College football Week 6 picks from ESPN's College GameDay

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As the Week 6 college football schedule kicks off today, the guys on ESPN’s College GameDay reveal their final picks for the biggest games across the country.
There’s one head-to-head matchup involving ranked teams on the same field today, coming out of the SEC as Missouri looks to solidify its top-10 ranking against Texas A&M at Kyle Field.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 10 Michigan takes its first road trip of the season, matching up against a solid Washington team in a rematch of last season’s national championship game.
And in the SEC, we’ll watch Ole Miss look to avoid falling to 0-2 in conference play against a good South Carolina defense on the road, while Georgia and Auburn renew the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Let’s take a turn around the country and lock in our final picks for the biggest games today with the help of the analysts on ESPN’s College GameDay.
College football Week 6 picks
Virginia Tech at Stanford: Kirk Herbstreit was the lone voice in favor of the Cardinal upsetting the Hokies in this new-look ACC matchup.
SMU at Louisville: Herbstreit was again the only one going against the grain here, picking the Mustangs to hand the Cardinals what would be their second-straight loss.
Navy at Air Force: Desmond Howard and guest picker Marshawn Lynch went with the Falcons to hand the Midshipmen what would be their first loss.
Texas Tech at Arizona: Lynch went with the Red Raiders while the others stuck with the Wildcats.
Michigan at Washington: Despite the oddsmakers listing the Huskies as the favorite, everyone on GameDay is going with the Wolverines to upset.
Rutgers at Nebraska: Herbstreit and Lynch are sticking with the Cornhuskers against the undefeated Scarlet Knights.
Iowa at Ohio State: A unanimous vote in favor of the Buckeyes in this Big Ten matchup against the Hawkeyes' strong defense.
UCF at Florida: Saban, Lynch, and Herbstreit picked the Gators to hold on at home against the Knights and their powerful rushing attack.
Ole Miss at South Carolina: Saban and Herbstreit picked the Gamecocks to hand the Rebels what would be a second-straight loss and an 0-2 start in SEC play.
Missouri at Texas A&M: Saban, Herbstreit, and Lynch are siding with Mizzou to beat the Aggies on the road in this battle of ranked SEC hopefuls.
Miami at Cal: Pat McAfee and Lynch were the outliers in picking Cal to upset the Hurricanes.
College Football HQ picks
Week 6 picks against the spread
College Football HQ straight-up picks
The best games on today in Week 6
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AP top 25 rankings
First-place votes in parentheses
- Alabama (40)
- Texas (19)
- Ohio State (4)
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Miami
- Missouri
- Michigan
- USC
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Iowa State
- BYU
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Kansas State
- Boise State
- Louisville
- Indiana
- Illinois
- UNLV/Texas A&M (tie)
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More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.