USA TODAY Sports More than a decade ago, school officials at Florida and Georgia no longer wanted their annual meeting in Jacksonville to be known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. They wanted the focus to be on the game. They'll get their wish this year as both teams enter the final weekend of October with serious College Football Playoff aspirations. For the No. 6 Bulldogs, they'll be looking to bounce back in their first outing since a deflating loss at LSU two weeks ago. For the 11th-ranked Gators, they'll look to continue building upon their momentum in Dan Mullen's first season. The winner is in good shape in the SEC East. The loser will likely be looking at other destinations in December. In other action featuring ranked opponents, No. 15 Washington State visits No. 23 Stanford after its stirring win against Oregon. Both teams control their destiny in the Pac-12 North. The question is whether the Cardinal can slow down the Cougars and their passing attack. STAFF PICKS:Our experts predict all the Top 25 games for Week 9 WORTH WATCHING:Week 9 games that will impact the College Football Playoff BOWL PROJECTIONS:Ohio State retains spot in playoff field after loss There's also an interesting matchup in the Big Ten as No. 16 Penn State tried to end a two-game losing streak at home when No. 18 Iowa visits State College. The Nittany Lions are likely out of the Big Ten title race, but they can spoil things for the Hawkeyes, who still harbor hopes in the West Division. .<doc-sep>4 of 9 Chuck Burton/Associated Press Wake Forest (3-4) at Louisville (2-5), Noon ET For Louisville's sake, hopefully a bye week allowed the offense to correct its laundry list of issues. Wake Forest's unit has encountered a rough stretch too, but Cade Carney, Matt Colburn II and the Demon Deacons running game can take control of this one. Prediction: Wake Forest 37, Louisville 27 Vanderbilt (3-5) at Arkansas (2-6), Noon ET It took eight weeks, but Arkansas finally has a victory over an FBS opponent. The next challenge is knocking off an SEC program. Vanderbilt, which is 0-3 on the road, can be beaten if the Razorbacks and their 47th-ranked rushing defense don't allow the visitors and their 100th-ranked rushing attack to have a successful day on the ground. Prediction: Arkansas 24, Vanderbilt 19 Massachusetts (2-6) at Connecticut (1-6), Noon ET Giving credit where it's due, UConn managed to hang with South Florida on the road in Week 8. We're still not going to trust a defense that has allowed 10.9 yards per pass (worst in the nation) with 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions when UMass' explosive aerial attack is coming to town. Prediction: UMass 48, UConn 38 Army (5-2) at Eastern Michigan (4-4), Noon ET One-possession losses are kind of Eastern Michigan's thing; 12 of the program's last 13 losses have come by seven points or fewer. The Eagles can keep up, but a 112th-ranked run defense will be their downfall when triple-option Army needs a clutch score. Prediction: Army 27, Eastern Michigan 24 Central Michigan (1-7) at Akron (3-3), Noon ET If you're a regular reader of the predictions, you may have noticed a trend with Central Michigan: We're not picking the Chips because they don't score enough. Maybe that changes against a mediocre Akron team, but there's no evidence to pick it. Prediction: Akron 28, Central Michigan 20 Bethune-Cookman (4-4) at Nebraska (1-6), Noon ET The drive toward bowl eligibility is alive! Nebraska's improving offense broke through in Week 8, racking up 659 yards in a 53-28 home win over Minnesota. Bethune-Cookman has consistently fallen to top competition this year, and a trip to Lincoln will be no different. Prediction: Nebraska 45, Bethune-Cookman 21 Southern Miss (3-3) at Charlotte (3-4), 2 p.m. ET Southern Mississippi's ground game ranks 114th, and Charlotte boasts the sixth-best run defense. This matchup will come down to the effectiveness of USM quarterback Jack Abraham, whose efficiency gives the Golden Eagles a slight edge despite playing on the road. Prediction: Southern Miss 24, Charlotte 20 Coastal Carolina (4-3) at Georgia State (2-5), 2 p.m. ET This is a clash between two bottom-five defenses, especially against the run. Georgia State, however, has mustered only 3.7 yards per carry this season. Meanwhile, Coastal Carolina has posted 5.1 yards per attempt opposite Group of Five competition. Prediction: Coastal Carolina 42, Georgia State 28 TCU (3-4) at Kansas (2-5), 3 p.m. ET Left shoulder surgery has ended quarterback Shawn Robinson's season, so TCU will turn to Michael Collins. That's a huge problem for the Horned Frogs moving forward, and not even Kansas can be considered a gimme. But TCU's defense is still the best unit on the field. Prediction: TCU 31, Kansas 17 Oregon State (1-6) at Colorado (5-2), 3 p.m. ET USC and Washington slowed down Colorado in consecutive road games for the Buffaloes. They're headed for a bounce-back performance opposite Oregon State, the third-worst defense in the nation. Prediction: Colorado 45, Oregon State 24<doc-sep>The Six Pack was horrible last week. While I nailed the under in Michigan-Michigan State with plenty of room to spare, it was the only winner I handed out in the column. I was wrong on every other pick. It's the second time The Six Pack has gone 1-5 this season, and it drops our record this season to 24-24, a perfectly mediocre record if ever there was one. In short, it's been an awful season to this point, but I'm not making excuses. The reason The Six Pack's record is mediocre is that I've made mediocre picks. But not this week. This week we're getting back to our winning ways. There are ups and downs during any season when it comes to gambling, and I prefer to think the downs are behind us. Games of the Week No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 9 Florida (Under 52) - in Jacksonville, FL: If you'd like to take Georgia (-6.5) in this game, I wouldn't blame you. I had been leaning that direction myself as I think Georgia is a better team than Florida, and that this line is slightly off due to the overreaction from the 20-point loss to LSU. However, the total is more attractive to me. These two meet in Jacksonville every season, and while the favorite is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings, I prefer the other trend in this series. The one that doesn't see many points scored. The under is 5-2 during the previous seven years, but there's more to it than that trend. In those seven seasons, the average total number of points scored has been 40.6 points per game. In those seven games, only once (2014) did these two combine for a total higher than this year's total of 52. Look for that trend to continue. Georgia 27, Florida 20 No. 17 Penn State (-6) vs. No. 18 Iowa: The Hawkeyes aren't getting a lot of attention this season even though they remain a Big Ten team still alive not just for the conference title, but for a possible College Football Playoff berth. Now, I don't think it's a likely scenario, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. Unfortunately for Iowa, I believe those playoff hopes die on Saturday against Penn State. Iowa is 6-1 and ranked at No. 18, and it deserves to be. I just think it's getting a little too much credit with this spread. Part of that is no doubt due to Penn State's home losses against Ohio State and Michigan State. But the best team Iowa has played this season was Wisconsin, and it lost at home to the Badgers 28-17. Its best win is either last week's 23-0 shutout of Marlyand or its 13-3 win over Iowa State back in September. Neither are wins to be ashamed of nor are they enough to give me a reason to believe Iowa goes on the road and covers this number. Penn State 34, Iowa 24 Lock of the Week No. 16 Texas A&M (+2.5) at Mississippi State: I was burned by Mississippi State last week, but this isn't about seeking vengeance. I think this line is off. The Bulldogs have played four SEC games. They've won once. In their three losses, they've managed to score a total of 16 points. They have a terrific defense, but I can't trust this offense to cover at home against a good Texas A&M team. Particularly in this matchup. Mississippi State has no passing attack to speak of. Its passing efficiency rating of 108.91 is the worst in the SEC and ranks 120th nationally. Against SEC opponents that number drops to 63.79. That is mind-bogglingly awful. So the Bulldogs are going to have to run to move the ball, but the problem there is the Aggies have a strong run defense. The A&M defense has given up only 3.24 yards per carry this season (17th nationally) and has allowed five rushing touchdowns (tied for 7th). Where are the points going to come from? Texas A&M 20, Mississippi State 17 Under of the Week No. 6 Texas at Oklahoma State (Under 62): Oklahoma State isn't the same Oklahoma State this season, but even so, I'm not brave enough to bet against it at home against Texas. Part of it is Mike Gundy, and part of it is always being leery of Texas, especially now that it's ranked No. 6. Thankfully we have a total that's too high here! After scoring at least 35 points per game in Big 12 games the last three seasons (over 40 ppg in both 2015 and 2017), the Cowboys are only scoring 29.8 points per game this year. And then there's Texas's offense, which exploded against Oklahoma but has been much more about efficiency than explosiveness in 2018. Furthermore, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings, 6-1 when Oklahoma State's a dog the previous three seasons and 6-1 when Texas is a road favorite the last three seasons. Texas might lose, but I don't think there will be as many fireworks as this total suggests. Texas 28, Oklahoma State 27 Hate Myself Pick of the Week No. 21 South Florida (+7) at Houston: It was a couple of weeks ago that I had decided that, no matter what, I was going to fade South Florida the rest of the season. I had this revelation watching the Bulls struggle to beat a bad Tulsa team by one point. This came after watching it struggle to overcome a bad UMass team, and a bad East Carolina team, and a bad Illinois team. Do you see the trend here? Then Charlie Strong's squad clinched it by allowing a horrible UConn team to look competent last week. Well, I'm betting on the Bulls this week because my new principle only applied to USF as a favorite. In this week's game against Houston, it's a dog, and it should be. And it will more than likely lose. But this spread is too big. Houston isn't this much better than USF, and I expect the Bulls to ugly this up as much as possible and hang around because that's just what they do. Houston 35, South Florida 31 Bottom 25 Bet of the Week UNLV (+3) at San Jose State: The logic here is pretty simple. I write The Bottom 25 every week, so I'm a lot more familiar with the worst teams in the country than your average college football fan. Thanks to this I know there is just no way that San Jose State should be favored over anybody right now. I get that the Spartans are at home, and UNLV isn't exactly good, but it's better than this San Jose State team. And it's going to win this game. UNLV 31, San Jose State 27 SportsLine Pick of the Week No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Navy: Notre Dame and Navy continue their rivalry this weekend with a neutral site game in San Diego. Notre Dame is favored by 23.5 points, and the total is set at 54. I have a strong play available on this game that you can read by heading over to SportsLine and subscribing today.<doc-sep>
1 of 8 John Bazemore/Associated Press Matt Hayes (Twitter: @MattHayesCFB) Here's the thing: Georgia isn't as bad as it showed against LSU, and Jake Fromm has a history of ratcheting up his play after a poor game (see: response to Auburn loss last year). Though the Dawgs aren't nearly as disruptive on defense as they were last season, they'll protect the ball, Fromm will play better, his backup Justin Fields will have a couple of critical series, and Florida won't have enough to keep pace with the Georgia offense. David Kenyon (Twitter: @Kenyon19_BR) Fromm looked awful in that loss to LSU. Worst day of his college career, and it's not particularly close. But I'm not panicking just yet, because I think the bigger test is Florida QB Feleipe Franks against a tough Georgia secondary. Florida will likely rely heavily on its quick-passing game, so creating after the catch will be vital unless Franks successfully tests UGA downfield. And I don't see that happening. Adam Kramer (Twitter: @KegsnEggs) First and foremost, I'm glad we're calling this name by its original, rightful title. Yeah, they're trying to tell you it's no longer the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, but deep down you know it's still very much that. Anyway, I will take Georgia. I don't feel particularly solid in that, but I believe the overall talent of the Bulldogs will prevail. That said, Florida's resurgence has been one of the best stories of the college football season. Dan Mullen will be up for this and will likely keep it close. But I feel like Georgia will find a way, and I could see Fields playing a significant role in that, some way or another. Kerry Miller (Twitter: @kerrancejames) LSU has completely screwed up my feeling about both of these teams. Take out Florida's win over the Tigers and Georgia's loss to them, and I'd probably pick the Bulldogs to win this game by at least three touchdowns. I'm still picking Georgia—but not confidently. The X-factor will be third-year running back Elijah Holyfield. D'Andre Swift hasn't had anywhere near the breakout year everyone was expecting, but Holyfield has emerged as a bruiser who Georgia can turn to when it desperately needs a first down. Brad Shepard (Twitter: @Brad_Shepard) I've gone back and forth on this one for much of the week. Everything screams to pick the Bulldogs, but I'm a big Mullen believer. The way he has the Gators playing is impressive. Just when you think they aren't a dynamic team, they beat LSU. Just when you think they're going to show their true colors against a bad team like Vanderbilt, they come roaring back. This team has staying power, so this game should be a lot closer than some people think. But I believe Fromm is going to rebound for the Bulldogs. Last year around this time, he started to elevate his game. If he has a big game against the Gators, it can kick-start his season. It's going to be a back-and-forth defensive battle, but I like Fromm to make one more play in the end. I'll say Georgia wins 24-16. Ian Wharton (Twitter: @NFLFilmStudy) Georgia is in the midst of a brutal stretch, but it is coming off a bye week. That will be the key difference in this game, as head coach Kirby Smart had time to self-evaluate and retool how they blocked (or rather didn't block) for Fromm against LSU. Florida will present a similar challenge and certainly has a good shot to win. But I trust the Bulldogs more than I trust the Gators to create big plays when needed.