With the return of the MAC this week, and the Pac-12 this weekend, the vast majority of the FBS world will be underway, at long last. We have our first full-looking college football slate of the weekend, featuring games from all Power Five conferences.
The headliner of the weekend comes out of the ACC. No. 4 Notre Dame hosts No. 1 Clemson, looking to come out more sharp than it did against Boston College last weekend. The Tigers are without Trevor Lawrence once again as he recovers from COVID-19. Freshman D.J. Uiagalelei was impressive last week, and will have a very tough test in his second-ever college start, against a Notre Dame team that has one of the better defenses in college football so far this year.
Both teams are undefeated and in prime contention to both reach the ACC Championship and College Football Playoff. This game may not necessarily eliminate either side, but it probably means more to Notre Dame. A Lawrence-less Clemson football team will likely get a bigger benefit of the doubt if it runs the table afterwards and gets its shot at a rematch in the conference title game.
That isn’t the only real headliner this weekend. On Friday night, we get a huge Group of Five clash between No. 9 BYU and No. 21 Boise State. No. 13 Indiana looks to collect another major Big Ten pelt, facing No. 23 Michigan. In the SEC, No. 6 Georgia and No. 8 Florida face off for true control of the SEC East.
Andrew McCarty took the lead last week, and has expanded it after Week 9. After a 23-5 Week 9 slate, he is up three picks on the field, his second weekly top-finish in a row.
This week, some of the biggest splits we have are coming in some of the early Pac-12 contests. UCLA at Colorado and Washington State at Oregon State are both big tossups for our staff, as are games elsewhere, including Tennessee at Arkansas. In some of the biggest matchups, we tend to like Florida to knock off rival Georgia, and Clemson to beat Notre Dame on the road, even without Trevor Lawrence.
Here’s where things stand after last week’s picks:
1. Andrew McCarty: 119-40
2. Matt Hladik: 116-43
3. Chris Rosvoglou: 115-44
T-4. Dan Lyons: 114-45
T-4. Tzvi Machlin: 114-45
6. Alek Arend: 112-47
T-7. Andrew Holleran: 108-51
T-7. Steve Driscoll: 108-51
9. Matt Lombardi: 106-53
Here are our picks for Week 10 of the 2020 college football season:
Each week, we pick every college football game involving Power Five and/or ranked teams. Check back as we update our standings.