Welcome back to the only Gamecock website not afraid to pick against the spread and show the results. ESPN/ABC/Disney has to be loving this new SEC deal. This week they will air Alabama at Tennessee and Georgia at Texas. Two ratings monsters. Outside of the usually SEC heavyweight matchups, this is a good weekend across the board with some upstart programs being tested by traditional blue bloods. The early window and afternoon windows are loaded with good games before the Dawgs and Horns take center stage in the evening.

This week's guest picker- a fan favorite from the Holtz and Spurrier years. Andy Boyd was a member of the highly-touted Lou Holtz 2002 signing class. Boyd appeared in five games as a true freshman in 2002 but missed the entire 2003 season after tearing his ACL in preseason practice. In 2004, Boyd appeared in ten games and caught a touchdown pass against Ole Miss. The injury bug bit again in 2005, after catching the second touchdown of the Steve Spurrier Era against UCF, Andy was forced to undergo a second ACL surgery after the second game of 05’ season at Georgia. Andy returned in 2006 and was granted a sixth year eligibility for 2007. Throughout his Gamecock career he caught 13 passes for 194 and four touchdowns. Still though- our favorite Andy Boyd memory comes from 2006 in The Swamp in the Gamecocks near upset of eventually national champion Florida, known in most circles as "The Truck Stick". No so fun fact, the trucking victim, Tony Joiner, is currently serving time for second-degree murder.

All games times below are listed in EDT. The game lines were locked Monday morning and may have shifted by game time.

We just can’t buy Miami as a Top 10 team right now. Recent history suggests the media wants The U to be back due to early season rankings that the Canes just haven’t lived up to. Miami could easily be entering this game at 4-2 with losses to Va Texh, (not so sure they really didn’t lose that game), and at Cal. The Cardinals have a nice win over GA Tech, but have a home loss to solid SMU club. Cameron Ward Jr. The Third currently sits fourth in the Heisman odds. Louisville’s Tyler Shough is an NFL caliber signal caller as well. This is one of the better QB matchups of the day.

The Tony Elliott Bowl. We could give you our two cents, but check out this thorough preview at our sister site Cavs Corner right here.

Last week in this column we tabbed Iowa State as the P4 undefeated team that you knew the least about. This week lets take a look at the school that fits that bill- Indiana. First off, the Hoosiers join Miami, Pitt, BYU, Iowa State, Oregon, Penn State, and Texas as the only unbeaten P4 schools. Indiana does not play Oregon or Ohio State in the regular season. The Hoosiers host Michigan and play at Ohio State in November. Indiana's resume isn't the strongest at this point with wins over FIU, Western Illinois, UCLA, Charlotte, Maryland, and Northwestern. Having said that, they haven't had a team play them within 14 points yet, so they are beating the teams they should by margins that they should.

Pictured above, former Sooner QB and current Gamecock QB Davis Beville. One would expect this to be a low scoring affair. If so, expect the seat to get really warm underneath the losing offensive coordinator. Whatever happens, GamecockScoop is your spot for the most in-depth coverage of the first ever South Carolina and Oklahoma matchup.

Many college football traditions have fallen by the wayside, but not the 3rd Saturday in October. Bama has dominated this rivalry under Nick Saban, winning the last 16-of-17. Coach DeBoer really needs a win in this game after dropping a road contest to Vanderbilt and being outplayed at home for the majority of the day by the Gamecocks. Tennessee has also looked sloppy lately, losing at Arkansas and needing overtime in Neyland to beat an average Florida team. Neyland will be rocking.

Georgia Tech is sacrificing home field for some revenue by moving this game from Bobby Dodd to Mercedes-Benz.The real storyline here is that Yellow Jackets are finally getting a shot at some revenge for ND throwing deep late in the game to put their pip squeak eighth string DE in, only to see him jump offsides, (not called in South Bend of course) record a sack and then get carried off the field. The Rudy Revenge Game!

Friday afternoon Edit: see tweet below.

Saturday is expected to be the largest home turnout Illinois has had in over a decade, as the Wolverines travel to Champaign, Illinois. This is one of those odd years where Illinois ranks higher than Michigan in nearly every statistical category. However, Michigan does lead the BIG10 in rushing defense.

Illinois will rely on its highly efficient passing attack. The ground game will probably not be up to par as the Illini will be without leading rusher Kaden Feagin. Illinois does have a deep running back room that may help fill the void.

Michigan’s achilles heel has been in the passing game, both offensively and defensively. The Wolverines have plenty of talent, but have struggled to be consistent in all three phases. If Michigan has any hope of making the college football playoffs, they will likely need to win the rest of the games on their schedule.

What makes life in the SEC so damn difficult? LSU is coming off an emotional overtime win over then #9 Ole Miss last weekend. This weekend they head to a jacked up Razorback Stadium to face an Arkansas team coming off a bye week. The same Arkansas team that toppled #4 Rocky Top their last time out. LSU has won seven-of-eight in this series. LSU has won their last three trips to Arkansas by a combined 13 points. Look for the Hogs to try to play keep away from LSU's offense by pounding the rock and bleeding clock. This should be a good ballgame.

The Game of the Week and one of the most anticipated games of the 2024 season.This will be only the sixth meeting all-time between these heavyweights. Texas currently leads the Dawgs 4-1. This is only the third regular season meeting. The two schools played a home-and-home in 57-58, with Horns winning both games. Georgia’s lone win in the series came in the 1984 Cotton Bowl by a single point. We already know there is no love lost between Bevo and Uga.

This is the Group of 5 game of the week. Memphis is still alive as a playoff contender if it can the run table. At this point as well, everyone is probably going to need Boise State to lose. The Broncos are 5-1, have a Heisman Trophy front-running running back and have a three-point road loss at Oregon. Boise State plays UNLV next weekend. The winner of that game and the winner of the AAC will be lobbying for that playoff spot.

In case you were wondering, former Gamecock Mario Anderson currently has 456 yards on 82 carries with eight touchdowns. He's also caught 24 passes for 140 yards and a score.