It’s the bye week. As such, no guest picker this week, just your friendly Gamecock Scoop staff. Caleb Alexander continues to be white-hot on his picks, leaving the rest of us in the dust. Rest up, get healthy, and enjoy a day a stress-free day of football.

As with most weeks, the SEC will take center stage this weekend. Alabama and Georgia have won four of the last seven national championships. They’ve met six times in that seven-year stretch, three meetings for the SEC Championship and two for a National Championship. Bama won five-of-six, but those wins came under the Greatest of All-Time, Nick Saban. Tuscaloosa should be rocking Saturday night.

All game times are in listed in EDT. The lines are locked in Monday morning and may have shifted by the date of this article’s publication.

Rutgers needs to go ahead and give Greg Schiano a lifetime contract. Schiano is in his second go-around as the Scarlet Knights coach. They have won under him and pretty much no one else since the 1970s. Fun Fact: Rutgers won the first-ever college football game on November 6, 1869, over the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), by a score of 6-4. The game was played using rules based on the London Football Association of 1863, which prohibited players from carrying or throwing the ball.

The loser of the this game is going to have an uphill battle to the playoff with a second September loss. K-State couldn't handle the thin Provo air and got blown out. OK State lost at home to Utah. Wildcat QB didn't live up to our hype last week, but he did raise nearly $50,000.00 for his high school principle that battling cancer.

Meet Indiana’s new coach, Curt Cignetti. He came over from James Madison. When asked how he sells his vision in recruiting, he said, “I win. Google me.” “I've kind of had to speak a big game taking over a job like this because we had to wake some people up and create some excitement, and after all, this is the entertainment business, too,” Cignetti said.

The Hoosiers are 4-0.

Louisville is probably the best ACC game left on Clemson's schedule, but can they go into South Bend and pull off a win against Notre Dame? This should be a fun one; Louisville has had an easy start to the 2024 season but won fairly convincingly last week against an improving Georgia Tech squad. Notre Dame, meanwhile, seems to have exorcised their demons following their pitiful performance against Northern Illinois in week two. They hung 66 on Purdue and held Miami (OH) to just 3 points the last two weeks, and I think they'll give the Cardinals their full focus this weekend.

The SEC undercard. All eyes will be on Alabama/Georgia, but this game should provide a nice lead-in. Arkansas has been far better than expected with Bobby Petrino calling the plays. Ja'Quinden Jackson is fourth in the NCAA in rushing with 472 yards on the season. The Hogs can run. Arkansas has rushed for more yards and touchdowns than in 2023. They rank second in the nation in rushing touchdowns and 11th in total rushing yards. The Razorbacks have 66.7% more rushing touchdowns than they accumulated all last season. Texas A&M's defense will provide a sturdy test.

Deion goes to Disney. This will be a good test for Coach Prime’s Buffalos. The Knights are 3-0 after an improbable win over TCU. The Buffs should present UCF’s toughest test of the season. 14 seems too high for this one. Expect points to be scored.

Michigan State has long been known to be a team than can pull off an upset in East Lansing. They’ve done it to before but seldomly against Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won eight in a row in the series. The Spartans haven’t beaten Ohio State at home since 1999. Vegas lines indicate that they hold Ohio State in the same regard as Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. Sparty should be their toughest opponent yet.

We don't have to sell you on this game. If you want a thorough breakdown of this game, our Georgia and Alabama sister sites have you covered. I'm going to use this space as an editorial on the 12-team playoff. Everyone likes it right now, it's new, it's shiny, but it is going to diminish the regular season. You won't see the effect on display this weekend in Tuscaloosa, but you will in the coming years. These late September games will mean nothing in the grand scheme of the season. The loser will drop a few spots in the polls but will remain in prime playoff position. Several years of seeing this game's loser easily make the playoff is going to diminish its meaning. That won't stop anyone from enjoying this one on Saturday, but the outside interest isn't going to be there for big September and October college football games in the coming season.

The last time these two teams played in Happy Valley, the Illini pulled off a 9 overtime victory against the Nittany Lions. Bret Bielema enters this contest with his best team to date - at Illinois - and has beaten both ranked teams on the schedule thus far. Quarterback Luke Altmyer has been incredibly efficient in 2024 and has thrown for 10 touchdowns compared to 0 interceptions. He is also completing 71% of his passes.

Penn State entered 2024 as a Big Ten contender and a potential playoff candidate. This will be Penn State’s first true test of the season (not counting a narrow escape against Bowling Green). Quarterback Drew Allar has been impressive in his own right and is surrounded by offensive weapons.

The only man who’s been more money than Ashton Jeanty this season is Caleb Alexander. Just consult the chart below or your bank account if you’ve followed his plays. Jeanty has 586 yards rushing and nine touchdowns this season. The Broncos are also in poll position for the G5 playoff birth.

“Yeah, I think he's the best running back I've seen since I've been here. You know, he's certainly an NFL guy,” Dan Lanning on Jeanty. This is your pass-out game on Saturday night.