Week five of the college football season certainly lived up to its billing with a handful of marquee matchups that offered plenty of drama on national television. The action began on Friday night when Washington made an absolute statement in a lopsided win over Stanford but the real drama happened on Saturday when Tennessee pulled out a thrilling last-minute win over Georgia and North Carolina upset Florida State in the lead up to Clemson’s big win over Louisville in primetime. It won’t be easy for this week’s slate to top what we saw in week five but there are a handful of games with big time potential. Here is a look at the four-best televised games on the schedule for week six of the college football season.
#9 Tennessee @ #8 Texas A&M
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET – CBS
The Vols definitely haven’t made things easy on themselves this season but they have shown the ability to pull out some clutch wins including last week’s thrilling last-second victory over Georgia. Tennessee is now clearly the team to beat in the SEC East but they also have a lot of work to do to reach their potential and their schedule won’t get any easier with a tough test on the road against Texas A&M this week. The Vols will have to overcome any emotional letdown they suffer following last week’s close win and the Aggies will throw everything they have at them as both teams look to remain undefeated in a marquee college football matchup of top-10 teams.
Pick: Tennessee +7
#1 Alabama @ #16 Arkansas
Saturday, 7:00 PM ET – ESPN
Arkansas is 4-1 heading in to a stretch in which they will play Alabama, Auburn, Florida and LSU so they could very well be 4-5 by the time that November rolls around. That said, the Razorbacks are thinking upset this week with a chance to make a statement versus Alabama at home. There aren’t many programs that could lose the amount of talent the Crimson Tide has lost over the last six months and still open the season with five straight wins. The defending national champs have re-established themselves as the team to beat this season and now they get a chance to add another road win over a top-25 college football opponent this weekend.
Pick: Alabama -14
#5 Washington @ Oregon
Saturday, 7:30 PM ET – FOX
Washington isn’t being overlooked anymore following last week’s lopsided 44-6 win over Stanford and they will be back in the national spotlight again this Saturday night with a tough test at Oregon. The Ducks have struggled out of the gate this season but Eugene is a tough place for opponents to play and Oregon could relish the spoiler role in this marquee matchup. There is a good chance the Huskies overcome the emotional letdown from last week’s victory and win this game outright but it won’t be a surprise if the Ducks keep it close and cover at the very least. Remember that the Huskies are a young college football team and this will be a tough test for them on the road.
Pick: Oregon +9
#23 Florida State @ #10 Miami
Saturday, 8:00 PM ET – ABC
The Seminoles are reeling after having their 22-game home winning streak ended in last week’s last-minute loss to North Carolina and it won’t get any easier for them this week at Miami. Florida State has now lost its two biggest college football games to start the year and simply can’t afford to drop this showdown. Although Miami is ranked and they are not, the general perception is that the Seminoles program is ahead of the Hurricanes. If they lose decidedly in this spot, there could be some questions that start to be asked of Jimbo Fisher and Florida State.
The Hurricanes are 4-0 heading in to an absolutely brutal stretch of their schedule in which they will play Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. They will look to start that run on the right note with a big win over the Seminoles. “The U” can prove it is for real while effectively ending Florida State’s season at the same time and with so much on the line in the ACC this game should definitely deliver from an entertainment perspective.
Pick: Florida State +4
