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Brant's bold predictions for Week 6 of the 2026 college football season, including picks for Oregon-UCLA, Penn State-USC, North Carolina-Pitt, and more.
Week 5 delivered some fun football, but lacked real shock outside of Missouri blowing out Florida and Minnesota’s Big Noon win over Michigan. This week, we have another strong slate of football games, headlined by Georgia-Alabama and Indiana-Nebraska.
Despite those two games being the most anticipated of the weekend, I am actually going to stay away from both. We haven’t seen Georgia against a real team yet, and Alabama very well may be back, so no call there feels bold enough. As for the Hoosiers, they’ll face a tough road test, but I just can’t see Cignetti’s team falling to the Cornhuskers this weekend.
Fortunately, college football offers no shortage of entertainment. I’ve got six bold calls from other games this weekend, here for your reading pleasure.
North Carolina Shocks Pitt on the Road
This is not the same Tar Heels team we saw last season under Bill Belichick. North Carolina kept last weekend’s game close with Notre Dame, and nearly beat Clemson on the road two weeks before that.
This week, they travel to Pittsburgh to take on an undefeated Panthers team coming off a huge win over Virginia Tech. Despite winning that game, the Panthers endured a tough loss with star quarterback Mason Heintschel tearing his ACL.
Pitt will roll out fifth-year quarterback Holden Geriner for his first career start this week. Geriner was a backup at Auburn for three seasons before holding a backup role at Texas State last year. He is now the starting quarterback at Pitt for the foreseeable future.
As for the Tar Heels, it looks as if they will return star edge-rusher Melkart Abou Jaoude in this one. The team’s best edge-rusher has not played since Week 0’s win over TCU, in which he recorded a sack and a forced fumble.
Pitt needs a win to stay alive in the playoff race, while the Tar Heels could use a win coming off two straight losses. Emotions will be flying in this one as the Panthers endure their first game without Heintschel.
Pat Narduzzi is a great coach, but I just don’t know if Pitt will have enough firepower at quarterback going forward this season. I like the Tar Heels to pull off the road upset here.
Oregon Reannounces Itself as Title Contender Under Dylan Raiola
Everyone counted Oregon out after the Ducks nearly lost to Boise State in Week 1 and then actually lost to Oklahoma State the following week. Then, Dante Moore suffered a bad concussion on a dirty hit against USC. Needless to say, the Ducks’ season has not gone as planned thus far.
Moore did return to practice on Monday, but his status for this weekend’s big game against an undefeated UCLA team is uncertain. The game is a must-win for the Ducks to stay alive in the playoff race.
My take here is that even if Moore is cleared to play, Oregon rolls with backup Dylan Raiola in this one. Raiola looked a lot better than Moore after replacing him in the USC game a couple of weeks back, finishing 19-of-25 for 289 yards and two touchdowns while leading the team to a 41-27 victory after it had been trailing when he entered the game.
UCLA has been incredibly impressive this season under Bob Chesney, and the Bruins had a bye week to prepare for what appears to be the toughest game on their schedule. If they can manage to pull out a win here, they very well could be playoff-bound.
However, the Ducks have also had a week off to prepare. This is one of the weekend’s big games that nobody is talking about, as the implications are massive for both teams.
I think Oregon will rediscover its identity this weekend, blowing out the Bruins from the jump with its backup-turned-starter under center. With a big win here, the Ducks can regain confidence for the rest of the season.
Re’Shaun Sanford II Breaks Out in Road Win
You’re probably reading this headline and asking yourself, who is Re’Shaun Sanford II? The junior running back at Houston suffered an ACL tear in his true freshman season in 2023, led the team on the ground in 2024 with 444 rushing yards, then tore his ACL again in 2025, missing the entire season.
Sanford was an afterthought coming into the season, but has steadily taken the lead running back job from Oregon transfer Makhi Hughes over the past few weeks. He has carried the ball 55 times for 314 yards and two touchdowns so far this year, but has not truly broken out as a star.
I’m banking on that changing this weekend. Sanford touched the ball 20 times last weekend against a tough UCF defense, indicating that Willie Fritz is ready to lean on his explosive running back.
In its last game out, Kansas State allowed Cincinnati to run for 271 yards on the ground. That included 120+ yard games from both Gi’Bran Payne and Cole Tabb. This is the weekend that the speedy Sanford announces himself to the college football world as one of the most fun comeback stories in the sport.
Jesse Legree Surpasses 1,000 Yards in Five Games
If you have not heard of true freshman wideout Jesse Legree, familiarize yourself now. The Oregon State phenom already has 741 yards and nine touchdowns through five games, and has not had a game without at least 100 yards and a touchdown. He is second in the nation in receiving, behind only Jeremiah Smith.
Stop showing off @jlegree24 😂
📺 @USANetwork https://t.co/F7PTvSRSeo
— Oregon State Football (@BeaverFootball) October 4, 2026
Legree draws a good matchup this weekend with San Diego State coming to town. The Aztecs are surrendering 263.3 yards through the air per game, only ahead of Texas State in the Pac-12.
Legree put up 240 yards back in Week 2 against Texas Tech, so it truly is not that far-fetched to say he will put up 259+ in one game. If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch the freshman phenom, tune in at 6 p.m. ET for the revitalized Pac-12 matchup.
LSU-Kentucky Goes to Overtime
The Wildcats are coming off a thrilling overtime win over South Carolina, while LSU coasted over McNeese last week.
KENTUCKY 2-POINT CONVERSION WINS IT IN OT! 🚨
@UKFootball x 📺 @SECNetwork https://t.co/26DWbSeWgM
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) October 4, 2026
Will Stein’s Kentucky team has exceeded expectations thus far this season, most notably taking down Texas A&M on the road in a complete game from start to finish a couple of weeks back.
The fans will pack the stadium as LSU comes to town, but all eyes will be on a different SEC night game nationally.
Behind an electric crowd in Lexington at night, I like Sam Leavitt to make some costly turnovers that keep the Wildcats in the game to the end. Give me an overtime thriller between the Tigers and Wildcats on Saturday night while the rest of the world watches Georgia-Alabama.
Penn State Bounces Back with Multiple-Score Win Over USC
It has been a brutal two weeks for Penn State, losing to Wisconsin at home before getting trounced last Friday night by Northwestern. Nittany Lions fans are already calling for Matt Campbell’s head, and he just got here.
Now, they have to host Lincoln Riley’s USC team in Happy Valley at night. USC has not traveled to Penn State since 1994. That game did not end well for the Trojans. College Station at night is one of the sport’s best environments, and the fans will be out in full force for this one despite the rough stretch.
Traveling coast-to-coast is already tough enough, and the crowd that USC is about to face is going to be unlike anything it has ever seen. Riley has yet to earn a signature win during the entirety of his time at USC, and while this wouldn’t even qualify as such with the downward trend of Penn State in recent weeks, I just cannot see it happening.
Rocco Becht and Iowa State East will get the job done on Saturday night against what has been a shaky USC team this season as well.
