The College Football Playoffs don't start for more than a month, but for two-loss SEC teams like Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, they essentially start on Saturday. Those teams are all part of top-20 matchups as the No.

The Hawkeyes have had the No. 1 stop rate defense in October, getting stops on 88.2% of opponents' drives, and have climbed from No. 30 at the end of September to No. 6 this week after putting together a dominant performance Saturday in a 41-3 rout of Minnesota.

The Oregonian/OregonLive sports staff returns with its picks for Week 9 of the 2025 college football season. While Oregon State has a bye this week, the No. 6 Oregon Ducks will host the Wisconsin Badgers at Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers are second in Conference USA in rushing yards per game (192.7). Senior running back Kejon Owens has racked up 824 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 2025. The Florida native has gone over 160 rushing yards in three games this season. In his last contest, Owens had 166 rushing yards and a touchdown.

When it comes to managing cross-country flights, no team can match UCLA’s success. Since the start of last season, when they joined USC, Oregon and Washington to form the Big Ten’s western wing, the Bruins have been perfect against the point spread when playing conference games in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.