The Gamecocks have the week off on an otherwise busy week of college football. Week 9 might not have the blockbuster headlining game, but there is a lot of solid action for football to fans to sink their teeth into this weekend. It starts on Thursday when 5-1 Syracuse heads to unbeaten Pitt. Friday night features a likely Group of 5 playoff elimination game with Boise State and UNLV. Saturday's highlights include unbeaten Navy and Notre Dame and another primetime SEC showdown this time between LSU and Texas A&M. Gamecock fans will watch that one closely. Perhaps the biggest story of the week is the return of Perry McCarty's toilet bowl of the week. Everywhere I go I got asked, "when is the toilet bowl returning to the staff picks column?" Well it is making it's season debut this week.

A quick shoutout to Caleb Alexander for a perfect 10-0 week last week. Also, no guest picker on the bye weeks.

All games times below are EDT. The games lines were locked on Monday morning and may have moved prior to kickoff.

We've highlighted prior unbeaten P4 teams in Iowa State and Indiana. Now let's look at the other unlikely unbeaten, the Pitt Panthers. First a list of the remaining P4 and G5 perfect records:

P4: Miami, Pitt, BYU, Iowa State, Indiana, Penn State and Oregon

G5: Army and Navy. Liberty was defeated by 27.5 pt underdog Kennesaw State on Wednesday night. It was the Owls first win as an FBS program. The Liberty loss ended any outside shot they had of being the G5 playoff team.

Pitt QB Eli Holstein has thrown for 1,697 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 63.5% of his passes. RB Desmond Reid has rushed for a team-high 494 yards and three touchdowns. Konata Mumpfield is the best Panther WR with a team-high 26 receptions for 463 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, Donovan McMillon (DB transfer from Florida) has a team-high 56 tackles ahead of teammate LB Rasheem Biles with 40 total tackles. R-Soph LB Kyle Louis has three sacks and with two picks.

FYI: Cuse has lost 16-of-19 of last conference road games.

Mountain West game of the year. Hopefully you have the CBS Sports Network because this game is going to be a lot of fun. By now, if you are reading this column you know who Ashton Jeanty is. For any first time readers, he is Boise State's 5'9, 215 lbs. bowling ball of a running back. He's rushed for 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns. He's the current co-favorite to win the Heisman. Jeanty rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns in Eugene against Oregon. UNLV has the 19th best rushing defense allowing only 3.35 yards per attempt. WWE Smackdown in Brooklyn, Dodgers/Yankees World Series and a fantastic college game equals a fun Friday night of sports (entertainment).

A few notes on unbeaten Navy. The Midshipmen haven't been 7-0 since 1978. Navy is 2-0 all-time at MetLife Stadium. Since 78', Navy and Notre Dame have only met one other time as members of the AP Top 25, this year will mark the second occasion. The last time Navy entered Notre Dame week unbeaten after the month of September was 2004. In 04', the 5-0 Middies lost 27-9 to the Irish at old Giants Stadium. Navy is currently 4th nationally in total offense at 44.8 points per game. They are still a run first team with 274.8 yards per game on the ground, but Navy QB Blake Horvath can throw the football. The junior QB is 46-72 with 888 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air. He's also rushed for 621 yards and 10 touchdowns. Notre Dame will unquestionably be the Midshipmen's biggest challenge on the season, but Navy has a win over Memphis and has blown everyone else on their schedule away by at least 27 points.

Illinois' defense shutdown Michigan last week, possibly thanks to distracting the Maze and Blue with some of the worst uniforms ever manufactured. Their reward, a trip to top ranked Oregon. Shutting down the Ducks and QB Dillon Gabriel won't be a small task. Gabriel is ninth nationally in passing with 2080 yards and eighth in passing efficiency. Former Gamecock Jordan Burch has been injured since the October 4th game with Michigan State. It sounds like he'll be out this week as well. Burch had 19 tackles and five sacks in five games this season.

There is not a football coach in the country that needs a win this week more than Kalen DeBoer. Alabama has not lost Missouri since the Tigers joined the SEC, 4-0. Missouri has not played Bama within 18 points in any of those four losses. Missouri QB Brady Cook is listed as "doubtful" for this game. If the Tide can win this one, they will set up a game on November 9 at LSU that could be for one of the final playoff spots. With two conference losses, Bama likely won't have to worry about playing an extra game in Atlanta in December. (Seriously, can we end conference championship games? How times is a conference title game loser going to lose a spot in the playoff to someone that is at home watching on the couch). After LSU. Bama will be favored by two or more scores against Mercer, Oklahoma, and Auburn. 10-2 Bama with the UGA win and potential win in Baton Rouge would make the playoffs.

Vanderbilt needs to enjoy their Top 25 status this week. Texas enters Saturday's game against the Commodores having been written off as a pretender after being throughly beaten by Georgia on their home field. The Longhorns' wins over Michigan and Oklahoma look less impressive by the week. Texas should be ready to work out some frustration. Vandy hasn't won six games since 2016. The Commodores appear to play to the level of their competition. They lost at Georgia State and only beat Ball State by 10. Vandy also has wins over Virginia Tech, Alabama, and at Kentucky while losing by just three to much more healthy Missouri team. Vandy QB Diego Pavia has been must-see TV this season.

It’s a matchup between two first year FBS head coaches. Nate Dreiling took over for Blake Anderson at Utah State, while Jay Sawvel was promoted upon Craig Bohl’s retirement at Wyoming.

Utah State has one of the best offenses in the MWC when it comes to total yardage. Unfortunately, they also have the worst defense in the conference. That combination has led to 6 straight losses after opening the season with a win over FCS member Robert Morris. Iowa quarterback transfer Spencer Petras is top five in most statistical categories in the MWC.

Wyoming has been dead last on offense and not much better on defense. However, playing at Wyoming can often give a decent home field advantage. The Cowboy’s sole win for the year came a few weeks ago against another single win team in Air Force.

This is a tough spot for Penn State. Next week, Ohio State comes to Happy Valley. It's impossible not to look ahead to that game. This week they stroll into Camp Randall Stadium for a rare primetime night game at Wisconsin. The Badgers were beat up in back-to-back weeks by Alabama and at Southern Cal, but since then they've beaten Purdue, Rutgers, and Northwestern by a combined score of 117-16. Wisconsin is only a game behind the Big Ten leaders. The Nittany Lions could be on upset alert...

The Gamecocks are due to face an opponent coming off an emotional home win. The last three weeks they've faced Ole Miss, Alabama, and Oklahoma all following losses. LSU had beaten Nicholls the week prior to the Carolina game, but their last real contest was a 7-point loss to Southern Cal. A&M and South Carolina are very similarly built, except that Aggies have far outpaced the Gamecocks on the ground. Both teams average 186 yards through the air and the Aggies have scored just 20 more points than Carolina on the season. Williams-Brice will be rocking next weekend for the first SEC night game of the season. With a win, A&M should enter Columbia with a Top 12 rankings and a perfect record in conference play. Gig Em'.

Our friends at DevilsIllustrated have you covered for this battle of unlikely ACC contenders. For a preview, click here.

The other late night game to keep an eye on is 5-2 Cincinnati at 5-2 Colorado. That one kicks off at 10:15 on ESPN.