Week 6 is likely to do as much to shake up the SEC standings as it will do to alter the college football rankings. Two of the three match-ups of ranked teams feature SEC schools clashing — Florida visiting LSU, Auburn heading to Arkansas — and the in-conference ramifications of those games are almost as important as the national consequences. But Oklahoma and Texas have their own in-conference showdown, too.
College Football Rankings Ramifications: SEC Showdowns Dominate Week 6 Schedule
Week 6 doesn’t provide quite as many earth-shattering matchups as last week did, but both the top 25 rankings and the SEC’s standings will look mighty different on Sunday.
Here’s what’s at stake in Week 6.
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 17 Florida, 3:30 p.m.
If LSU wins: The Tigers keep on keeping on, and steam towards a November showdown with Alabama that could decide the SEC West, SEC, and national title.
If Florida wins: The Gators get a huge scalp, but do little to change the SEC East race. Florida’s loss to Alabama didn’t prevent the Gators from controlling their own destiny in the division — even a loss to LSU is unlikely to prevent that — but every other team in the division still controls its own destiny, even in the event of a Gators win.
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Texas, noon
If Oklahoma wins: Oklahoma’s still got the fast track to a BCS National Championship Game appearance, and will have dispatched a second top-11 team on the season.
If Texas wins: The Longhorns, suddenly, look like national title contenders. A win over Oklahoma sets up a possible de facto Big 12 Championship Game for Texas next week against Oklahoma State in Austin; win that, and the ‘Horns would have a commanding lead in the Big 12, with only Kansas State and Baylor able to keep pace. Texas would still need to play Kansas State, and at Texas A&M and Baylor, but the Longhorns would set themselves up for a surprising run from unranked to BCS glory with a win today.
No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 15 Auburn, 7:00 p.m.
If Arkansas wins: The Razorbacks keep their outside chance of winning the SEC West by running the table alive.
If Auburn wins: The resilient Tigers would find themselves in fantastic shape to make noise in the SEC West. Essentially, this game is sort of an SEC West elimination game: winner keeps playing, loser looks Cotton Bowl-bound.
No. 13 Georgia Tech vs. Maryland, noon
If Georgia Tech wins: The nation’s highest-scoring team keeps its run to an ACC crown blemish-free. The Yellow Jackets get both Clemson and Virginia Tech at home.
If Maryland wins: The ACC Coastal Division looks like a complete mess. Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech would be one-loss teams that could still control their own destinies, but Duke might be the only team without a loss in the division. And Duke lost to Richmond.
No. 14 Nebraska vs. Ohio State, 8:00 p.m.
If Nebraska wins: The Cornhuskers can still run the table, make the first-ever Big Ten Championship Game, and potentially win the Big Ten title.
If Ohio State wins: The Buckeyes could still, improbably, win the Big Ten. It would take fing the year on an eight-game winning streak that would include Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan (possibly twice) as vanquished foes, but it would be possible.
Here’s this week’s college football TV schedule, and stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news hub for more.
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