RADIO
Brant's bold predictions for Week 7 of the 2026 college football season, including picks for Notre Dame-BYU, Ohio State-Indiana, Oklahoma State-Houston, and more.
Last week’s bold predictions weren’t perfect, but I deserve credit for my LSU-Kentucky overtime call. After a week of college football that was even crazier than I could have predicted, I’m ready to call some more crazy shots for Week 7.
This weekend’s slate has the potential to be season-defining for a number of teams. Ohio State could drop to two losses only halfway through the year, Notre Dame could make its game against Miami a play-in with a loss, Oklahoma State or Houston could essentially eliminate themselves from CFP contention, and a number of other sliding teams like Oregon and LSU find themselves in must-win territory every week going forward.
In a weekend featuring six ranked-vs-ranked matchups, there is bound to be some absolute chaos. Read on to see my six bold predictions for the week.
BYU Stifles Notre Dame
Notre Dame is the No. 2 team in the country right now, but the thing is, nobody really knows if it deserves that ranking. The Fighting Irish’s hardest-fought game was an 11-point road win over North Carolina.
This week, they have to travel to Provo to take on a hungry, undefeated BYU team. The Cougars have not lost a game to a non-Texas Tech team since November 23, 2024. They’ve been consistently great under Kalani Sitake, but have not yet broken into the CFP field.
This is their big chance to do so, and they have the opportunity with the world watching as they host the No. 2 team in the nation under the lights in their home stadium.
These two teams are similarly structured, as both BYU and Notre Dame play through a bludgeoning run game and gritty defense. The Cougars are missing a significant piece of their offense with star running back LJ Martin out for a while, but quarterback Bear Bachmeier made up for his absence last week with 109 yards on the ground.
Sources: No. 8 BYU’s star tailback, LJ Martin, will be out for at least a month with a lower body injury he suffered against TCU. He was the Big 12 offensive player of the year in 2025. He’ll miss four to six weeks, including the home against No. 3 Notre Dame on Oct. 17. https://t.co/hsDEEUz9Ri
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 7, 2026
Notre Dame has more talent than BYU. Defensively, all-world cornerback Leonard Moore is fighting through concussion protocol to get back on the field. If he’s out there, the Cougars may struggle to throw the ball.
Offensively, the Irish just do not have the firepower that they had last year with Jeremiyah Love no longer a part of the offense. Freshman Jonaz Walton has looked great the past two weeks, but can a true freshman be leaned on as the primary playmaker against such an elite defense on the road?
I like Sitake’s defense, which is surrendering 15 points per game over the last four, to slow the Irish down on the road and make them play smashmouth football. In a game like that, I’m taking the quarterback who’s willing to lay his body on the line over the quarterback who can’t play off script. Give me BYU to shock the college football world, creating a tough narrative for Notre Dame’s CFP chances.
Indiana Wins Due to OSU Special Teams Woes
Many college football fans out there believe that Ohio State looks like the nation’s best team through Week 6, despite the second-half crumble against Texas back in Week 2. This week, the Buckeyes will be tested once more as they travel to Bloomington to take on the defending national champions who, by the way, have not lost a game since the 2024 CFP loss to Notre Dame.
Indiana narrowly avoided defeat last weekend on the road against Nebraska, which gives the Hoosiers their critics, but it’s almost as if people forget that they played through a very similar situation last season at Penn State against a weak Nittany Lions team. Curt Cignetti finds ways to win games.
Ohio State has all of the talent in the world, starting with Heisman front-runner Jeremiah Smith. However, it is likely to be down a star offensive lineman in Austin Siereveld, who missed last week for an undisclosed reason. The Hoosiers have the deepest defensive line in college football, and they will throw everything that they can at Julian Sayin.
I do fully expect this one to come down to the wire, which is why I believe that the Hoosiers will come away with it. Ohio State has consistently lost games due to missed field goals, and even though Jayden Fielding is no longer kicking for the Buckeyes, replacement Connor Hawkins showed that special teams remains a major concern in the loss to Texas.
Ryan Day has expressed optimism in his kicker moving forward, but it is one of those things you have to see to believe, and I am not quite there yet.
Ryan Day is confident in Connor Hawkins and doesn't think his miss against Texas should be grouped with past special teams miscues.
“That being said, we count on him to make that kick,” Day said. “He's beat himself up over that kick.” https://t.co/1gQ2DV3Pyz
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 16, 2026
Give me Indiana to get it done in the biggest home game in Hoosiers history off another missed Ohio State field goal, eerily similar to the result the last time that these two teams saw each other in Indianapolis.
Pat Fitzgerald Revenge Game Comes to Fruition
Pat Fitzgerald’s return to the sidelines has been less than ideal, as the Spartans are now 0-4 in their last four games and 0-3 in Big Ten play this season. However, we all knew that Fitzgerald was taking over a program that was in dire need of a rebuild. It was never going to happen overnight in East Lansing.
This weekend, Fitzgerald and the Spartans welcome his former program in Northwestern to town. The Wildcats have significantly exceeded expectations so far this year, and are in the AP poll for the first time since 2020 with a resume that includes thrashings of Penn State and Colorado, and a narrow loss to Indiana.
David Braun is rolling with his best offense since taking over in Evanston, largely thanks to the acquisition of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Fitzgerald will undoubtedly bring his best shot to the table as the program that he was wrongfully terminated from comes to town. For the first time all season, Michigan State showed some fire in last week’s game. The Spartans came back from a 31-17 fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, and lost 38-37 to Illinois.
With starting running back Cam Edwards out for the season, Iowa transfer Jaziun Patterson stepped right in and scored four touchdowns. Despite the 2-4 record and the lack of fight in the previous three games, the Spartans managed to string together a competitive game. This was always going to take time, and it is very possible that this team starts to gel as the season goes on.
Fitzgerald knows Braun and this Wildcats program well. It would be a monumental upset the way that both of these teams are trending this season, but I’m calling my shot that the Spartans earn their first Big Ten win of the season this weekend.
Oregon State Scores 70 on Former Pac-2 Rival
Oregon State freshman phenom Jesse Legree was featured in this column last week, and while he didn’t hit 1,000 yards quite yet this season, he came close (932 yards through six games). The Beavers scored an electric 66 points on San Diego State in the dominant victory.
This weekend, they welcome rival Washington State to town. The two programs were the two outcasts from the old Pac-12, and the two that saved the conference by sticking around. While they are conference rivals, they also have a sort of bond in that sense.
There will be no love lost when these two teams meet on the football field this weekend. I am expecting a full-blown beatdown from the Beavers, as their offense is firing on all cylinders right now, while the Cougars sit at 1-5 on the season and have really struggled to score points.
Oregon State has come close, but has not yet eclipsed the 70-point margin this season. That changes this weekend as Braden Atkinson and company continue to dominate.
Houston Blows Out Oklahoma State
In a slate full of incredible matchups, the most overlooked game is a night slate between Big 12 contenders. Oklahoma State, surging since its upset over Oregon, travels to Houston. Both teams have Big 12 title and CFP aspirations at this point in the season, but one program is going to see its stock take a big hit as it falls to two losses.
Oklahoma State has been a very fun team this season. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker has skyrocketed up draft boards with his flashy play, and the Cowboys find themselves right in the thick of CFP conversations after losing to Tulsa in Week 1. However, traveling to Houston at night is going to be a real test for Eric Morris’ squad.
Willie Fritz’s team has been great this season. It narrowly lost to Texas Tech in a down-to-the-wire early season road game, and has been fairly dominant since then. It plays well-disciplined on both sides of the ball, Conner Weigman is the perfect veteran presence under center, and I do feel that it’ll have the ability to score at will on the Cowboys defense.
Morris’ North Texas team was super fun last year, but it fell flat to superior opponents such as USF and Tulane. While Oklahoma State’s offense is as fun as any in the nation, I do fear that it will meet its match this week in Fritz’s Cougars, who will keep their CFP hopes alive in a high-scoring affair.
All it will take is a few stops in this one, and I trust Houston to do so en route to a game that ends up being a multi-score win.
Nebraska Over Oregon in Big Ten After Dark
Dan Lanning’s team is spiraling. The Ducks are 3-2 and have fallen from the AP poll for the first time since Week 2 of the 2022 season. Dante Moore’s status remains up in the air after the brutal concussion he suffered against USC, and Dylan Raiola played poorly enough to be benched while Oregon was still in the game a week ago.
Dylan Raiola’s performance yesterday was THE WORST of any QB since 2024.
Insane stat
— Oregon Updates (@oregon__updates) October 11, 2026
This weekend, Nebraska travels to Autzen Stadium. The Cornhuskers are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Indiana, but will surely be fired up for this one. Oregon had national title aspirations coming into the season, but after last weekend’s gut-wrenching loss, it’s hard to see where this team finds any fight to play with.
The Cornhuskers still have CFP aspirations if they can get a win here. With a veteran playmaking quarterback in Anthony Colandrea and a hard-hitting defense, Nebraska can use a similar formula to the one that UCLA used last week to topple the Ducks.
