2026-27 NCAA Football (Week 6)

Games I saw (some of):

(1) Texas 24-27 Oklahoma

Wow, I thought Texas worked really hard to lose this game! The Longhorn defense is very good but it gives up ridiculous penalties; the Longhorn offense has moments but is mostly stagnant. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is okay, they're not particularly good at anything on either side of the ball, they're not an embarrassment but this is by no means some classic Sooner squad. Man, all Texas had to do was not give this away and that's precisely what they did. My Arch Manning hot take: he reminds me of Will Levis; yes, I know that sounds awful but going into the draft Levis was considered as a potential #1 pick, so maybe that isn't as bad as you think; that said, when Levis got to Kentucky, I thought he was really good at running the ball and playing backyard football but he clearly wanted to mold himself into an NFL prospect and so he stood there like an old timey pocket passer and...well, he wasn't very good at that. Manning needs to let himself be himself and maybe he'll turn in to something; and, if not, well, he wasn't gonna be the NFL QB we all wanted him to be anyway 

(7) Indiana 20-17 Nebraska

I was impressed with Nebraska, they made stops on D and managed to pull out nifty big chunk plays on offense when they needed it. Unfortunately, there was more clock than they were ready to deal with--if this game was 50 minutes long, I think the Cornhuskers win convincingly. The Hoosiers have Ohio State coming up next week, this was a "trap" game, and they wriggled out of it, so good on them. But I really thought they could've/should've been wildly better than Nebraska and I wanted to see them take over game earlier than the last 5 minutes (where they were able to successfully play Nebraska's aggressiveness against them). Good W for the Hoosiers, keep an eye on the Huskers, I think they might be kinda good. 

(10) Louisiana State 34-35 (OT) Kentucky

I was back and forth with baseball on this night (and I was drunk as all get out--but both my teams won, so all good!), but this was a fun one. Kept waiting for LSU to take control, to squeeze the life out of the Cats (as I've seen happen so many times in my life) and it just didn't happen. The Cats made plays down the stretch, then stole the W in OT for the 2nd time in as many weeks! LSU isn't ready to take over the world just yet, while Kentucky surges up the rankings. Pinch me. 

(21) UCLA 17-15 (13) Oregon

Wow, Oregon suuuuuuuuucccccckkkkked in this game! They didn't do anything well at any point in the game. They were so bad that its hard to get a sense of UCLA, I mean, the Bruins should've dominated the shit out of this game but it was still close late. But, man, Oregon was awful at every phase of the game, so for UCLA to squeak it out late is not a ringing endorsement, though they have played well so far. I don't know what's up with Oregon, they are not right. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Georgia, (3) Notre Dame, (5) Ohio State, (8) Brigham Young, (9) Mississippi, (12) Utah, (14) Missouri, (15) Tennessee, (18) Oklahoma State, (19) Southern Cal, (20) Iowa, (21) UCLA, (22) Houston, (23) Boise State

Won but did not impress

(7) Indiana (Indiana 20-17 Nebraska)

Good win really for the Hoosiers, they could've fallen and they didn't and I should be more optimistic about that, I suppose. But they could've wrapped this up early with a more consistent offensive game plan and instead they relied on last minute hero ball.  

Bad beat

(6) Alabama (Georgia 20-17 Alabama)

Losing to your main rival at home always sucks, but Georgia is really good right now, I presume they will be #1 in next week's poll. Alabama has been up and down but when their offense is cooking, they've looked damn good at times and I don't think this L will doom their season. 

Not so good

(1) Texas (Texas 24-27 Oklahoma)

Yipes, Longhorns, what do you want? Do you want to win? 

(10) Louisiana State (LSU 34-35 (OT) Kentucky)

I seem to recall 2 seasons ago when UK beat Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss squad in Oxford, kinda destroyed their season really. Long live the Kentucky "season-killer" Wildcats!

(13) Oregon (UCLA 17-15 Oregon)

Oregon has to figure some things out. 

(16) Florida (South Carolina 38-19 Florida)

Wow, 2 weeks ago I was blown away by Florida's dominance of Ole Miss. Since then, they got stomped in Missouri and and now at home by South Carolina. WTF, Gators?

(25) Pittsburgh (North Carolina 21-17 Pittsburgh)

Pitt was undefeated and ranked but couldn't handle the Tar Heels. Not a good look. 

Next week's intriguing matches:

(4) Ohio State @ (5) Indiana (game of the week--in a pretty strong week!)

(16) Mississippi State @ (22) Louisiana State (SEC probably has too many ranked teams, no?)

(6) Alabama @ (14) Tennessee (good bounce back opportunity for the Tide or back to back devastating rivalry L's)

(13) Missouri @ (9) Mississippi (SEC probably has too many ranked teams, no?)

(2) Notre Dame @ (8) Brigham Young (the Irish are riding high, should probably flummox BYU, but we'll see)

(15) Kentucky @ Oklahoma (Kentucky is as hot as they've been in...ever? OU just beat Texas, one of these teams is gonna be disappointed)

(18) Oklahoma State @ (20) Houston (two schools ready to jump up the rankings)