The Anxiety Rankings: Let's make the whole thing out of Anxiety Bowls — SkimNews
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- The Anxiety Rankings crowned five "Anxiety Bowls" for Week 7, led by No. 7 Texas hosting Florida — both teams desperate after Texas's self-inflicted Oklahoma loss and Florida's two straight blowout defeats (combined 83-36) to Missouri and South Carolina.
- Penn State at Michigan ranked second, with the two teams entering at a combined 0-5 in Big Ten play — a Penn State loss would make it 0-4 in conference play for the second straight year, while a Michigan loss would mark its first 0-3 Big Ten start since 1967.
- Nebraska at Oregon was Anxiety Bowl III, with Oregon having just fallen out of the AP Top 25 after losing to UCLA and potentially starting a third-string QB, while Nebraska blew a late lead at Indiana.
- Arkansas at Vanderbilt was the fourth Anxiety Bowl, matching the SEC's two lowest power-rated teams at 0-3 in conference play, with Vanderbilt's losses averaging 21.7 points and Arkansas's at 20.7.
- Virginia at No. 24 SMU rounded out the list, with the loser likely falling out of ACC title contention behind a Miami team the author called clearly the best in the conference.
- Texas coach Steve Sarkisian fielded questions about whether QB Arch Manning would be considered good if not for the Manning name, after Manning threw a pick-six and Texas allowed a blocked-punt touchdown in the Oklahoma loss.
Why it matters: Fanbases across five conferences face consequential Saturdays with College Football Playoff implications: Texas must win to keep its resume alive after a self-inflicted Oklahoma loss, Florida could fall from 4-0 to a possible 4-4 bowl miss with consecutive defeats, and Penn State-Michigan carries historical weight as both enter 0-5 combined in Big Ten play.
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