There are a few college football Saturdays every year that are too big for one television set.
This is one of them.
Arizona's stunning upset of Oregon on Thursday night sparked what should be a spectacular shakeup in the College Football 24/7 Power Rankings, with six Saturday games featuring two teams in our top 25. Trouble is, some of the very best action will overlap. So, if you don't want smoke coming off your remote control by mid-afternoon, scoot to your local sports bar. Otherwise, here are your blind spots:
Noon ET: Texas A&M visits Mississippi State in a battle of ranked unbeatens (ESPN). But opposite that game, the Florida-Tennessee loser's season will derail in glorious fashion (SEC Network), and who wants to miss that?
3:30 p.m. ET: Four teams ranked in the top 15 clash in the same time slot here as Alabama visits Ole Miss (CBS) and Stanford visits Notre Dame (NBC). Combined records: 15-1. And if TCU gives Oklahoma (FOX) some trouble, channel surfing will really get messy.
Prime time: You'll get an hour into the LSU-Auburn game (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), where LSU true freshman Brandon Harris will make his first career start in a hostile SEC West venue, before another can't-miss game kicks off in Nebraska at Michigan State (8 p.m. ET, ABC).
Here are seven other things you need to know about Week 6 in college football.
- The natural order of things in the Big 12 isn't quite right. The biggest question about Baylor's road game at Texas is whether the Bears will have mercy in the fourth quarter. With a chance to embarrass the Longhorns in front of their own recruits, some of whom Baylor is no doubt also pursuing, don't count on the Bears letting up at all.
- If Vernon Hargreaves' reputation as the SEC's top cornerback is to dust itself off in the wake of Amari Cooper's evisceration of the Florida Gators sophomore, it had better start Saturday. Tennessee's Marquez North is one of the most underrated receiving talents in the SEC, and at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, he presents even more of a size mismatch for the 5-11 Hargreaves than Cooper did.
- Call it the biggest weekend of football the state of Mississippi has ever seen. Unbeaten Ole Miss hosts Alabama while unbeaten Mississippi State hosts Texas A&M in games that could elevate either home team to a new level of relevance. Both are capable of an upset, and there will be future NFL talent all over the field in both games. And not just on the visiting sidelines.
- Tests don't get much stiffer than this one. If Stanford's offensive line has as much NFL potential as coach David Shaw says it does, a lot could be learned Saturday about two NFL hopefuls on the Notre Dame defensive front: versatile lineman Sheldon Day and linebacker Jaylon Smith. Shaw expects three members of his offensive line to be first-round picks, including junior left tackle Andrus Peat. If Day and Smith shed blocks and make their share of plays against this group, NFL scouts will be making popcorn before watching the film of it.
- Upset Alert I. Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah is running the ball with such explosiveness, even Michigan State's defense will have its hands full Saturday in East Lansing. The Spartans are scoring 50 points a game (No. 3 in NCAA), but Eastern Michigan and Wyoming were target practice for MSU quarterback Connor Cook. The Cornhuskers won't be quite so giving. ... Your over-under on the number of combined sacks for elite defensive ends Shilique Calhoun (Michigan State) and Randy Gregory (Nebraska): 2.5.
- Upset Alert II. If the Kentucky team that took Florida to the wire on the road plays as well or better at home Saturday, look for the Wildcats to nip a reeling South Carolina team. And if it happens, expect press conference gold from Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier.
- No rubber-necking allowed, but ... the runaway train that is Michigan football will skid past Rutgers on Saturday, hoping to hit the brakes with a road win. And no concussions. It's looking questionable as to whether the Wolverines will even make a bowl game. A loss to the Scarlet Knights would make that highly unlikely.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
