Upset Alert! Which Top 10s Might be in Trouble in Week 7?

It’s been a zany college football year so far, but really in comparison to years past, has it really been that crazy? Every week there are going to be upsets and every week undefeated teams will become…well, defeated. Yet, when it happens we will all somehow be shocked. The fact is, now we are in the middle of the season and getting into the heart of conference play where even the big name schools are at risk every week. The competition and the stakes will be raised for week seven, so you shouldn’t be surprised in some of these teams go down.

No. 9 LSU

It’s pretty rare that a ninth ranked team is a favorite over an undefeated third ranked team, but this is the nature of the SEC. Technically speaking, it would be an upset if the South Carolina Gamecocks (6-0) came into Baton Rouge and knocked off three point favorite LSU (5-1) this week. Even though South Carolina has made an early impression this season, that’s all it is so far. The Gamecocks still have plenty of immensely tough games on the schedule, including this week’s showdown with the Tigers.

Even though LSU is at home and hasn’t lost back-to-back games in…I’m not sure how long, (a long time regardless) last year’s Natty runner-ups are obviously in danger this week of falling out of the top ten. South Carolina smoked Georgia like a sweet and spicy rack of baby backs last week and enters this contest with the best of both worlds; a fourth ranked defense in points allowed and a top 35 scoring offense. However, this one should be a grind-it-out type of SEC trench war that features a strong running game (South Carolina) that will be running into the brick wall that is LSU’s front seven. An ESPN-run EA Sports simulation picked South Carolina as a 17-14 winner this week and that actually sounds about right. Maybe before making wagers next week, we should all simulate some games on our PS3s.

EA SIm: South Carolina vs. LSU

No. 7 Notre Dame

Who really thought the Irish would be 5-0 right now? Probably not even Brian Kelly, but here we are with Notre Dame looking like a real contender again. But this week, their scary gauntlet of a schedule continues with a date with #17 Stanford. The Cardinal didn’t look particularly sharp in their overtime win over Arizona a week ago, but we saw what kind of damage they are capable of doing in their early-season win against the preseason favorite, USC.

Stanford’s Luck-less offense has been efficient nonetheless, but the Golden Domes are fielding a nasty, stingy defense that is allowing only 7.8 points per game and at home they should be even nastier and stingier. Something’s gotta give right? If I had to choose, which I suppose I do, I’d go with Notre Dame. Stanford is a threat, sure, but Notre Dame has already beaten teams that could be considered more threatening this year, including Michigan, Michigan State and Miami. The game may be close, but no upset to see here. Go Irish in this one.

No. 10 Oregon State

Even more inconceivable than Notre Dame’s undefeated start, is the 4-0 record of Oregon State. The Beavers have already beaten two teams (Wisconsin, UCLA) that were ranked at the time, but once again will be tested this week at BYU. What’s interesting about this matchup is that the line actually favors the Cougars by 5.5 points, so I guess this would not technically be an upset, but OSU is indeed a top 10 in peril on the road this week. Here are two major reasons why OSU will go down this week.

1. Sean Mannion, Oregon State’s starting QB and primary reason for their early success, went down with an injury and will miss this game, giving unknown Cody Vaz the start, his first since high school.

2. The BYU defense is already ranked third in points allowed and didn’t really need any more help, especially at home where they are 4-0. The Cougs are allowing just 8.8 points per game and those games include a road contest against Boise State, in which they only gave up seven points.

Bottom line: OSU is in big trouble. Take BYU to knock some sense into the Beavers and put them where they belong; out of the top 10.