Conference play is set to begin for most of the Top 25. The Gamecocks are the only team in the country to play two Top 20 teams in their own league. Carolina is also one of the few schools that have played two teams ranked in the Top 20. For the first time since the season opener, the Gamecocks play an opponent with less talent, that they are favored to defeat. Clemson also plays their first viable opponent this week when they travel to Winston-Salem for a Top 20 tilt with Wake Forest.

Note: We lock the lines in on Sunday night so they will likely be different on the publishing date.

Statistically Michigan is the best team in the country. The Wolverines rank first nationally in scoring offense and fourth in scoring defense. Jim Harbaugh has started multiple quarterbacks this season, but J.J. McCarthy looks to be the best of the bunch. On the season he has a 234.2 quarterback rating, completing 30 of 34 passes for 473 yards and three touchdowns. Michigan has played absolutely no one yet, but they are beating lesser competition the way a top team should, by a combined score of 116-17. No one has scored in the first half on Michigan.

Under Mike Locksley, Maryland has gotten off fast starts in the non-conference season only to flounder in Big Ten play. Locksley is 6-17 in conference play. This season they are 3-0 with wins over Buffalo, Charlotte, and SMU. Taulia Tagovailoa, Tua's little brother, isn't quite lighting up defenses the way his older brother is, he also doesn't have Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle, but he has provided solid play under center for the Terrapins. Tagovailoa has thrown for six touchdowns and 895 yards in Maryland's three victories. He's only been sacked three times, Michigan has eight team sacks.

For the wonderful job that Dave Clawson has done at Wake Forest, he is 0-8 against Clemson. His Demon Deacon teams have lost by more than two scores in six of those eight losses. If Wake is ever going to get Clemson it will be this year with future NFL quarterback Sam Hartman under center. Hartman, who began his college career in 2018 and is somehow still a junior, was good but not great against Liberty throwing for 325 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Wake has allowed seven sacks in three games to mostly inferior competition. Hartman is not known as a scrambler, if he is constantly on the run, Clemson could run away with this game in the second half.

The Tigers have three defenders that are going to be drafted in the first round in 2023. Myles Murphy, Trenton Simpson, and Bryan Bresee, (Bresee missed last week after the death of his little sister). Clemson just doesn't allow long methodical drives. Wake will need to expose the soft spots in Clemson's secondary to stay in this game. Clemson's offense has ridden the shoulders of running back Will Shipley. The sophomore has 249 yards rushing and six touchdowns in 2022. The Tigers receiving corp is solid but lacks the star power of prior years. Wake is 0-24 against Top 10 opponents.

Matt Campbell has built a program in Ames, Iowa. It is only a matter of time before one of the most powerful of the Power 5 comes to his door with a Brinks' truck full of money. Iowa State hasn't started a season 3-0 since 2012. If they win on Saturday, it would be their first 4-0 start since 2000. Receiver Xavier Hutchinson set a school record with 83 receptions last season, he already has 28 catches this year. Hutchinson a big part of the reason quarterback Hunter Dekkers is 5th in the nation in completion percentage.

We aren't sure how good Dave Aranda's Baylor team actually is. They are ranked 17th, they've blown out two inferior opponents and then lost to a BYU team that Oregon dusted. Baylor is third in the nation in rushing touchdowns and 17th rushing yards. They use a tailback by committee approach in the hopes of wearing down their opponent as the game progresses.

Duke and Kansas are getting together for a premium non-conference matchup of undefeated teams. Both teams are loaded with future NBA stars... oh wait, this is football?!?!? What Lance Leipold is doing in Lawrence is flat-out amazing. Leipold became a name football fans recognized after winning six DIII National Championships in eight years at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Next, he led Buffalo to three straight bowls and a Top 25 finish in 2020. After former coach Les Miles was dismissed in March of 2021, Leipold was hired to work magic in the worst Power 5 program in the country. In year one of the Leipold era, Kansas only went 2-10, but they did defeat Texas in Austin and were competitive by the end of the season. In year two, Kansas is 3-0 with road wins over West Virginia and Houston.

Duke is in year one of the Mike Elko era. Elko took over for longtime Blue Devil coach David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe was Duke's most successful coach since Steve Spurrier, but the Blue Devils began to slip back to the bottom of the ACC in Cutcliffe's final seasons. Elko spent 12 seasons as an assistant under Dave Clawson at various schools. He most recently was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator. Elko has Duke sitting at 3-0 with wins over Temple, Northwestern, and NC A&T. Whoever emerges victorious from this game will be the country's most unlikely 4-0 team.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck appears to have his best squad since Minnesota went 11-2 in 2019. They’ve outscored their opponents 149-17 through three games. The Gophers have rushed for more than 300 yards in all three outings, led by stud back Mohamed Ibrahim’s 464 yards and seven touchdowns. Quarterback Tanner Morgan is completing 71.7 percent of his passes for 618 yards with four touchdowns to only one interception. Minnesota is seventh in scoring offense and tied for fourth in scoring defense with Michigan. Keep in mind the Gophers' toughest opponent this season has been horrid Colorado.

Michigan State was thoroughly beaten at Washington last week and is dealing with key injuries on both sides of the ball. The Spartans are 6-0 in their last six home games against the spread and have beaten Minnesota five straight times. Personally, this feels like a classic Vegas trap.

These two SEC East rivals have met 51 times with the Gators holding a 31-20 overall advantage. Remarkably, Florida has won 16 of the last 17 meetings. The Vols lone win in that span came in 2016 in Knoxville. Florida easily dispatched Tennessee last season 38-14 last year.

This game will feature two of the most exciting quarterbacks in the league in Hendon Hooker and Anthony Richardson. After a huge week 1 performance in an upset win over Utah, Richardson has not looked comfortable throwing the football. He's thrown four picks and no touchdowns while completing only about 45% of his passes. That's not going to cut it this week against UT.

Tennessee is living off their overtime win at Pitt, a game where Pitt lost their starting quarterback late in the 2nd quarter. The Tennessee offense will overwhelm an opponent that is unprepared or overmatched. Under Josh Heupel, the Vols have lost when facing a competent defense. We're still not convinced that they have fixed the holes on their defense, but we're also not sure it will matter this weekend.

Meet mini-Michigan from Harrisonburg, Virginia. The James Madison Dukes are playing their first season of FBS football. They've played two games and they've won by a combined score of 107-14. The Dukes ranked second nationally in scoring offense and seventh in scoring defense. Their fans and local media are rightly confident. The Dukes' spread attack has rushed for 542 yards, while Colorado State Graduate Transfer Todd Centeio has thrown for nine touchdowns. James Madison has been the second most successful FCS program over the last 10 years and in many ways, their program is following the blueprint for program building left by their Week 4 opponent.

Just in case you missed App State's amazing win last weekend over Troy, we've got the final play for you below. One has to wonder if the Mountaineers are in for a letdown following two emotional wins at Texas A&M and the Mountaineer Miracle. This is probably the best game that you won't see a minute of Saturday.

Gamecock fans, remember the Ducks. You can recover after being demoralized by the nation's best team. Bo Nix is completing 70.5% of his passes for 672 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Oregon rolled up Eastern Washington and BYU after getting run over by the UGA train. South Carolina could use an Oregon/EWU-like game this week against Charlotte.

Washington State has been winning games with its defense. The Cougars are allowing only 12.7 points and 308 yards per game. Daiyan Henley leads Washington State with 30 tackles, Brennan Jackson has two sacks and Chau Smith-Wade has an interception. Since Jake Dickert took over as Washington State's head coach they are 6-3 and 3-1 in the PAC 12.

These two former Southwest Conference rivals have met 78 times. Arkansas leads the overall series 42-33-3, but the Aggies have nine of the last ten meetings. Arkansas broke A&M's 9-game winning streak last season with a surprising 20-10 win in Arlington. Despite the Aggies being significantly better during the last decade than Arkansas, the Hogs usually play A&M tough. Seven of the nine A&M wins from 2012-2020 were by twelve points or less.

We don't need to do a lot of analysis for Arkansas. Gamecock fans saw them two weeks and we know they are good. KJ Jefferson, Rocket Sanders, Bumper Pool, and co., almost got caught looking ahead to this game by Bobby Petrino's Missouri State Bears. Quick fact: Arkansas leads the nation in sacks with 17.

Texas A&M seemingly righted their season last week with a win over Miami after being upset at Kyle Field by Appalachian State. The Aggies' defense kept them in the App State game and won the Miami game. The Aggies bent but didn't break, they allowed 392 yards but only 9 points. The A&M offense has been abysmal in 2022. The Aggies scored one offensive touchdown against App State and have yet to hit 300 yards against FBS competition. 9 million dollars doesn't quite buy you what it used to.

After being soundly beaten by two Top 20 teams, the Gamecocks take a step down to the Group of 5 level and welcome Charlotte to Williams-Brice Stadium. Gamecock Scoop will continuous coverage of this game leading up to kickoff.

Former Beavers quarterback Jonathan Smith took over a tough job in Corvallis in 2018. Oregon State hadn't been to a bowl game since 2013. In Smith's first season the Beavers went 2-10 but they have improved year since culminating in a postseason birth in 2021. The Beavers are now 3-0 for the first time in eight years with wins over Boise State and Fresno State. Gamecock fans if you watch this game you will hear a familiar name on offense. Former Gamecock Deshaun Fenwick is the starting running back for Oregon State. Fenwick transferred out of the program after Will Muschamp's firing. He has rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns this season.

The Trojan offense has continued to hum under Oklahoma transfer Caleb Williams scoring over 41 points in all three games. Southern Cal owns an 82% all-time winning percentage in this PAC 12 matchup but Oregon State defeated the Trojans last year in Los Angeles. This is the biggest game for Oregon State in a decade, if you are one of the few households that get the PAC 12 Network, keep an eye on this one once the Gamecocks finish up.