College football picks: South Carolina, SMU among five underdogs that can pull off Week 10 upsets
Playoff hopefuls should be extra weary in Week 10 as quite a few top contenders are on upset alert

While favorites have dominated in the NFL of late, college football is all about the underdogs and upsets. And with so many games on the schedule each week, we see quite a few every Saturday. If you're interested in college football betting on underdogs, check out our five top underdog picks for Week 10 before you place any bets of your own.
All spreads and money line odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
South Carolina (+12.5, +380) at No. 7 Ole Miss
South Carolina nearly pulled off a massive upset last week against Alabama, but a late collapse in the fourth quarter halted those hopes. The Gamecocks get another crack at it this week against an Ole Miss squad that's one of the more noteworthy teams in the nation right now for a variety of reasons.
Not only are the Rebels ranked No. 7 in the AP poll and have just one loss, but their head coach, Lane Kiffin, is the hottest name on the coaching carousel for jobs like Florida and LSU. Kiffin has tried to downplay the rumors but it's everywhere right now, and he's even talked about that with his team.
But the Rebels aren't just on upset alert because of rumors about their head coach. Ole Miss has played one-score games in six of their last seven contests. Some of those opponents, like Georgia and LSU, were considered to be good teams at the time, but the Rebels barely beat Kentucky, Arkansas and Washington State, with the latter two games being at home. If the Gamecocks come out like they did last week, Ole Miss could be in for another nailbiter.
Mississippi State (+4.5, +160) at Arkansas
This one could get wild. Neither side has a good defense, and the total is a whopping 68.5 at DraftKings right now. The Razorbacks are playing under an interim head coach in Bobby Petrino, while the Bulldogs are looking for their first SEC win since 2023. Arkansas is also winless in conference play.
The Razorbacks are scoring quite a bit with Petrino running things, but they're 2-6 this year and have lost six in a row. Even if some of their recent games have been close, they still are favored largely because this game is in Arkansas. The Bulldogs have also kept things interesting of late, barely falling to Florida and then giving up a late lead to Texas last week in an overtime loss. This one should be a pick 'em, really, so I like the road 'dogs here.
Nebraska (+6, +185) vs. No. 23 USC
Are either of these teams any good? They're both 6-2 but have major question marks. The Trojans' defense is once again a problem, and that played a major role in losses to Illinois and, most recently, Notre Dame. The Cornhuskers looked like a potential sleeper in the Big Ten earlier this season, but they've barely snuck by Maryland and Northwestern and got blown out by Minnesota.
USC's track record this year is better than Nebraska's, so why back the Huskers here? Firstly, there's more value with Nebraska as a sizable underdog. Secondly, Nebraska is at home, where the Huskers are 4-1 while USC is 1-2 on the road. And lastly, the Trojans' defense is a mess and this Nebraska team, unlike previous iterations, has shown it can score, having scored 27 or more points in all but two games this year.
It feels like every USC team is basically the same under Lincoln Riley, and perhaps his seat is starting to warm. And based on everything we've seen from his Trojans teams, this feels like a game that they're going to turn into a shootout due to lackluster defense.
SMU (+12.5, +360) vs. No. 10 Miami
The Hurricanes rebounded from a tough loss to Louisville by beating up on a lowly Stanford team. They are trying to stay in the College Football Playoff hunt and this game against SMU, which made the CFP last year, is a must-win as Miami still has an inside track to the ACC title game. SMU isn't the same team it was a year ago, but the Mustangs have scored 31 or more points in three of their last four games and can certainly make things interesting.
Part of why I'd look at betting against Miami is the schedule flips to November on Saturday. Mario Cristobal has notoriously been bad late in the season at his alma mater, going 4-10 games played in or after November. That includes last year, when the Hurricanes blew up their CFP path by going 2-2 in November before losing their bowl game. Interestingly enough, that was the only year Cristobal has won multiple November games at Miami.
SMU can be frisky and it's a veteran team with a good head coach in Rhett Lashlee, who has revitalized that program. Cristobal desperately needs to flip the script on his late-season flops, and this will be a big first test for the 2025 season.
North Carolina State (+5.5, +180) vs. No. 8 Georgia Tech
With Miami losing to Louisville recently, the Yellow Jackets' CFP path is now wide open. Georgia Tech's toughest game left is a non-conference tilt against Georgia, which will come before the ACC Championship Game, which the Yellow Jackets should be in. Their test this week? An intriguing NC State team.
The Wolfpack are 4-4 after a 3-0 start, but they've still been able to put points up on the board outside of their loss to Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets have started to take care of lesser foes in recent weeks, but they had to win tight ones against the likes of Colorado, Clemson and Wake Forest. Georgia Tech has a CFP resume due to their record, but the Yellow Jackets really haven't beaten anyone of note and have played some tight ones against lesser foes. They can't afford to do that here and NC State has the ability to make Georgia Tech uncomfortable, which has happened far too often this year.
















