Loaded Week 7 Slate: Ohio State-Indiana, Notre Dame-BYU — SkimNews
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- Notre Dame at BYU is the Big 12's marquee game as No. 2 Notre Dame visits No. 8 BYU (7:30 ABC) — the Cougars' biggest home game since at least 2004 — with BYU riding a 21-game unbeaten streak (only Texas Tech has beaten them) but missing RB LJ Martin to injury.
- Ohio State-Indiana rematch: No. 4 Ohio State visits No. 5 Indiana (noon Fox) in a repeat of last season's Big Ten championship, with Indiana carrying a 22-game winning streak after winning 16 of 27 third/fourth downs (59%) in last year's title game despite Ohio State shading most major stat categories.
- Alabama at Tennessee: No. 6 Alabama visits No. 14 Tennessee (3:30 ABC) in the Third Saturday in October, with Tennessee ranking first nationally in sack rate (11.5%) but shaky at QB after freshman Faizon Brandon proved unready and George MacIntyre threw two INTs against Arkansas last week.
- Oklahoma State at Houston is effectively a Big 12 elimination game (7:30 Fox): No. 18 Oklahoma State ranks fourth nationally in 20-plus-yard plays (10.4% of snaps), while No. 20 Houston is second in success rate (55.0%) and third in points per drive, scoring a touchdown in every goal-to-go situation.
- Wisconsin at UCLA (7:30 NBC) pits unbeaten No. 12 UCLA — fourth in yards per carry and sixth in YPC allowed — against Wisconsin despite the Bruins losing QB Nico Iamaleava to injury last week, with Wisconsin's defense ranking 12th in YPC allowed and eighth in yards per dropback.
- Missouri-Ole Miss rounds out the ranked SEC slate at 3:30 (SECN), with No. 13 Missouri visiting No. 9 Ole Miss, who pummeled Vanderbilt 52-17 last Saturday coming off a much-needed bye week.
- The undercard includes Kentucky-Oklahoma pairing two teams riding stirring Week 6 wins, LSU-Mississippi State trying to salvage their seasons, and the Anchor-Bone Classic (Ferris State-Grand Valley State) anchoring small-school action in Michigan.
Why it matters: The bookend games double as College Football Playoff stress tests: Notre Dame has beaten only one SP+ top-50 team this season, while Ohio State is just 6-8 in games decided by 11 or fewer since 2022, and Indiana's 22-game streak rests on third-down conversions that have dipped from 76% to 59% this fall.
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