College Football Odds Week 6: Picks Against the Spread for Top 25 Matchups
The Pac-12 was written out of the College Football Playoff discussion before the conversation even began.
But the Pac-12 could leave Week 6 with three playoff contenders, and one of them has an opportunity to flex its might in front of a national audience.
The Utah Utes were taken out of the postseason discussion after their Week 1 defeat on the road against the Florida Gators. They reeled off four dominant wins in a row and are the 11th-ranked team in the AP Top 25 heading into their clash with the UCLA Bruins.
UCLA has an opportunity to further confirm it belongs in the upper echelon in the Pac-12 standings. The Bruins beat the Washington Huskies at home last week, and a second straight win over a ranked team would put them in contention to win the conference.
The Oregon Ducks are not involved in one of Week 6's marquee games, but they could end up as one of the easiest bets of the weekend. Oregon is just under a two-touchdown favorite against the Arizona Wildcats.
Oregon quietly put together four straight wins with 40 or more points, and it could be a top 10 team by the time it hosts UCLA in two weeks.
Week 6 Schedule and Odds
Saturday, October 8
No. 4 Michigan (-22.5) at Indiana (noon ET, Fox)
No. 8 Tennessee (-3) at No. 25 LSU (noon ET, ESPN)
No. 17 TCU (-7) at No. 19 Kansas (noon ET, FS1)
Arkansas at No. 23 Mississippi State (-9.5) (noon ET, SEC Network)
South Florida at No. 24 Cincinnati (-27.5) (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Auburn at No. 2 Georgia (-29.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
Texas Tech at No. 7 Oklahoma State (-9) (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
No. 11 Utah (-4) at No. 18 UCLA (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox)
No. 3 Ohio State (-27) at Michigan State (4 p.m. ET, ABC)
No. 9 Ole Miss (-17) at Vanderbilt (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
No. 21 Washington (-14) at Arizona State (4 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 5 Clemson (-20.5) at Boston College (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Washington State at No. 6 USC (-13) (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox)
South Carolina at No. 13 Kentucky (-6) (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Army at No. 15 Wake Forest (-17) (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3)
No. 16 BYU vs. Notre Dame (-3.5) (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
No. 20 Kansas State (-2) at Iowa State (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama (-24) (8 p.m. ET, CBS)
No. 12 Oregon (-13) at Arizona (8 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Florida State at No. 14 NC State (-3) (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
No. 11 Utah (-4) at No. 18 UCLA
Utah is the exact team we thought we would see when the season began.
The Utes have rolled through their last four opponents with an impressive offense led by quarterback Cameron Rising and an even more impressive defense that has given up 43 points in that stretch.
Utah faced a tough Week 1 trip to Florida to face a Gators team that was playing at home in Billy Napier's first game as head coach. The Utes came up just short and were then pushed out of the national conversation for a month.
Kyle Whittingham's team can re-enter the playoff conversation with a Top 25 road win over undefeated UCLA.
UCLA scored 40 or more points in four of its five wins, but its offense has not faced a defense that comes close to comparing to Utah's unit.
Saturday afternoon's tilt at the Rose Bowl provides the Utah defense and UCLA offense with opportunities to prove they can stand up against a strong unit on the other end of the field.
Utah created the advantage in last season's meeting through its rushing attack. The Utes ran for 290 yards in the 44-24 victory, and they come into Saturday with 203.4 yards per game on the ground.
UCLA has the better numbers defending the run, but the Bruins have not faced a top 60 rushing offense yet this season. Utah ranks 25th in the FBS in rushing offense.
Utah's schedule has been a bit tougher, and its defense has held up in each of its wins, and that unit gave it a chance to win in Gainesville, Florida, in Week 1. Utah ranks 11th in scoring defense and 13th in total yards allowed per game.
The Utes can limit the big-play production of Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Zach Charbonnet and then turn the game in its favor through Rising and the playmakers on its offense.
Utah has the experience of playing tough road games from the past few seasons, and its defense has withstood the challenges of the Pac-12 so far. That should help the Utes move to 3-0 in the Pac-12 and inch back into the playoff discussion ahead of their Week 7 home game with the USC Trojans.
No. 12 Oregon (-13) at Arizona
Oregon fixed its offense the second it did not have to play the Georgia Bulldogs defense.
Oregon's offense was held to three points in Week 1 in what was a neutral-site game in Atlanta that felt a lot like a Georgia home game.
No one will blame the Ducks for losing to the reigning national champion, and their national image has changed over the last four weeks as their offense got going.
Oregon produced over 40 points in each of its last four games, and it faces an Arizona defense that gives up 400.8 total yards per game.
Arizona conceded at least 20 points in each of its five games, and it let up 39 and 49 points in its two losses to Mississippi State and California.
Oregon is averaging eight more points per game than the Wildcats, and it outgained Arizona by 92 rushing yards per game.
Bo Nix has settled into a rhythm inside the Oregon offense, and he has two running backs who have over 260 yards on the ground. Nix has 261 ground yards to go along with his 1,261 passing yards.
Nix has avoided the turnovers that plagued him at Auburn. He has three interceptions this season, and two of them came against Georgia.
Arizona's Jayden De Laura threw five of his six picks in losses, and he tossed a pair of interceptions last season against Oregon when he was with Washington State.
Oregon should be able to force a turnover or two off De Laura and leave Tuscon with a two-touchdown victory that should set it up for a nice run of games.
Oregon could be a Top 10 team going into its Week 8 home game with UCLA. Alabama and Tennessee, USC and Utah and Michigan and Penn State play each other in Week 7, which gives the Ducks plenty of opportunity for upward movement in the polls.
The Ducks do not have to play USC in the regular season, and they get Utah at home on November 19. If they run the table, the Ducks could find themselves in the playoff conversation in the last weekend of the regular season.
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