Normally we introduce our guest picker later in the column but this week South Carolina plays Missouri and the Gamecocks haven't beaten the COMO Tigers since 2018 when our guest picker split the uprights in a rain-soaked Williams-Brice Stadium. If the Gamecocks want to spend more than three years amongst the SEC's big boys, they can't have five-game losing streaks to Kentucky and Missouri. Shane Beamer seems to have found the receipt to vanquish the Cats, but he's yet to find a way to tame the Tigers.

Across the nation, it's another week with just two games featuring Top 25 matchups and surprise - both are from the SEC. Carolina/Missouri and Tennessee/Georgia. This quiet week seems like a perfect candidate for an upset that shakes up the playoff picture.

In case you didn't watch the video above, Parker White is our guest picker. White lettered at Carolina from 2017-2021 and spent some time in the NFL with the Packers. White opted to remain in Columbia for his extra COVID year in 2021 and he produced one of the better seasons of any Gamecock kicker. White connected on 16-of-17 field goal attempts for 94.1% success rate and on all 30 of his PATs. That FG percentage was best in the SEC and 6th nationally. Parker also connected on over 80% of his makes in 2018 and 2019. Parker's first ever made field goal for Carolina was a game-winner against Louisiana Tech that preserved a nine win season in 2017. 2019 wasn't a season to remember, but White hit a 49-yd field goal in Athens and then what would be the game winner in 2OT as the Gamecocks upset the 3rd ranked Bulldogs. In 2021, he hit a game winner in Greenville, NC, in a game that Carolina never led until the clock hit triple-zeros.

Today, Parker is an assistant coach at Ridge View High School in Columbia and recently started an online trading card business. Give his business a follow here.

All game times are listed in EDT. Games lines were locked on Monday morning and may have moved by this article's publication date.

For Texas it's pretty simple. Don't slip up before the A&M regular season finale. If you want SEC chaos, Georgia beats Tennessee, A&M beats Texas and A&M somehow losses to Auburn. Assuming no other upsets, six teams would finish with 6-2 SEC records. Even without the least probable outcome of Auburn beating the Aggies, the Texas and Texas A&M winner finishes 7-1 and five teams finish 6-2 in the league. Whichever unlucky 6-2 team had to play the Lonestar State showdown winner in the SEC Championship could be risking their playoff birth with a possible third loss. I'd rather sit that one out. Want even more chaos? Missouri runs the table and enters the picture as yet another 6-2 SEC team. Hopefully the Gamecocks reduce some chaos this weekend.

As much as Gamecock fans don't want to say it, Go Tigers! South Carolina has an extremely thin playoff window. South Carolina would need a potential win over Clemson to have as much value as possible. If the Tigers lose in the Steel City, they are falling out of the Top 25 and have no shot at the ACC Championship. With a win, Clemson is in the ACC clubhouse at 7-1 in the league. SMU plays BC and Cal at home with a road trip at UVA sandwiched in-between. Miami still has a tricky game at Syracuse. SMU is currently 5-0 in the league and Miami is 5-1. A second Hurricane loss would do the trick. The city of Charlotte would greatly prefer the Tigers in the ACC Championship, as should most Gamecocks. Another possible scenario: Clemson wins the ACC at 10-3 with a loss to the Gamecocks and Boise State runs the table, the Broncos would likely get the playoff bye over the three-loss ACC Champion.

The winner stays alive in the Group of 5 automatic playoff birth hunt. Boise State has the poll position, with Tulane and Army the next highest ranked teams. If Navy can beat Tulane and Army, they could still have a shot. I'm not sure how the American tie-breaker system works, but Army could finish the season with no conference losses. If Navy beats Tulane they are likely to finish 7-1. The Army/Navy game is played after the American Championship Game. Could we see the service academies meet back-to-back weeks? The Army/Navy game does not factor into conference standings. Things get way more interesting in the Group of Five if Boise picks up a loss somewhere or Army beats/nearly beats Notre Dame.

Toilet Bowl matchup of the Week:

Tom Herman’s tenure at FAU has been a disappointment thus far. Herman won 4 games in his first season and has managed only two wins in 2024. One area the Owls do excel is in rushing the football. FAU already has three players with at least 365 yards rushing and will pound away at any team who struggles against the run. Marshall transfer quarterback Cam Fancher has proven to be a dual-threat and leads the FAU offense.

This may be a bad matchup for Temple as they’ve struggled to stop other teams from rushing the ball in 2024. Stan Drayton’s seat is becoming increasingly hot despite his message about patience with the youth movement. Drayton has failed to win more than 3 games during his time with the Owls and year three has displayed no significant progress. One of the few bright spots this season has been linebackers Tyquan King and DJ Woodberry. They are 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the conference in tackles.

Notre Dame and Oregon have the clearest routes to the playoff at this point. The Irish are currently 8-1 and ranked 8th. Their last three games are UVA at home, Army at Yankee Stadium and at Southern Cal. They will be heavy favorites in all of those games. The Irish have the worst loss of any playoff contender, but a one-loss Notre Dame team isn't getting left out.

In case you were wondering: former Gamecock placekicker Mitch Jeter has currently connected on 6-of-9 FG attempts and all 27 extra point attempts. He's 4-for-7 on attempts of 40 yards or over.

We normally just tell you to keep reading Gamecock Scoop in this space, and you should still do that, but today we'll give you a couple of stats as well. Missouri has played three road games, two in the SEC. For whatever reason, the Tigers played a road game at UMass (2-7) in October that they won 45-3. In their two SEC road games, Missouri is 0-2 and was outscored 75-10. Mizzou is 7-5 against SC as a member of the SEC and 9-5 overall. The Tigers have won the last 5 in the series. The Gamecocks need to let out some frustration this week.

Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty and Dillion Gabriel are the three Heisman candidates with the best odds. Hunter is the leader at -115 with Jeanty and Gabriel both at +360. Jeanty sits at 1,734 yards with 23 touchdowns. He got back on track against Nevada with 209 yards and three touchdowns after back-to-back "off weeks" where he only rushed for 149 yards and 128 yards with three total touchdowns. Barry Sanders single season record of 2,628 rushing yards is probably safe. (Sanders posted that total in 11 games). Sanders also rushed for 37 touchdowns in 1988, (also an NCAA record).

This is the most losable game left on the Broncos schedule. They close at Wyoming and home against Oregon State.

If you are looking for the best values on two teams to win their conference and make the playoff, look no further than the two teams meeting in this game. The current Big 12 standings have BYU on top at 6-0 followed by Colorado at 5-1. Arizona State and K-State join Iowa State and West Virginia at 4-2. The Sun Devils host BYU next week and close at Arizona. FYI: BYU is only a 2.5-point home favorite over 3-6 Kansas this week. Vegas doesn't see BYU running the table. Just when it looked like Kansas State was playing their best football, they blow a two-score fourth quarter lead on the road to Houston. They've had two weeks to stew over that loss. Elimination game in the Big 12 here.

The Big Ten is known for top teams catching November losses on the road in places like Iowa City and Madison. If it doesn't happen this week its' probably not going to happen. Oregon did go to Michigan, but outside of that trip, they haven't played in a difficult Big Ten road environment. Wisconsin needs one more win for bowl eligibility. The Badgers offense has been stagnate the last three weeks. The weather looks to be windy, but Oregon will avoid the typical late-season Wisconsin weather.

Game of the week. There was no real justification for Georgia to fall from three all the down to 12. Why is Miami, who lost on the road to unranked Georgia Tech, ahead of Georgia? The playoff rankings are ridiculous and shouldn't be released under after this week going forward. There is no justification for releasing ranking after week 10, other than to give ESPN radio/TV shows something to talk. While the poll is undoubtedly stupid, if Georgia beats Tennessee this weekend they are back in the driver's seat to earn a playoff birth. If I'm a Georgia fan, I'd rather finish 10-2, 6-2 in the league, and miss the SEC Championship. If Texas were to avenge the Georgia loss it could knock a three-loss Georgia out of the playoff.

If Tennessee wins here, they set up the biggest UT/Vandy game in our lifetime. If Tennessee finishes the regular season at 11-1, they are in the playoff regardless of what happens in Atlanta. UT QB Nico Iamaleava is questionable for this weekend.