Fall is here and with it a slightly shortened but meaningful SEC slate of Week 10 action.
As usual, it’s time for the weekly breakdown of what games you have to see and what games to maybe catch a few highlights of (if there are many) later.
These rankings are subjective, but also account for league and national impact along with how exciting and how close the games will be. Games are ranked on a 1-to-5 star scale, with 5 being the most watchable game and 1 being the least. (Hint: there are no 1-star games.)
5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The games worth cancelling your plans, shutting off your phone, and to quote the legend, Lane Kiffin, the ones worth getting your popcorn ready for:
No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Texas (Noon ET, ABC)
Had someone said before the season that this game would see one team in the thick of the CFP hunt and the other trying to hang on to a fringe spot, Vanderbilt fans would have been thrilled. They also probably would have assumed they were the hanger on and not the team in great shape. But here they are, even as a very mild road underdog, with another chance to beat a team with superior talent but inferior execution. And that’s basically Texas defined in 2025. One of the most exciting surprises of the 2025 season will face one of the most disappointing teams of the season.
No. 18 Oklahoma at No. 14 Tennessee (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
There are 3 ranked-on-ranked games this week: this one, the one above, and Utah vs. Cincinnati. A pair of dangerous 2-loss teams will try to scrap out of a third loss, which could be fatal to CFP hopes. Oklahoma has the hardest schedule down the stretch, but Tennessee does still have to face Vanderbilt. This might be the best game of the week and should be solid Playoff training for the winner.
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Not quite as electric as the 5-star games, but still great quality college football.
No. 5 Georgia vs. Florida (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
The game once known as World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is surprisingly a step below Vandy/Texas. Florida did somehow manage to beat Texas, but that’s about the only thing that can be said for the Gators’ season. But the 1-score underdogs in Jacksonville have the chance to shift the entire narrative of 2025 in 60 minutes. But this is an awfully solid Georgia team. Still, in this rivalry, the unexpected is not the impossible.
3 stars ⭐⭐⭐
A game with some intriguing aspects, but generally not as competitive or interesting as those above.
South Carolina at No. 7 Ole Miss (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
A week after South Carolina nearly knocked off Alabama, the Gamecocks get a shot at Ole Miss. The Rebels are a relatively comfortable home favorite against a 3-5 USC team that sees its bowl hopes on their last gasp. This one has the largest point spread of the Week (-12.5) or it might rank higher. Does Carolina still have one more big game in the tank? Is all the Lane Kiffin job-hopping talk seeping into Ole Miss’s collective psyche?
2 stars ⭐⭐
Mostly reserved for quality teams in deeply mediocre matchups, in this case, it’s for four deeply mediocre teams in fairly competitive matchups.
Kentucky at Auburn (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
Two offenses that can bog down in almost any situation are likely to bring about a 13-10 type of game. Auburn has had buzzard’s luck and is probably better than its 4-4 record. Kentucky is probably worse than its 2-5 mark. One national columnist put Mark Stoops and Hugh Freeze as the top 2 coaches on the hot seat. It’s the only way you’ll see No. 1 and No. 2 in anything in this game. The first team to double figures might lock up a win.
Mississippi State at Arkansas (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
A slightly more competitive game is expected here, but 4-4 Mississippi State is still a slight road underdog to 2-6 Arkansas. The biggest story here is probably State trying to hang onto bowl hopes, but hopefully a close game will ensue. Bobby Petrino’s self-promotion for the Arkansas job should help keep this one competitive.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
