The No.4 Crimson Tide plays host to its annual rival in LSU Saturday at Bryant-Denny at 6:30 P.M. CT on ABC with more playoff implications on the line as Every game matters in November. The Tigers will be led by interim head coach Frank Wilson, a Louisiana native and a former head coach at Nichols State, who has been impressive in interviews. The Tigers were a mess under Brian Kelly and his termination was expensive, but necessary. He just wasn’t the right fit in Baton Rouge. I think the Tide will get a better shot from this Bengal Tigers team with Wilson in charge, so Ty and his offense, and the talented Crimson Tide defense will need to bring their A games to Saban Field. DJ Durkin will lead Auburn into Nashville to face the No.16 Vanderbilt Commodores. These rankings are the College Football Playoff Rankings, which are all that matter at this point going forward. Hugh just wasn’t good enough. Durkin’s defense is exceptional and Freeze couldn’t coach quarterbacks or offense and he couldn’t recruit a quarterback. Maybe offensive coordinator Derrick Nix can have more success with one of the three quarterbacks this Saturday, whether it’s Ashton Daniels, Jackson Arnold or true freshman Deuce Knight. I’m out of ideas for who the starter should be. Arnold may give Auburn the best chance because of his experience and better talent than Daniels and the defense Will give the Tigers a shot against the Dores. No.3 Texas A&M heads to Columbia, MO. to face the No. 22 Missouri Tigers, which will be without starting quarterback Beau Pribula, who suffered a dislocated ankle in Missouri’s 17-10 loss to Vandy. So true freshman Matt Zollers will get the start for the Tigers. He was pretty good in relief of Pribula at Vanderbilt, so he gives them a slight shot. Other key games feature No.5 Georgia on the road at Mississippi State. The Mississippi State Bullies are fresh off an upset victory @ Arkansas, which broke a 16 game SEC losing streak for the Bulldogs. Jeff Lebby has his Bullies playing good ball. No.7 BYU @ No.8 Texas Tech is a tremendous matchup in the Big 12 and nationally. That game kicks off at 11 A. M. CT on ABC, and Rece, Nick, Pat, Herbie, Des and the game day crew will be in Lubbock for that contest. Tulane @ Memphis Friday Night is very nice matchup. The Rebs of Ole Miss, the No.6 team in the country, get a kick in against The Citadel at home. I’ll elaborate more on these key games and other SEC and national contests below.

Record

Last Saturday for week 10, All I picked was Vanderbilt 24, Texas 21 on my Vanderbilt Blog. I lost the SU, won the ATS, and lost the O/U, so my record after week 10 is: SU-101-36, 74%; ATS-67-70, 49%; O/U-73-64, 53%. In Week 9, I went 9-5 SU, 9-5 ATS, and 7-7 O/U

All times Central. Most games Saturday; a couple Friday. All Rankings are Playoff Rankings

LSU (5-3, 2-3) @ No.4 Alabama (7-1, 5-0)

Bryant-Denny Stadium

6:30 P.M.

ABC

Sean, Gregory, Molly

Crimson Tide by 9 1/2, 49 1/2

This could be a tougher game than anticipated as Frank Wilson is an impressive guy and has a team that had lost focus under Brian Kelly, but now, according to Wilson, has locked in and is having fun playing again. There is always great talent down on the Bayou. I like Ty and the Tide, but I like this game a little closer than the spread. This is usually always a hard fought game.

Alabama 28, LSU 20

Auburn (4-5, 1-5) @ No.16 Vanderbilt (7-2,3-2)

FirstBank Stadium, Nashville

3 P.M.

SEC Network

Taylor, Matt, Tori Petry

Dores by 6 1/2, 45 1/2

I like more of a defensive struggle here. If Auburn finds a passing game to go along with a solid running game, they’ve got a shot. I’ll take the Dores, barely.

Vandy 17, Auburn 14

No.3 Texas A&M (8-0, 5-0) @ No.22 Missouri (6-2, 2-2)

Memorial Stadium, Columbia

2:30 P.M.

ABC

Tess, Jess, Katie

A&M by 6 1/2, 47 1/2

I like Missouri to give A&M all it wants.

A&M 24, Missouri 21

No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) @ Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4)

Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville

11 A.M.

ESPN

Dave, Dusty, Taylor

GA. by 8 1/2, 56 1/2

I like what Jeff Lebby is doing at State. He’s got that program heading in the right direction. I always like what Kirby Smart is doing. The Nick Saban of today’s coaches. He’s the best going right now. I do like this to be a hard fought game with Kirby, Gunner Stockton and the Dawgs earning a hard fought victory to keep their playoff aspirations and first round bye aspirations firmly within reach. But State will make’em earn it.

Georgia 31, Mississippi State 24

The Citadel (4-5) @ No.6 Ole Miss (8-1)

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxvegas

12 P.M.

SEC Network+

Rebels by 51 1/2, 63 1/2

Lane, Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels have been playing excellent football, so they’re taking a blow this Saturday. Very much in the hunt for a first round bye if they take care of business and get help with chaos above them.

Ole Miss 49, The Citadel 3

*****Note:***** Joseph “Bama Golf” with maybe the pick of the year going with Ole Miss over @ Oklahoma. The Sooners were a 5 1/2 point favorite at kickoff. I went OU 28, Ole Miss 27, but Bama was even bolder. Good work, Joseph.

Florida (3-5, 2-3) @ Kentucky (3-5, 1-5)

Kroger Field, Lexington

6:30 P.M.

SEC Network

Tom, Jordan, Cole

Gators by 3 1/2, 44 1/2

Both the Gators and the Wildcats availed themselves quite well last Saturday with Florida taking Georgia to the wire in Jacksonville, including having a possible deep ball catch that looked like a possible catch, but was ruled incomplete. The pass was ruled an incompletion on the field, but it could have very well been a catch by the Florida receiver and turned a 24-20 Gator loss into a Gator victory. You have to have 100 percent, irrefutable evidence to overturn a call on the field, and while it wasn’t that, wow, it could have been a catch. But that’s the replay system, and, as painful as it can be sometimes, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Still, Billy Gonzales led his Gators admirably in his interim role. This coaching carousel is a cluster, so I’ve decided to just concentrate on the games right now and set the speculation and rumors aside. I will mention certain candidates in this column every Thursday, just not going to overdo it. It gets old talking about something as speculative as a coaching search is. The interim coaches seem highly capable of leading their teams. Mark Stoops got a big 10-3 victory at Auburn last Saturday Night at Jordan-Hare and sealed Hugh Freeze’s fate. I like the Gators to outlast the Wildcats on the road.

Florida 24, Kentucky 20

Off this week: No.11 Texas and No.12 Oklahoma. Both are alive in the playoff hunt, though they both most likely, but not completely, need to win out and need a little chaos above them as the highest ranked Group of 5 conference champion, which is Memphis now, would supersede one of them . No.25 Tennessee is off, maybe out of it, but not totally done. Arkansas and South Carolina

National Games

No.7 BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) @No.8 Texas Tech (8-1,5-1)

Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, TX.

11 A.M.

ABC

Chris, Kirk, Holly

Red Raiders by 10 1/2, 52 1/2

I like a very close contest here. Texas Tech has a really strong team, but so do the resilient Cougars. I’ll take the Red Raiders, but BYU is not out of the playoff with a close loss because these two teams could very well see each other once again in the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday, December 6th, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. at 11 A.M. CT on ABC. Jerry is trying to make some moves to make his Dallas Cowboys team stronger, but might be relegated to hosting the Big 12 Championship for his postseason experience at AT&T if things don’t change quickly in Big D. Jerry got the great former Alabama star nose tackle Quinnen Williams in a trade with the Jets for one of his 2027 first round picks received from the trade with the Packers for Micah Parsons. He also gave the Jets a 2026 second rounder. He also got a pretty good linebacker from the Bengals in Logan Wilson for a 7th round pick. He’s trying to fill the massive gap on defense eft by his trading the dominating Parsons. The Cowboys are 3-5-1, so they HAVE to figure it out now.

Texas Tech 27, BYU 24

No.1 Ohio State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) @ Purdue (2-7,0-6)

Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN.

12 P.M.

Big Ten Network

Buckeyes by 29 1/2, 48 1/2

I know they’re good, but how good, and will these guys ever play somebody? Michigan on the road Saturday, Nov. 29th at 11 A.M. CT on FOX, and Indiana, most likely, in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday, 12/6/25, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy at 7 P.M. CT on FOX will be tests.

Ohio State 42, Purdue 10

Other Scores

No. 2 Indiana 35, Penn State 10

Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA.

11 A.M.

FOX

Gus, Joel, Jenny

Hoosiers by 14 1/2, 48 1/2

Same thing with this team. Great victory at Oregon, but what else?

No.9 Oregon 20, No.20 Iowa 17

Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City

2:30 P.M.

CBS

Brad, Gary, Jenny

Oregon by 6 1/2; 40 1/2

This is actually a tough game for Oregon. They survive and “matriculate.”

Wake Forest 28, No. 13 Virginia 27

Scott Stadium, C’ville

6 P.M.

ESPN

UVA by 6 1/2, 47 1/2

I’m going to take upset central here.

No.10 Notre Dame 45, Navy 17

Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend

6:30 P.M.

NBC/Peacock

Noah, Todd, Kathryn

Fighting Irish by 25 1/2, 55 1/2

Notre Dame is relevant again. They’re back in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Friday

Memphis 34, Tulane 31

Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis

8 P.M.

ESPN

Anish, Andre, Carc

Memphis by 4 1/2, 54 1/2

This is going to be a stellar matchup of two very good American Conference teams. Memphis has the inside track for the Playoff as the highest ranked Group of Five team right now, but Tulane could burst that bubble and put themselves squarely in the mix. Tulane Coach Jon Sumrall is on shortlists for head SEC jobs at Auburn, LSU and Florida.

Friday

No. 19 USC 30, Northwestern 20

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

8 P.M.

FOX

USC by 14 1/2, 50 1/2

The Trojans are not totally out of the playoff hunt, but will need to win out and get some major help. I like the Wildcats to give’em a tough game Friday Night though.

Playoff

The Top 12 teams as selected by the Committee Last Night were: 1. Ohio State, 2. Indiana, 3. A&M, 4. Alabama, 5. Georgia, 6. Ole Miss, 7. BYU, 8. Texas Tech, 9. Oregon, 10. Notre Dame, 11. Texas, 12. Oklahoma. I thought the Committee did a very good job selecting, at this point, the top 12. As I said earlier, Memphis would take Oklahoma’s spot if this was Selection Sunday, by virtue of the Tigers being the highest ranked Group of 5 team. The Tigers are not in this week’s Playoff 25, but are the highest ranked team outside of that group. And Memphis is a good team also. So Oklahoma and Texas have no margin for error at this point, and Texas is @ Georgia on Saturday, November 15th and then host A&M on Saturday, 11/28. A win in one of those games along with a victory at home versus Arkansas would keep them in the hunt. The playoff has only been going on a year, so a three loss team would not be considered unprecedented if the strength of schedule is as strong as Texas’ is. Just not enough history to go on to not allow a three loss team in the field. The Committee is really taking strength of schedule seriously and the eye test always matters as well. those should be the two most important criteria in my eyes. I think these people know their football. OU is @ Alabama on Saturday, 11/15, they host Missouri, Saturday, 11/22, and host LSU, Saturday, 11/29. So very conceivable for the Sooners to have a shot if they can go 2-1. If they go 3-0, they’re in. Same with Texas because there will be some chaos above them. That is guaranteed in my opinion.

My top 12 teams are, and these are end of season, Selection Sunday Predictions : 1. Ohio State. They don’t play anybody till they’re @ Michigan on Saturday, 11/29. Michigan has won the last 4, so there will be a lot of pressure on Ryan Day if he blows this game again. They’ll probably make it in anyway. This ranking is fluid, so it could change before Ohio State plays Michigan, 2. A&M, 3. Indiana, 4. Crimson Tide, 5.Georgia, 6. Ole Miss, 7. Texas Tech, 8. Oregon, 9. Notre Dame 10. Georgia Tech, still like them to win the ACC. 11. BYU 12. Memphis.

First Round

No.5 Georgia over No.12 Memphis

No.6 Ole Miss over No.11 BYU

No.7 Texas Tech over No. 10 Georgia Tech

No.8 Oregon over No.9 Notre Dame

Quarterfinals

Cotton Bowl, Wednesday, 12/31/25 6:30 P.M. CT, ESPN

No.5 Georgia over No.3 Indiana

Orange Bowl, Thursday, 1/1/26, 11 A.M. CT, ESPN

No.6 Ole Miss over No.2 Texas A&M

Rose Bowl, Thursday, 1/1/26, 3 P.M. CT, ESPN

No.1 Ohio State over No.8 Oregon

Sugar Bowl, Thursday, 1/1/26, 7 P.M., ESPN

No.4 Alabama over No. 7 Texas Tech

Semifinals

Fiesta Bowl, Thursday, 1/8/26, 6:30 P.M. ESPN

Ole Miss 23, Ohio State 21

Chick fil-A-Bowl, Friday, 1/9/26, 6:30 P.M., ESPN

Alabama 28, Georgia 27

National Championship Game, Monday, 1/19/26

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL., 65,326

6:30 P.M.

ESPN

Kalen and the Tide hoist another national championship trophy for the University.

Alabama 34, Ole Miss 31

National Champion: Alabama