Last week marked just the sixth time in the history of the AP college football poll that one weekend featured seven games matching ranked teams.
Number seven is this weekend, and the games include five of the top six teams in the Top 25. One more twist: The top three teams are all on the road, and that's never happened this late in the season.
No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame also hold the top three spots in the College Football Playoff rankings, though not in that order.
Which is most likely to lose?
Alabama (CFP No. 2) is at No. 18 Mississippi State, a rivalry the Crimson Tide has dominated historically and pretty much owned since Nick Saban became coach. Alabama has won nine straight against the Bulldogs and is favored by a couple of touchdowns.
Georgia (CFP No. 1) is at No. 10 Auburn, having won five of six against the Tigers -- though that one Auburn victory was memorable, to say the least .
Notre Dame (CFP No. 3) visits unbeaten and No. 7 Miami for a game that brings back memories of Lou Holtz, Jimmy Johnson and the first President Bush administration.
The picks:
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
No. 9 Washington (minus 6 ) at Stanford
Not one of the ranked v. ranked but still huge in the Pac-12 with the Huskies' playoff hopes and Bryce Love's Heisman chances in the mix ... WASHINGTON 28-24.
SATURDAY
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 3 Notre Dame (minus 3) at No. 7 Miami
Hurricanes can knock the Irish out of the playoff race or the Irish can deal the whole ACC a blow ... MIAMI 28-24.
No. 2 Georgia (minus 2 ) at No. 10 Auburn
Can the Bulldogs' tailback combo of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, with 1,577 yards and 18 touchdowns between them, get in the Heisman race? Freshman D'Andre Swift is real good, too ... GEORGIA 21-16.
No. 8 TCU (plus 7) at No. 5 Oklahoma
Best defense in the Big 12 (TCU) vs. best offense (Oklahoma) ... TCU 38-31, UPSET SPECIAL.
No. 13 Michigan State (plus 14 ) at No. 11 Ohio State
Buckeyes have not lost back-to-back games under Urban Meyer and his teams have only lost consecutive games four times in 16 seasons; Then again, Meyer's teams had never given up 50 points until last week ... OHIO STATE 28-23.
No. 1 Alabama (minus 15) at No. 18 Mississippi State
Bulldogs QB Nick Fitzgerald leads the third-best rushing offense in the SEC against a Tide D that's been depleted by injuries ... ALABAMA 31-14.
No. 12 Oklahoma State (minus 6 ) at No. 24 Iowa State
Cowboys have won five straight in the series, but last two have been by a combined 11 points ... OKLAHOMA STATE 30-21.
No. 25 Iowa (plus 12) at No. 6 Wisconsin
Heartland Trophy on the line and the Badgers can clinch the Big Ten West ... WISCONSIN 28-20.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
Florida State (plus 16) at No. 4 Clemson
For the first time since 2010, the ACC Atlantic rivalry is not a matchup of ranked teams ... CLEMSON 35-17.
STAYING UNBEATEN
UConn (plus 37) at No. 14 UCF
No team in FBS has faced more passing attempts than the Huskies; not coincidentally, UConn is terrible defending the pass ... UCF 56-17.
CONFERENCE CALLS
No. 15 Southern California (minus 13 ) at Colorado
Trojans RB Ronald Jones, meet the Buffaloes' run defense, ranked 113th in the country in yards per carry at 5.15 allowed ... USC 41-21, BEST BET.
Rutgers (plus 30) at No. 16 Penn State
RB Saquon Barkley has not run for 100 yards in a game since September ... PENN STATE 49-14.
No. 17 Virginia Tech (minus 3) at Georgia Tech
Three of the Yellow Jackets' four losses have been by a total of six points ... VIRGINIA TECH 28-21.
No. 19 Washington State (minus 1) at Utah
Cougars can head to the Apple Cup against Washington in control of their Pac-12 North title hopes with a win ... WASHINGTON STATE 27-21.
No. 21 Michigan (minus 15 ) at Maryland
Wolverines have run for 705 yards in their last two games against Rutgers and Minnesota ... MICHIGAN 34-14.
No. 23 West Virginia (plus 2 ) at Kansas State
Mountaineers QB Will Grier is second in the nation with 30 TD passes; the Wildcats have 10 touchdown passes ... WEST VIRGINIA 28-21.
TWITTER REQUESTS
Oregon State (plus 23) at Arizona --(at)BrandonSprague
Beavers have won four of last five meetings ... ARIZONA 48-14.
Florida (plus 7 ) at South Carolina -- (at)rmginn
Anything left in the Gators' tank? ... SOUTH CAROLINA 28-17.
SMU (plus 4 ) at Navy -- (at)dennisdube
Midshipmen have lost three straight and have not lost four in a row since 2011 ... SMU 31-28.
Boise State (minus 5 ) at Colorado State --(at)JeffMinert1
Broncos have won five straight and have not allowed more than 14 points in any of the games ... BOISE STATE 21-14.
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Record last week: 17-6 straight up; 9-13-1 against the spread.
Record this season: 168-55 straight up; 99-109-6 against the spread.
Upset specials: 4-6 (straight up).
Best bets: 6-3 (against the spread).
