Has Parity Arrived In College Football? Week 6 Slate Could Tell Us

Welcome to The Slate, your home for college football picks at NESN.com. Here you can find our best bets to follow across (mostly) Saturdays in the fall. Let’s attack Week 6.

There is a question that seems to continuously hit the college football landscape around the start of October every year.

Has parity arrived in college football?

In the last, let’s say 150 years, the answer has been no. There are blue blood programs that run their conferences, with individual matchups between teams often going through streaks that last multiple presidencies. Kentucky lost to Florida every year from 1987 to 2017. Georgia hasn’t lost a regular season game since Nov. 7, 2020.

That question is back on the table, though, so we’re taking the opportunity to look at four ranked matchups and a new-age rivalry to see whether or not parity is back in college football. We’re also going to make some picks, with all odds coming from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (-6)
(Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on ABC)

The Red River Rivalry is a staple of college football. These two schools share a genuine hate for each other that is only rivaled by Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn and Army-Navy.

The last iteration (a 49-0 win by Texas) was an exception to the long-standing rule that these teams need to play in a close matchup. In terms of that parity thing we talked about earlier, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 3 Texas have it figured out. That’s why, despite having history on the side of our underdog, we’re going to roll with the other precedent set by these teams — which is that they’ll hit the Over. It used to be called the Red River Shootout for a reason, with total points eclipsing 61 in five of the last six matchups. The Cotton Bowl generates points.

The Pick: Over 60.5

LSU (-5) @ Missouri
(Saturday, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN)

If Missouri can actually pull this one off, we’ll entertain the idea that parity has arrived in the SEC. The battle of the Tigers is taking place in unchartered waters this season, with No. 21 Mizzou entering at 5-0 and No. 23 LSU entering at 3-2. We all know that the Bayou Bengals are a more talented team, but that defense has been awful throughout the season.

We’re going to take what we know and hope to grab another early win, with the Over feeling likely in a game where these teams combine to score 74 points per game.

The Pick: Over 64.5

Alabama (-1.5) @ Texas A&M
(Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS)

Is Nick Saban really going to go into College Station and lose twice in a row?

Alabama has not looked like the team that petrified everyone for 10-plus years, but they haven’t been bad. The No. 11 Crimson Tide have struggled to find decent quarterback play, sure, but they’re still 3-2 against the spread and are facing a backup quarterback this week that they’ve already beaten twice. Saban’s going to flex his muscles, especially with Jimbo Fisher on the other sideline.

The Pick: Alabama -1.5

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Kentucky @ Georgia (-14.5)
(Saturday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Do you remember that little stat we listed above about how Kentucky lost to Florida in 31 consecutive matchups? Yeah, well they haven’t fared much better against Georgia.

The No. 20 Wildcats haven’t won in this rivalry since 2009, and enter this matchup with a 62-12-2 record all-time against the No. 1 Bulldogs. The good news? They’ve kept it fairly competitive in recent seasons, losing by an average of 12 points over the last three seasons. These teams are both 5-0 and Georgia hasn’t looked like Georgia so far this season, so give us Mark Stoops and the boys.

The Pick: Kentucky +14.5

Notre Dame (-6) @ Louisville
(Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC)

We got a signature moment from Sam Hartman last week, who scrambled on fourth-and-forever to set up a game-winning touchdown against Duke. If he hopes to re-enter the Heisman Trophy conversation, he’ll need to lead the No. 10 Fighting Irish to a decisive victory over the No. 25 Cardinals.

The Pick: Notre Dame -6

Season Record: 13-12-0