Paschall's Picks: Gauntlet awaiting Ole Miss

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

OTHER PICKSMissouri 42, Indiana 21Texas A&M 63, SMU 10Nebraska 24, Miami 19Oklahoma 33, W. Virginia 28Michigan St. 48, EMU 9Oregon 52, Wash. State 17Wisconsin 35, B. Green 20Memphis 24, MTSU 19BYU 27, Virginia 22N. Carolina 31, E. Carolina 24Duke 33, Tulane 22N.C. State 45, Presbyterian 6Louisville 38, Fla. International 15Pittsburgh 27, Iowa 24Boston College 29, Maine 14Maryland 24, Syracuse 21Wake Forest 27, Army 23

Ole Miss third-year football coach Hugh Freeze inherited a 2-10 program and has the Rebels in the Associated Press top 10, but his powers are limited.

Freeze's Rebels are off this week, with the open date sandwiched between home games against Louisiana-Lafayette and Memphis. When October rolls around, Ole Miss will have to face Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU and Auburn on five consecutive Saturdays.

"Obviously I don't have enough power to control the scheduling," Freeze said on the weekly SEC teleconference. "I wish I did. I assure you that if I had a say in it, then absolutely it would be broken up some. That's going to be a murderous stretch to go through."

Freeze is planning on watching Mississippi State's trip to LSU this weekend, which is the second showdown of SEC West teams this season after Auburn's defeat of Arkansas in late August. The third takes place next Saturday when Arkansas and Texas A&M vie in Arlington, Texas.

Ole Miss is among five West teams ranked in this week's top 10.

"It's scary, and I really believe all seven teams could be considered top-25 teams," Freeze said. "I think they're all that talented, and whether or not the high rankings for all of us are justified at this point, I don't know. It's still really early, but the fact remains we may all be top-10, top-15 or top-20 teams who just beat each other up."

Pasquali's Pix:

Auburn at Kansas State: Small-town SEC will be too much for small-town Big 12. Tigers 41, Wildcats 28.

Troy at Georgia: If the Bulldogs get a first-and-goal at the 4, they'll probably give it to Todd Gurley. Bulldogs 52, Trojans 7.

Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech: Nobody schemes against Georgia Tech's triple-option as impressively as Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Hokies 23, Yellow Jackets 10.

Florida at Alabama: So who was the better hire, Florida first-year offensive coordinator Kurt Roper or Alabama first-year counterpart Lane Kiffin? Crimson Tide 24, Gators 16.

South Carolina at Vanderbilt: Steve Spurrier has 200 more wins as an SEC coach than Derek Mason. Gamecocks 34, Commodores 7.

Mississippi State at LSU: Since the SEC went to divisional play in 1992, the Tigers are 21-1 against the Bulldogs with 14 straight wins (12 by double digits). Tigers 27, Bullies 19.

Northern Illinois at Arkansas: Can you say the SEC West is fantastic from top to bottom when there may be no bottom? Razorbacks 38, Huskies 21.

Clemson at Florida State: Reaction has been mixed to Jameis Winston's latest antics. Some were shocked by his vulgarity. Others were shocked to see him on campus. Seminoles 27, Tigers 16.

Last week:

Winners.....................21

Field goals missed.....4

Pasquali is 65-10 overall (86.7 percent) this season.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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