Five games to watch
Alabama coach Nick Saban is 12-0 against his former assistant coaches, including 1-0 against Jimbo Fisher. Saban beat Fisher when he was the coach at Florida State last season. Texas A&M has lost five straight in the series, the last win in 2012 when Johnny Manziel led the Aggies to a 29-24 upset. Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has led the offense to 14 touchdowns in 20 possessions.
Texas is riding a two-game winning streak, including one of the biggest victories of the Tom Herman era, a 37-14 win over then-No.?22 USC on Saturday. It was the Longhorns’ first win over a ranked foe since Herman arrived in 2017. TCU is coming off a disappointing loss to No.?4 Ohio State last week in Arlington, Texas. The Horned Frogs have won four straight against Texas, by an average of 30 points.
This is just the second time in the 28-year history of this series that both teams feature new coaches — Dan Mullen for the Gators and Jeremy Pruitt for the Volunteers. This is also the first time since 2015 that both teams enter unranked in the AP Top 25. These programs have combined to win 21 SEC titles but none since 2008. Florida is mired in a six-game conference losing streak.
Stanford and Oregon both enter the matchup ranked for the first time since 2013. Stanford hits the road for the first time this season after a 3-0 start thanks to a stout defense that’s allowing just 7.7 points per game — the fewest in the nation. Oregon’s Justin Herbert is one of five quarterbacks in FBS to have thrown at least three touchdowns in each of his first three games.
Wisconsin looks for a third straight win over Iowa. The Badgers’ College Football Playoff hopes took a big hit last week in a disappointing loss to BYU at home. Iowa is 3-0 for the second straight season thanks in part to a defense that ranks first in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have 12 sacks this season. The winner of this game has gone on to claim the Big Ten West title the last four seasons.