College Football 2021: Top 3 teams on upset alert in Week 6

Dishonorable mentions

Houston (at Tulane): Tulane is a much better team than their record shows, although a blowout loss to East Carolina might not necessarily reinforce that. If Tulane is going to win, it’ll need to score a lot of points against a powerful Houston offense that has scored more than 40 points in each of their four wins. With Michael Pratt at quarterback, Tulane should be able to keep up with the Cougars as long as the defense plays decent. The question becomes can Pratt stay consistent throughout the game.

Notre Dame (at Virginia Tech): How can you trust Notre Dame in this situation? After getting exposed by Cincinnati, the Irish go to Blacksburg for a night game against the Hokies. Lane Stadium will be crazy like it was when Virginia Tech upset North Carolina to start the season. Who will Notre Dame start at quarterback? Can their offensive line handle an intense Hokie pass rush? Expect this to be a defensive battle.

Louisville (vs. Virginia): This isn’t so much about not thinking Louisville is good enough, it’s more about thinking Virginia is just a better team. The Cavaliers rebounded nicely with a win over Miami last week and need more of the same energy this week. Louisville did play Wake Forest much tougher than Virginia did, but the Cardinals have yet to defeat a really good team.

BYU (vs. Boise State): Much like Tulane, I refuse to believe that Boise State is as mediocre as their 2-3 record shows. Their three losses are by a combined 16 points with only one by more than five. I’m also very skeptical of BYU. They’re 5-0, but their combined opponent record is 10-13. Arizona State accounts for four of those wins. BYU should be able to run on Boise, so the Broncos’ defense will have to step up like they did against Oklahoma State.