like the Mountaineers in the upset. They build off the momentum of upsetting TCU on the road last Saturday. They’re hot team and Morgantown is a heckuva home field advantage.

Utah 41, UCLA 31

Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake

9 PM CT

ESPN

Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore, Stormy Buonantony

Utes by 6 1/2

Bullish on the Utes at home in this interesting matchup.

Fresno State 34, San Diego State 30

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA.

9:30 PM CT

CBS Sports Network

Dave Ryan, Aaron Murray

SDSU by 1

Give me the Bulldogs in the slight upset. They’re good at knocking off ranked teams.

Clemson 24, Florida State 21

Memorial Stadium, Clemson

2:30 PM CT

ESPN

Mark Jones, RGIII, Quint Kessenich

Clemson by 9 1/2

This game has been a blockbuster in the past, but has lost a lot of its luster this season. Dabo probably needs to make some changes in his staff after the season. FSU is playing better, so they’ll give the Tigers a game.