Is it hot in here? Because it feels like the heat has been turned up with these rivalries burning the landscape of the College Football Playoff. Last Saturday was wild. Tennessee knocked off Alabama and sent Knoxville into a frenzy. Georgia went into Austin and absolutely destroyed Texas. And Illinois’ dream season continued with a win over a Michigan team that is a shell of the team from last season. As far as I am concerned, it’s anyone’s game at this point. This week has multiple Top 25 matchups. Here’s our Top 3 picks for 2024 College Football Week 9.
No. 20 Illinois vs No. 1 Oregon
We have another new number one team in the nation. This is the fourth straight week where the best team in the country wasn’t sitting in this spot the week before. The crown now belongs to Oregon after Georgia booted Texas from the top spot last week. And who knows, maybe this #1 goes down. Illinois is having one of their best seasons in recent memory. The Illini is led by Luke Altmyer who is efficient, accurate, and doesn’t turn it over. He has just one interception all season. This defense is stellar too. They’ve held three of their last five opponents to less than 10 points. Oregon is a different beast and Dillon Gabriel is playing at an extremely high level. The offense has put up 31+ points in each of their last five games. I expect a struggle from Oregon even though they are at home, but I never fully bet against the Ducks in Eugene. Prediction: Illinois 20 Oregon 28
No. 5 Texas vs. No. 25 Vanderbilt
The Longhorns are coming off a loss that will sting for a while. They finally get back to number 1, then promptly lose at home, and their fans are calling for Quinn Ewers head which never makes it any easier. Before the season, this matchup would have seemed like a perfect bounce back for them, but not so fast. Vanderbilt has pieced together three straight wins. One over Alabama, another over Kentucky. A new era of Commodores football is upon us and this team is something to be reckoned with. Diego Pavia is a nightmare to defend. He can beat you with his arm or his legs and he’s shown that he is difficult to contain. Texas went down early last week and was never able to fully dig themselves out, even inserting Arch Manning in the game to see if that would do the trick. Maybe this seems improbable, but I am choosing to pick the team with steam. Give me Vanderbilt in another Top 5 upset for this team at home. Prediction: Texas 24 Vanderbilt 27
No. 8 LSU vs. No. 14 Texas A&M
I have had my doubts about the Aggies this season, but maybe that is just Jimbo Fisher PTSD creeping into my brain. Mike Elko has Texas A&M playing its best ball that we’ve seen in some time. Both these teams enter as the only two SEC schools with perfect conference records. Both have put together six-game winning streaks as they battle it out for a spot in the championship game in December. LSU is coming off its most complete win of the season, whooping up on Arkansas and leading Brian Kelly to say that they have finally played LSU Football. Both these defenses are great, even though I would say the Aggies could threaten more with better offensive weapons. But I love an upset pick, and Kyle Field has been no stranger to them in recent years. I’m not quite ready to lose my Jimbo PTSD. Prediction: LSU 26 Texas A&M 21