College Football Odds Week 10: Picks, Predictions and Spread for Top 25 Teams

The middle of the SEC West features a handful of teams trying to gain separation from each other with the right to be the second-best team in the division on the line.

The top of the SEC West will get more clarity Saturday, when the Auburn Tigers make the trip to Kyle Field to face the Texas A&M Aggies.

Auburn has the best chance to supplant the Alabama Crimson Tide at the top of the SEC West, but it needs to play perfect football in the next month. Bryan Harsin has guided the Tigers to a 6-2 overall record and a 3-1 conference mark, and now Auburn has to get over a big hurdle on its travels.

Quarterback Bo Nix does not have great home-to-road splits, but he has a chance to put any lingering criticism to bed against a strong Texas A&M defense.

The rest of the Week 10 college football slate features teams with contrasting motivations. Some, like the Ohio State Buckeyes, will try to avoid a letdown after a big game. Others, like the Cincinnati Bearcats, could use a low College Football Playoff ranking as motivation to blow out a low-quality opponent.

Saturday, November 6

Missouri at No. 1 Georgia (-38.5) (Noon ET, ESPN)

No. 5 Ohio State (-14.5) at Nebraska (Noon ET, Fox)

No. 9 Wake Forest at North Carolina (-2.5) (Noon ET, ABC)

Liberty at No. 16 Ole Miss (-10) (Noon ET, SEC Network)

Illinois at No. 20 Minnesota (-14.5) (Noon ET, ESPN2)

No. 25 Pittsburgh (-21) at Duke (Noon ET, ACC Network)

No. 3 Michigan State (-3) at Purdue (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Tulsa at No. 6 Cincinnati (-22.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Navy at No. 10 Notre Dame (-21) (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

No. 11 Oklahoma State (-3.5) at West Virginia (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

No. 12 Baylor (-7) at TCU (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

No. 13 Auburn at No. 14 Texas A&M (-4.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

Idaho State at No. 15 BYU (N/A) (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3)

No. 21 Wisconsin (-13) at Rutgers (3:30 p.m. ET, BTN)

No. 17 Mississippi State at Arkansas (-5.5) (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

No. 19 NC State (-2.5) at Florida State (4 p.m. ET, ACC Network)

LSU at No. 2 Alabama (-28.5) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Tennessee at No. 18 Kentucky (pick) (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

No. 22 Iowa (-12) at Northwestern (7 p.m. ET, BTN)

Boise State at No. 23 Fresno State (-5) (7 p.m. ET, CBSSN)

No. 4 Oregon (-7) at Washington (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Indiana at No. 7 Michigan (-20) (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox)

No. 24 San Diego State (-7) at Hawai'i (11 p.m. ET, FS1)

                 

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook. Picks against the spread in bold. 

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Since Auburn lost on the road to the Penn State Nittany Lions on September 18, it has been one of the most consistent offensive teams in the country.

The Tigers averaged 31.8 points per game in their four victories thereafter, and there is no shame in putting up 10 points on the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

Nix began to spin around the narrative that he struggles on the road with a pair of decent performances in October's wins over the LSU Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks.

The quarterback threw six of his seven interceptions last season on the road. Nix threw for a pair of scores in the 38-23 victory over Arkansas and beat LSU with 255 passing yards, 74 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

Saturday presents Nix with his toughest test yet on his travels in the SEC West since Texas A&M's defense is rounding into form. The Aggies allowed 14 points in each of their past two games, but those performances came against the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks, two of the worst teams in the weaker SEC division.

Even though A&M beat Alabama at home, it still allowed 38 points to Bryce Young and Co. The Crimson Tide outgained the Aggies by 143 total yards in that game.

In addition to a confident Nix, Auburn possesses a stout rushing defense that could keep Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane in check. Auburn allows 129.4 rushing yards and 16.1 points per game. If the Tigers contain A&M's top two offensive weapons, they should be in a position to win. And in that scenario, they could go into the Iron Bowl matchup with Alabama on Nov. 27 with the potential to win the SEC West.

Before Auburn can dream of that possibility, though, it needs to get past Texas A&M in what should be a low-scoring affair in which Nix needs to maintain his composure for third straight road game.

Spare a thought for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane defense.

Tulsa has to go on the road in a treacherous environment Saturday to face a scorned Cincinnati team that landed at No. 6 in the first CFB Playoff rankings.

The Bearcats are in a prime spot to take out all their frustration on Tulsa in what will be an emotional day in Ohio, with ESPN's College GameDay making its first appearance on the Cincinnati campus.

Cincinnati's offense sputtered in the past two weeks in wins over the Navy Midshipmen and Tulane Green Wave. The Bearcats were never in danger of losing, but they could have done more to put away both games earlier.

Quarterback Desmond Ridder and Co. have the potential to tear apart the Tulsa defense early and often and leave no doubt about the final result.

The undefeated squad averages over 15 points per game more and concedes 102 yards per game fewer than Saturday's visitors.

Tulsa was outmatched in its most recent game against a top team in the American Athletic Conference, losing 45-10 to the Houston Cougars. Houston had a 405-289 total yards advantage.

Expect to see a similar, or even worse, split in that category Saturday against a Cincinnati team hungry to prove why it belongs in the top four.

             

Statistics obtained from ESPN.