Last Saturday brought a serious shakeup to the college football season. A few major contenders, including undefeated Oregon, and one-loss Florida and Texas A&M all suffered major upset losses, while Alabama and Georgia flexed their muscles and continue to look the part of clear favorites to win it all.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide faced upstart Top 12 teams, in Arkansas and Ole Miss respectively. Nick Saban’s squad held Lane Kiffin’s explosive offense in check in a 42-21 win, while Georgia absolutely blanked the Hogs, 37-0. Elsewhere, Oregon fell to Stanford, Cincinnati bested Notre Dame in South Bend, Florida lost to a pesky Kentucky team, and A&M fell to Mike Leach and Mississippi State.
We’ll see if Week 6 can live up. There are certainly some interesting matchups. No. 6 Oklahoma gets things going against No. 21 Texas in Steve Sarkisian’s first Red River Showdown. No. 13 Arkansas and No. 17 Ole Miss look to lick their wounds, facing off in Oxford.
Georgia, which says at No. 2 behind ‘Bama, hits the road to face No. 18 Auburn. The biggest game, per the rankings, will take place in Iowa City, where No. 3 Iowa hosts No. 4 Penn State.
Just checkin’…who’s excited for Saturday?#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/193ks1Nqhp
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) October 6, 2021
Through five weeks of picks, Andrew McCarty clings to a one-game lead over the rest of the field. Here are the standings after Week 5.
1. Andrew McCarty: 187-47
2. Steve Driscoll: 186-48
T-3. Alek Arend: 181-53
T-3. Dan Lyons: 181-53
5. Matt Lombardi: 178-56
T-6. Matt Hladik: 176-58
T-6. Chris Rosvoglou: 176-58
T-6. Zach Koons: 176-58
9. Tzvi Machlin: 175-59
T-10. Andrew Holleran 174-60
T-10. Matt Audilet: 174-60
With our 11 staff members picking each game, the biggest splits come in Ole Miss at Arkansas, Virginia at Louisville, Penn State at Iowa, LSU at Kentucky, and Utah at USC.
Here are our picks for Week 6 of the 2021 college football season:
Each week, we pick every college football game involving Power Five and/or ranked teams. Check back with The Spun each week for updated standings.