Week 6 of the college football season doesn’t have the same volume of blockbuster games that Week 5 brought, but the first weekend of October is still brimming with intrigue. Each of the Power Four leagues have major games on the docket with national implications as a handful of national-title contenders hit the road.
Penn State is coming off an emotionally charged home loss to Oregon and is heading three time zones west to play UCLA in a sleepy Rose Bowl atmosphere. If the Nittany Lions don’t bring their own juice, peril could be waiting at the hands of a Bruins team seeking to play the role of spoiler under interim coach Tim Skipper.
Texas also faces an uncomfortable road showdown on Saturday afternoon against a woebegone Florida squad that is talented enough to defend its home field and hand the Longhorns a painful second loss. Texas Tech and Miami are also road favorites in conference games but guaranteed nothing against potential dangerous in-state foes.
Also included on the Week 6 docket is a particularly unpleasant game for Alabama, which hosts Vanderbilt. A second straight win for the Commodores against the Crimson Tide would legitimize Vandy as a College Football Playoff contender and mark a devastating blow to the Crimson Tide.
Here is an early look at the odds for those games and many of the other Week 6 contests involving ranked teams as the season continues ramping up.
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
The big games
Texas (-7.5) at Florida: What initially looked like a challenging SEC opener for Texas and a potential battle between star quarterbacks is now neither. The Gators’ paltry 1-3 start and dilapidated offense suggest the Longhorns should be able to enter the Swamp and leave with a comfortable win. But it has been over a month since Texas played a Power Four opponent, and quarterback Arch Manning has a lot to prove. If Florida is going to get off the mat and salvage its season, this is a must-win.
Penn State (-26.5) at UCLA: Penn State’s College Football Playoff hopes remain very much alive, even after a disheartening 30-24 overtime loss to Oregon in Week 5. But the Nittany Lions can probably only take one more loss before Selection Sunday. With a game at Ohio State still looming on Nov. 1, they need to avoid trouble elsewhere, including in Week 6 at UCLA. All that’s left for the 0-4 Bruins to do is play the role of spoiler, and they will try to capitalize if the Nittany Lions come out flat.
Vanderbilt at Alabama (-13.5): Vanderbilt pulled one of the stunners of the century last season, when it took down No. 1 Alabama 40-35 in Nashville in a breakthrough win for coach Clark Lea. The Commodores haven’t won consecutive games against the Crimson Tide since 1955 and 1956, but they have the goods to inflict a punishing blow on Bama coach Kalen DeBoer’s 2025 squad. A Vandy win at Bryant-Denny Stadium would be its first since 1984 and would send another round of shockwaves through the SEC.
Texas Tech (-12.5) at Houston: Texas Tech passed its first Big 12 test of the season in flying colors with a 34-10 win at Utah in Week 4. The Red Raiders are back on the road in Week 6 after a bye to face a Houston program in the midst of a Year 2 leap under coach Willie Fritz. The Cougars are led by Texas A&M transfer Conner Weigman at quarterback and will have to be regarded as a factor in the league title race if they can upset a talent-laden TTU squad.
Miami (-6.5) at Florida State: This was shaping up to be the first time since 2013 and just the second time since 2004 that Miami and Florida State have met as top-10 teams. But then Florida State suffered a stunning loss at Virginia this past Friday night. In some ways, that only raised the stakes for this matchup. If Florida State wants to stay in the ACC title picture and CFP hunt, it needs to defend its home field against its in-state rival.
Best of the rest
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