The college football season enters November and the stakes for the College Football Playoff and conference races are heating up. There’s pressure to win each week because even the smallest slip-up can be detrimental to teams reaching their goals.
That intense pressure and motivated opposition can lead to unexpected performances and surprising outcomes. Week 10 offers a bunch of opportunities for seasons to be ruined, while others come away with victories that continue their run toward the postseason. But where will those results come from?
That’s why the USA TODAY Sports college football staff is here. Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken weigh in with their bold predictions for Week 10 of the college football season:
South Carolina misses another upset, this time against Texas A&M
South Carolina has played good football this season except for their dud in a 27-3 loss to Ole Miss last month, and have taken Alabama and LSU down to the wire in games they could have won. The Gamecocks welcome Texas A&M, who are the only undefeated team left in SEC play and by winning out can secure a conference championship berth.
There is no telling who the Aggies will start at quarterback, whether it is Marcel Reed or Conner Weigman, who was benched in A&M’s win against LSU. No matter who gets the nod for the Aggies in Saturday’s game, expect South Carolina to play well but to come up one or two plays short in another failed upset bid. — Scooby Axson
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The hot seat turns up for Ryan Day as Ohio State falls
Even though it gets treated like a rivalry, Ohio State has owned Penn State with seven consecutive wins and 11 victories in the last 12 meetings. The Nittany Lions need to change the narrative not only for their own sake, but to prove they are a legit College Football Playoff contender. They’ll get a Buckeyes team that’s coming off a shaky performance where the offense was out of sorts. Penn State takes advantage of it by mostly making life tough on Will Howard and preventing any momentum from being achieved. Penn State wins without a doubt and hands Ohio State a second loss. At 6-2, pressure starts to mount for Ryan Day as a College Football Playoff spot doesn’t seem as certain, especially with Indiana and rival Michigan still left on the schedule. — Jordan Mendoza
Pittsburgh shakes up ACC with road win at SMU
With a healthy Eli Holstein under center, Pittsburgh scores a miniature upset of SMU to stay unbeaten and a real factor in the playoff mix. Topping the Mustangs would also set up the possibility of another make-or-break ACC matchup against Clemson later this month. The Panthers have been pushed to the second tier of playoff contenders largely because of a schedule full of close wins against unranked competition, but that perspective will change should they win Saturday night on the road. — Paul Myerberg
Michigan will take Oregon to the wire
The Wolverines are not going to make the College Football Playoff. But they have an opportunity to play spoiler in the final month of the season. The first chance comes Saturday in Ann Arbor with a visit from the Ducks. While Michigan’s offensive struggles are well-documented, its defense has the capability to slow down Oregon’s potent offense and make this game go to the fourth quarter. Should the Wolverines get any productive play from quarterbacks Davis Warren and Alex Orji in crunch time then this has the makings of a potential upset that could shake up the Big Ten and playoff races. — Erick Smith
Clemson ends Louisville’s run of close games
Louisville was a Top 25 team earlier in the season but has dropped three of its last five games, a stretch that can be viewed as deceptive from multiple perspectives. The three losses were all by a single touchdown, and all came against teams still very much in the playoff hunt. Conversely the two wins were each by four-point margins and could just as easily have gone the other way.
Suffice it to say the Cardinals are accustomed to close games. Will that trend continue this week at Clemson? In a word, no.
The Tigers are riding a six-game winning streak, with all the victories coming by at least 16 points. Furthermore, this is Clemson’s last ACC home contest, so expect the Tigers to be all business with a couple of potentially tricky road challenges ahead. Clemson wins this one going away. — Eddie Timanus
Arkansas pulls another upset – this time against Mississippi
For a team that was supposed to have a high powered offense this year (and paid a lot of NIL money for it) Ole Miss has been sneaky bad. Their point totals in SEC play: 17 against Kentucky, 27 against South Carolina, 26 against LSU and 26 against Oklahoma. Conversely, Arkansas has held Auburn, Texas A&M and Tennessee under 30 points. The Hogs are a tough out at home, and their defense will be good enough to pull an upset over the Rebels. — Dan Wolken