College Football Picks Week 6: Odds, Predictions, Schedule, Rankings for Top 25
The Red River Rivalry is typically one of the highest scoring games of the college football season.
The annual meeting at the Cotton Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners featured at least 49 points in each of the last eight years.
A year ago, Texas did all the scoring in a 49-0 victory. Oklahoma comes into Saturday in a much better position to not just score points, but to contend for the victory.
The Sooners and Longhorns enter Dallas in strong offensive form, and no matter which team wins, the combined point total should be over the projected total set by the odds makers.
There are three other Top 25 matchups in Week 7, two of which will play an important role in the SEC East standings.
The Kentucky Wildcats will try to test the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs inside Sanford Stadium, while the Missouri Tigers have a chance to prove their worth at home versus the LSU Tigers.
For the latest lines on these games, go to DraftKings.
Saturday, October 7
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas (-4.5) (Noon ET, ABC)
Maryland at No. 4 Ohio State (-18.5) (Noon ET, Fox)
No. 23 LSU (-6.5) at No. 21 Missouri (Noon ET, ESPN)
No. 13 Washington State at UCLA (-3.5) (3 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Virginia Tech at No. 5 Florida State (-26) (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 11 Alabama (-3) at Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
Syracuse at No. 14 North Carolina (-8.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 20 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia (-15) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
No. 2 Michigan (-19.5) at Minnesota (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
No. 10 Notre Dame (-6.5) at No. 25 Louisville (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Arkansas at No. 16 Ole Miss (-12) (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Georgia Tech at No. 17 Miami (-19.5) (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
No. 24 Fresno State (-6) at Wyoming (8 p.m. ET, Fox)
No. 15 Oregon State (-10) at California (10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Arizona at No. 9 USC (-22) (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The recent history of the Red River Rivalry suggests that a ton of points on the menu for Saturday's clash inside the Cotton Bowl.
The winning team in each of the last six meetings scored at least 34 points. Four of the last six victors eclipsed the 40-point mark.
Texas walloped the Oklahoma defense with 49 points in shutout victory a year ago.
Oklahoma's offense appears to be better prepared to go score-for-score with Texas this year. The Sooners are coming off a 50-point output at home against the Iowa State Cyclones.
Dillon Gabriel has 15 passing touchdowns, five more than Quinn Ewers, and he leads an Oklahoma offense that is averaging 510 total yards per game.
The phenomenal talent surrounding Gabriel and Ewers help their respective quarterbacks put up points against two defenses that have one concession over 20 points each.
Texas' highest concession came in its toughest game of the season to date against the Alabama Crimson Tide, so there is hope that an offense with a ton of talent could post high totals on the Longhorns.
Oklahoma was gashed for 20 first-half points by Iowa State before it pulled away on Saturday. A few early strikes from Ewers and Co. could make the Sooners defense feel unsettled and set the tone for a high-scoring affair.
Few people expected Missouri to enter October with two more wins than LSU.
Mizzou produced 30 or more points in four of its five wins behind the quarterback-wide receiver combination of Brady Cook and Luther Burden.
Cook and Burden could feast on a LSU defense that concedes 429.4 total yards per game and is coming off a 55-point concession in a loss to the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday.
That was the second concerning showing from the LSU defense after the Florida State Seminoles scored 45 points against it in the season opener.
Both of those lackluster defensive performances came away from Baton Rouge, and even when LSU was at home last, it allowed 31 points to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Missouri does not have a pristine defense. The Tigers allowed their last three opponents to score over 20 points, but they have done enough to get stops and allow Cook, Burden and Co. to break away from an opponent.
Mizzou displayed more defensive consistency, and that should help it stay within a touchdown against LSU, and if its offense matches what Jayden Daniels can do with LSU, the home side could even come away with a victory.
Georgia has not been a trustworthy team against the spread so far this season, but there is reason to believe the No. 1 team in the country will cover on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have held Kentucky to 22 points in their last four meetings. Georgia won all four of those games by double figures and won two of those contests by 15 or more points.
Kentucky at least has some confidence going into Athens because it blew out the Florida Gators at home in Week 5.
However, Kentucky is going up against a far tougher opponent, and one that can turn up the intensity when it needs to.
Georgia limited the Auburn Tigers to 10 points in the final three quarters after conceding 10 points in the opening stanza in Week 5. Auburn's lone touchdown in the final three stanzas came off short field created by a turnover.
If Georgia avoids turnovers and plays its normal high level of defense, it has the potential to pull away to another lopsided win over Kentucky.
Turnovers could be a big issue for the Wildcats, as quarterback Devin Leary comes into Saturday with at least one interception in four of his five starts.
Any mistakes made by the NC State transfer will be amplified against UGA, who has eight interceptions and gives up 173.8 passing yards per game.
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