Week 10 preview: Why Georgia's matchup with Florida just means more, plus key matchups

The Week 10 slate offers some a glimpse of this season's existent powers and much than a fewer reminders of conscionable however incorrect we mightiness person been successful predicting who those powers would beryllium mode backmost successful August.

Start with the Cocktail Party, wherever Georgia looks similar a existent playoff contender, but immoderate luster is disconnected this rivalry game, arsenic Florida has struggled done a hard archetypal fractional and present volition play its archetypal crippled aft firing caput manager Billy Napier.

Move to the Big Ten, and what looked similar possibly the crippled of the twelvemonth earlier the play kicked disconnected present appears to beryllium yet different velocity bump connected Ohio State's roadworthy to the league rubric game. Penn State fired James Franklin aft a dismal three-game losing streak, and backmost Drew Allar is retired for the season. So overmuch for a playoff-caliber showdown. The Buckeyes are favored by 3 touchdowns.

Remember erstwhile SMU, Texas and South Carolina were each ranked wrong the apical 16 teams successful the preseason? That feels similar a antithetic epoch now. The Mustangs are caller disconnected a devastating last-second nonaccomplishment to Wake Forest and present find their ACC rubric hopes connected beingness support. Texas has gone to overtime successful back-to-back weeks against teams that combined person won lone 1 SEC crippled successful the past 2 years. Another nonaccomplishment for the Longhorns against Vanderbilt astir apt would beryllium the extremity of playoff hopes. And South Carolina, connected the brink of the playoff a twelvemonth agone aft a magical second-half run, isn't apt to rekindle that aforesaid excitement this November. Last week's blown pb to Alabama was conscionable the latest successful a drawstring of disappointments, and a nonaccomplishment Saturday to Ole Miss astir feels similar a foregone conclusion.

But if Week 10 provides a hard look backmost astatine each the ways those preseason prognostications went wrong, it besides serves arsenic a reminder of however overmuch joyousness tin beryllium recovered successful the season's surprises, from Vandy getting its changeable astatine different top-25 triumph to Virginia trying to support its playoff hopes live astatine Cal to Cincinnati aiming to cement its spot atop the Big 12 standings with a monolithic travel to Utah. -- David Hale

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