TO CLOSE

SportsPulse: Dan Wolken and Paul Myerberg discuss the first standings of the University Football Qualifiers and what the committee did well and what they laundered.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

UCLA coach Chip Kelly watches his team's game against Washington at the Rose Bowl.(Photo: Kirby Lee, USA Today Sports)

Unpredictable events are often the norm during the college football season, especially as the playoff pursuit warms in recent weeks and the stakes are growing.

United States TODAY HUI Sports college football staff – Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, George Schroeder, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus – are making bold predictions for the 10th week games.

Jace Evans

Alabama Tua Tagovailoa will play in the fourth quarter of Crimson Tide's match at LSU. Although it does not seem so daring, it has not literally happened yet in eight games this season, which is staggering on many levels. But Alabama's offensive is by far the toughest competition at Tiger Stadium when it faces a LSU defense that has already faced five ranked teams and only yields 15.1 points per game, seventh in the FBS standings . This match is historically quite small – the total has only exceeded 50 points twice since the arrival of Nick Saban in 2007, including a final 10-0 last time at Baton Rogue – so Tagovailoa will probably be forced to go far. The last time we saw him play a fourth quarter, he was leading Alabama back into the national title game. A fourth quarter similar to the one against LSU will probably allow him to win the Heisman Trophy.

CHOICE OF STAFF: Alabama-LSU presents its busy program in week 10

TRUE AND FALSE: Analysis of the first ranking of the college football playoff committee

SCENARIOS: College Football play-off opportunities ranging from total chaos to probable

Paul Myerberg

I like that Northwestern wreaks havoc in the series race by beating Notre Dame, number 4, and giving the Irish might very well be a fatal blow to their title hopes. The Wildcats are a difficult team to match, apparently also subject to neglected victories (18-15 against Rutgers) and impressive imitations of pretenders (31-17 against Wisconsin). But Northwestern has reached the level of its competition all season, as evidenced by his wins against the Badgers, Purdue and Michigan State and his three-point loss against Michigan.

Halfback Isaiah Bowser celebrates with his teammates after his touchdown against Wisconsin. (Photo: David Banks, David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

George Schroeder

The return of Chip Kelly to Eugene, who seemed to be a failure a few weeks ago, given the trajectories of Oregon and UCLA, will give heartache to the Ducks. The Bruins are not very good, but they have played better recently. In the end, the Ducks are not so good either – and they are struggling. UCLA shoots the shock by reminding fans of Oregon what was once.

And perhaps later, Kelly will lead the Bruins buses to the Dairy Queen on Coburg Road for what was once known as "Chocolate Chip Kelly" (a chocolate blizzard with oreo cookies).

Erick Smith

Of the top seven teams in the college football playoff standings, all but Clemson face potentially upsetting weekends. We know that Alabama or LSU will fall foul of the powers of the SEC. The loser at Baton Rouge will not be the only one, however.

It could be Notre Dame during her visit to the northwest. Georgia could face a tough challenge in Kentucky. It may also be Oklahoma that goes to Texas Tech. Night games are known to become bizarre in Lubbock.

The best bet is in Ann Arbor. Michigan seems to have four straight wins after falling against Notre Dame. The Wolverines did not face an offense as vibrant as Penn State during the series. They will not be able to use their typical "grind-it-out" approach that has been effective against Wisconsin or Michigan State. Trace McSorely and the Nittany Lions will score points. The pressure will be on Shea Patterson to produce great games. We'll see if he can, especially if Michigan is falling behind and needs his arm to be the main generator of his offense.

Eddie Timanus

With all that is happening in the world of college football, Chip Kelly's return to Oregon's Autzen Stadium is not generating much fanfare.

This is not terribly surprising. Kelly's new roles at UCLA are far from the competition for Pac-12 titles. But the Bruins have shown some improvement since their 0-5 start with two wins, and the Ducks are stumbling into this meet on a two-game skid.

So, will Kelly's first trip to Eugene as a visitor coach be successful? Well no. Oregon quarterback, Justin Herbert, has been roughed up and has been subject to slow starts. So things could be difficult for the home team for a while. But in the end, the Ducks will break their losing streak.

Automatic reading

Thumbnails poster

Show captions