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Brant's bold predictions for Week 10 of the 2026 college football season, including picks for UCLA, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and more.
While Week 9 was an underwhelming slate on paper, it surely did not disappoint, as we got one of the games of the year in Minnesota-Indiana.
This week, we get the regular-season slate of the year on paper. No. 10 Texas at No. 19 Missouri. No. 5 UCLA at Minnesota. No. 7 BYU at No. 3 Utah. Oregon at No. 11 Ohio State. No. 9 Alabama at No. 15 LSU. No. 8 Kentucky at No. 16 Tennessee. No. 2 Georgia at No. 12 Ole Miss. No. 1 Miami at No. 4 Notre Dame. I mean, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
Such an incredible slate begs for some instant-classic games. I’ve got a few bold predictions lined up, as always, ahead of this weekend’s schedule. Dive in.
Minnesota Hands UCLA Loss No. 1
Yes, UCLA is undefeated at 8-0, but its best win is a narrow road win over a decimated Oregon team. Bob Chesney has done a phenomenal job in Year 1, but this schedule hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet.
The Bruins are also doing it with their backup quarterback. Nico Iamaleava suffered a season-ending knee injury against Oregon, and Cal Poly transfer Ty Dieffenbach has taken over. Dieffenbach went 16-of-30 for 178 yards and a touchdown last week against Nevada while the defense pitched a shutout. That’s fine against Nevada. It won’t be fine on Saturday, when Dieffenbach makes his first road start as a Bruin.
Minnesota, meanwhile, has been banging with the top teams recently. The Gophers took down Iowa 13-10 two weeks ago. Last week, they led Indiana 16-13 in Bloomington with 19 seconds left before losing a heartbreaker in overtime. Over those two games, Minnesota’s defense held two ranked opponents to 33 combined points.
Both teams play hard defense and have underachieving offenses. This one is going to come down to the wire in a low-scoring fashion.
I love Chesney and all that he’s done this year, but I don’t see UCLA flying in from the West Coast for an 11 a.m. local kickoff and winning in Minnesota. That’s 9 a.m. on the Bruins’ body clocks. Give me the Gophers in an ugly, physical Big Noon upset.
Oklahoma State Scores 60 in Manhattan
Since its shocking Week 1 loss to Tulsa, Oklahoma State’s offense has been electric. The Cowboys have put up 45.5 points per game under Eric Morris, with Drew Mestemaker slinging the rock.
Mestemaker has thrown for 2,649 yards, 25 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, and there’s real buzz that he could be the first quarterback taken in the 2027 NFL Draft. Over his last two games, he threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns in a 57-24 rout of Colorado, then five more touchdowns at Iowa State.
NEW: Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker is the new QB1 in our mid-season NFL scout/executive poll. His 17 QB1 votes are a record in the three years we’ve done the QB1 poll. Results: https://t.co/GsJg8A5t52 https://t.co/szpWRfYWvw
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 31, 2026
Kansas State, meanwhile, is a program trending down. It is 1-4 in its last five and just lost to a hapless Colorado team, 27-24, in overtime. Quarterback injuries have gutted the depth chart, and Collin Klein has named former fourth-stringer Blake Barnett the starter. This also gives the Wildcats their fourth straight game with a new starter, as Barnett will follow Avery Johnson, Jacob Knuth, and Dillon Duff.
Oklahoma State will come in hungry after a gut-punch loss in Ames last weekend. The Cowboys scored 49 points and racked up 533 yards, with Caleb Hawkins running for 194 yards. Then a walk-off field goal sent them home 51-49 losers. That leaves a lot of frustration to take out on somebody.
You already know this offense won’t disappoint. I like Mestemaker, Hawkins, Wyatt Young, and company to hang 60+ points for the first time this season on the road.
Tennessee Holds Kentucky Under 10 Points
One of the greatest stories this season has been Will Stein’s Kentucky Wildcats. In Year 1 under their new head coach, they sit eighth in the nation at 7-1 and are tied with Georgia atop the SEC standings.
Kentucky has done it by being remarkably clean. Kenny Minchey has thrown for 1,755 yards and 14 touchdowns with just one interception, and the Wildcats lead the SEC at plus-13 in turnover margin.
Tennessee is coming off a bye after a shocking road loss to South Carolina, a loss I’ll happily remind you I called in this column back in Week 8. That game came right after a highly emotional win over Alabama, and South Carolina has been red hot since, so I’m discounting it as a letdown spot. This is a well-coached, hard-fighting Volunteers team.
Jim Knowles has been a revelation for Tennessee’s defense. At home in SEC play, the Vols have held opponents to 12.0 points per game. Stein has seen Knowles three times before, at Ohio State and Penn State, but Joe Sloan is the one holding the call sheet for Kentucky now.
Kentucky’s offense has slowed down at times, but its lowest output of the season was 17 points against Alabama back in Week 2. Scoring under 10 would be a major disappointment.
History isn’t on Kentucky’s side, either. The Wildcats have lost five straight to Tennessee. The Vols’ passing game ranks last in the SEC, so expect Josh Heupel to lean on the run and his defense as he has of late.
I like Will Stein, and I like Kenny Minchey, but this feels like a spot where the Volunteers turn it into a grind-it-out game and come out on the winning side. Give me the Vols to shut down Kentucky’s offense in a huge win.
Trinidad Chambliss Becomes the Heisman Front-Runner
Jeremiah Smith is no longer the Heisman front-runner after last week’s loss to USC, especially with Julian Sayin done for the year.
The race is wide open. Darian Mensah is the current favorite at +150 after leading Miami to an 8-0 record. Trinidad Chambliss sits all the way back at +1500, but he has a chance to create his Heisman moment this weekend as Ole Miss hosts Georgia.
These two programs met twice last season, and both games were electric. Georgia won 43-35 in Athens, and Ole Miss got its revenge in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia is certainly the better team on paper, but the Bulldogs showed their vulnerability in the home loss to Auburn a few weeks back.
The Heisman is a quarterback award. If Ole Miss wins this game, the remaining schedule is Oklahoma, Wofford, and Mississippi State. Winning out puts the Rebels at 10-2 and firmly in the playoff, with Chambliss at the center of it all.
He’ll also have to carry more of the load than usual. Kewan Lacy dislocated his left shoulder against Texas and missed last week’s game against Auburn, and Pete Golding said Monday that he isn’t expecting Lacy back this week. He very well could miss the rest of the season. Chambliss picked up the slack against Auburn with 65 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Trinidad. Chambliss. https://t.co/Zui3EJpkVj
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2026
Kirby Smart is clearly worried. He said this week that Chambliss “goes forwards, backwards as fast as he goes sideways.” Chambliss is the most exciting quarterback in college football. This has all the makings of a shootout, and if Ole Miss wins, it will be because of him.
John Mateer Looks Like a Draftable Quarterback
This might be my boldest take of the season. The excuses about last year’s thumb injury are long gone. John Mateer has been downright awful this year, completing 65.6% of his passes for 1,835 yards, 13 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. The Sooners have scored under 24 points in all but two power conference games, and the offense ranks last in the SEC in yards per game.
I’ll also own my Week 9 call. I had Oklahoma winning 13-10 over South Carolina, and the Sooners instead lost 42-25 at home, falling to 4-4. Brent Venables had seen enough.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle was fired on Monday. Taking over as play-caller is former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who is in his first year on staff after five years as a high school head coach. He’ll also have former Sooners OC Kevin Wilson in his ear as an offensive analyst.
Witten’s first test as a play-caller is on the road against Florida. The Gators' defense is not great, but playing in the Swamp is never an easy task. After that, Oklahoma still has to deal with Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Missouri.
There’s something to the new-voice bump, the same way we see interim head coaches come out swinging. I like Witten to get Mateer right. Against all odds, Mateer could even return to his early 2025 form, when some folks considered him a top quarterback prospect, albeit for just a few weeks. I know Mateer has been bad, but let’s give him one last shot on Saturday.
