Week 6 sees nearly half of the SEC off. We’ve only got 5 games to consider this week, but here’s the rundown on the action ahead.
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.
Note that the entire league schedule is on Saturday, so no days will be listed below.
5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The game worth cancelling your plans, faking a cold, and to quote the iconic Lane Kiffin, the one’s worth getting your popcorn ready:
No. 16 Vanderbilt vs. No. 10 Alabama (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Must-see Vanderbilt football? That’s the world we live in. A season ago, Diego Pavia first put Vanderbilt on the nation map with a gutsy upset of Alabama. Can lightning strike twice? Or is Kalen DeBoer‘s second Alabama team significantly more consistent than his first? Either way, this is absolutely must-see stuff. Vanderbilt a legitimate CFP contender? Simpson a legitimate Heisman contender? There’s so much on the line.
4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Not quite as electric as the 5-star games, but still great quality college football.
No. 9 Texas at Florida (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Florida has been absolutely awful… and yet finds its 1-3 self as a 4.5-point underdog against a top-10 opponent. Texas has been everything but impressive so far, but Arch Manning still has the majority of the season to rehabilitate his lagging reputation. Texas has more to lose here, but then, Billy Napier‘s job is hanging by a thin thread, so there’s plenty on the line for everyone.
3 stars ⭐⭐⭐
A game with some intriguing aspects, but generally not as competitive or interesting as those above.
Mississippi State at No. 6 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
A week ago, Mississippi State just missed a season-shifting upset against Tennessee. Texas A&M will be a road opponent and is seemingly a step or 2 ahead of Tennessee in the SEC pecking order. Meanwhile, the Aggies are probably looking to be a bit more consistent and stay undefeated and thus in the thick of the SEC title race. With A&M around a 16.5-point favorite, there’s not quite enough intrigue here to rank this game higher, but it should be worth watching.
2 stars ⭐⭐
Mostly reserved for quality teams in deeply mediocre matchups.
Kentucky at No. 12 Georgia (Noon ET, ABC)
This one fits the profile. Georgia, loss to Alabama aside, remains a quality team and a likely CFP participant. Kentucky would probably consider mediocrity an improvement. The Wildcats last bested Georgia in 2009, and 2025 doesn’t look like the year that the run will be stopped. Georgia is nearly a 3-touchdown favorite and an angry Georgia team may well use this as a game to prove something.
1 star ⭐
Only for the diehards:
Kent State at No. 5 Oklahoma (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
OU is a 45.5-point favorite. The only reason this game is interesting is to see how Michael Hawkins Jr. fits in at QB in relief of the injured John Mateer. Oklahoma will roll, but might provide some clues as to how imperative it is to get John Mateer back in a hurry. For OU, that’s the story here — how much of a decline is Hawkins at QB?
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.
