There are just two ranked matchups today, and one of those was between two SEC big shots, and then this one between two Big 12 teams. The Big 12 hasn’t gotten a ton of love this season, but there are four teams in the top 14 of the national rankings. You could make an argument that this is the best conference in college football. It wouldn’t be a great argument, but you could make it.

Tonight we have Houston taking on Utah in one of the best matchups of the day.

The Houston Cougars come into the game with a 3-1 record and as the 14th-ranked team in the country. Their lone loss this year was against Texas Tech in a very close road game. They lost the game 28-26, clearly putting up a strong fight. It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for the team, though. They’ve won the past four weeks, beating Georgia Southern by 14 points, then UCF by 10 the following week.

In the past two weeks, the team has taken down Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Against Kansas State, they won by 19 points on the road. Against the Cowboys, they won by just three. In fairness to Houston, they entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys put up 14 points in the quarter, but a Houston touchdown gave them a lead Oklahoma State could never get passed.

THE SEC MIGHT HAVE MORE HEADLINERS, BUT THE BIG 12 HAS THE MOST UNDERRATED MATCHUP OF WEEK 4

The Utah Utes, the worst-named team in football, are 6-0 and the 10th-ranked team in the country. This will be the toughest game they’ve played to date, and it might be one they were already focused. Last week they took on Colorado on the road, but won 27-24. I think Utah might’ve already been thinking about this game, because the Buffaloes aren’t even close to being as good as the Utes. Sometimes teams just have bad games, but that’s okay.

Utah has also beaten Kansas, Iowa State, Utah State, Arkansas, and Idaho this season. The only game that was within one score was the Colorado game. Their next closest game was against Iowa State, also a road game, where they still won by 14 points. At home this season, they’ve won by an average of 33.8 points.

Their team is built around quarterback Devon Dampier. He has completed about 69% of passes this season with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also run for another three scores this season. He does a bit of everything for the team, and Houston will have their hands full trying to stop him.

HOUSTON RALLIES FOR COMEBACK VICTORY OVER UCF IN FRONT OF A PAINFULLY SPARSE HOME CROWD

This game features two really good offenses. Connor Weigman from the Cougars is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He has 20 touchdown passes this season in seven games. Dampier might be slowed down a bit, but I doubt he can be stopped altogether. I expect the two teams to both challenge all three levels repeatedly. I’m going to take the over 56.5 in this game.

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Last week was honestly one of the craziest weeks of football I’ve ever seen. College football was absolutely wild. It seemed like essentially every team in the top-10 of the national ranks lost. There was upset after upset, and a few teams were on the verge of stumbling as well. Week 7 saw a bunch of top ranked matchups, so naturally there were going to be losses from top teams.

This week doesn’t have nearly as many ranked matchups, but there is a massive one for Ole Miss and Texas.

Ole Miss comes into this game ranked 7th in the nation, and they own a 5-1 record. Their lone loss in the season was to Florida. That came after their biggest win of the season, when they beat LSU. It was one of the most obvious let-down situations in football. In the past two weeks, the Rebels have rebounded. They beat Vanderbilt 52-17 following the loss to Florida. Then last week, they took down Missouri. That was an even more impressive win as they beat the Tigers 31-3.

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The Rebels still own one of the better defenses in the country – even though they gave up 52 to Florida. Their quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, has been about as good as you could hope for. He has four interceptions on the season, but only one of those came in the loss. He has a rushing touchdown in five of the six Ole Miss games. He has thrown for two or more touchdowns in five of the six games as well. Those are impressive numbers and he has made a big difference for the team. He will have a challenge against a good Texas defense, but the Longhorns have struggled.

Texas is arguably the most disappointing team in the country. They started the season once again with incredibly high expectations, but they fell apart. This is the last remaining game on the schedule that should be very difficult. I’m not trying to make excuses for the Longhorns, because their schedule has been tough, but with their talent, they shouldn’t have lost games, let alone back-to-back games.

OLE MISS DEFENSE TAKES CHARGE, SHUTS DOWN MISSOURI'S HIGH-POWERED RUSHING ATTACK IN 31-3 WIN

In the past two games, they lost both of them 27-24 to Oklahoma and Florida. Neither of those teams were ranked opponents, and both of the losses came in the state of Texas.

It seems almost unfathomable that the team could’ve lost both of these games. A lot of the blame is falling on Arch Manning, but I don’t know that it is fair to give him all the blame. Manning hasn’t been a difference-maker, but I also don’t think he has cost the team games. He has completed about 64% of passes with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He had two against Oklahoma, so maybe that one was his fault. He has been sacked 17 times in six games, but the blame really should be on the coach for having a poor game plan.

The line on this game has dropped significantly from the opening. Texas was a -9.5 favorite coming into this game when the lines opened. Now they are down to just -3.5. I don’t blame people for taking the points, and still think there is some value.

The Rebels have a good offense, and a solid defense. Still, when a season is on the line, and a team is at home, you kind of have to think they will put their best effort out there. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Steve Sarkisian fired if they lose this game. I do expect Texas to win, so the -160 isn’t a terrible look, but I think this will be a lower scoring game. I’ll back the under 54.5.

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The NBA is just a few days old and we've already seen two teams blow 20-point leads. That happens more often than you'd probably imagine, and this year I'm making a point to live bet on the team that is losing big. Last night the 76ers looked awful, but they came back in the second half of the game and covered the short spread. I'm sure it will happen somewhere today as well. There are a ton of great games to choose from, but I've got my eye on the Hawks and Hornets game.

The Atlanta Hawks are one of the teams that have a bit of excitement behind them coming into this year. They revamped their roster quite a bit over the past few years, but now it seems like they have decided to build their team around Jalen Johnson. It also helps that they have two really good defenders - Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels. The team moved on from Trae Young last year, who was a facilitator and scorer for them, but also a parking cone on defense, and it never seemed like the team worked with him.

This team is now a little more athletic and younger, but still grounded with a couple of key veterans like CJ McCollum. In their opening game against the Magic, I was most impressed with their shot selection. As a team, they shot 50% from the field and 40% from deep. You really can't expect that to happen consistently, but they did create the good shots. Defensively, they really weren't impressive. They still gave up 125 points to the Magic, which is a lot for an Orlando team that isn't known for being offensively efficient.

The Charlotte Hornets remain one of those teams that I really can't understand. They have been terrible for years, and the one time they sniffed success, they decided it was time to trade away their (arguably) best player. They sent LaMelo Ball over to the Timberwolves, but that's probably because they have Coby White, and they seem to want to invest in Kon Knueppel. Unfortunately for them, Knueppel is out with an injury right now, so the team is missing a major player.

In their first game, they unveiled their new-look roster and beat the Brooklyn Nets on the road. This team is comprised of multiple role players, but right now, their biggest semblance of a star is Brandon Miller. No offense to Miller, but if he is responsible for leading the team for multiple games, you're probably asking for trouble. I do think the Hornets are going to be hovering around the play-in positioning for the postseason, but I really don't think they've improved from last year.

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I really don't enjoy taking favorites on the road in the NBA. Role players don't play as well on the road as they do at home, but in this one, I'm willing to make an exception. The Hawks are the better team, have a better offense, and I think they should win this one. They do play at home tomorrow, against a tougher opponent, so this could be a trap spot, but I'm going to take them on the moneyline at -135. I do think they know how to win, and I think the Hornets are trying to figure things out.

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It feels like just yesterday that I was betting on Paul Skenes to light up the Mets and keep them from scoring on Opening Day of the baseball season. I was dead wrong about that one because Skenes didn’t even last two innings in the game. Since then, it has been a pretty strong baseball season overall, but I’ve struggled a bit in the postseason. Game 1 of the World Series is tonight, and I’m looking forward to getting a win in this one.

The Tampa Bay Rays have been better at home than on the road this season, but in the playoffs they’ve gone 3-1. They were the best team in the American League and beat the Yankees, a divisional foe, in three games in the American League Division Series. It was a bit harder for them in the American League Championship Series as the Guardians took the Rays to six games. Ultimately, the Rays stopped the Cleveland offense, and that made the difference for the club in the series.

Tonight, they are sending out Nick Martinez to the hill. For the season, Martinez was 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He only has 109 strikeouts for the season; he isn’t really a power pitcher. He finds ways to get guys out, and that’s really what matters. In the postseason, he has allowed three earned runs over nine innings with just six strikeouts and three walks. He did not face the Brewers at all this season, but they are hitting .246 against him over 122 at-bats.

The Milwaukee Brewers were the best team in baseball this season, and they’ve looked like the best team in baseball in the postseason. The Brewers went 103-59 this season and were almost 30 games above .500 in Milwaukee. In the postseason, they’ve looked absolutely dominant, getting rid of the Padres in just four games. If you watched the Padres-Brewers series, you might have said the Padres could’ve won it. You’d be right. There were some odd games, but the Brewers never said die. That was the same result in the Dodgers series. Every time the Brewers went down, they came back and ultimately won the game.

It won’t be an easy night with Martinez on the mound, but they have their own elite starter going. Jacob Misiorowski takes the ball and brings a great campaign with him. He went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He is a power pitcher and could throw one at 110 mph with all the adrenaline that will be going in this game. I only somewhat joke about that. He was elite in Milwaukee this season, posting a 1.52 ERA. In the postseason, he has looked a bit shaky. He has made two starts, gone 8.1 innings, and allowed three earned runs. He has allowed nine hits and four walks as well, which gives me a bit of concern. He faced the Rays earlier in the year and allowed two earned runs on four hits over six innings while striking out seven hitters.

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The Rays are a team that struggles against power pitching. Something feels different about the Brewers this season, like they are destined to win this year. I actually think Martinez starting is a terrible look for the Rays. It feels a bit like they will lose to Misiorowski, and they know it. I'm going to take the Brewers on the run line at +129. Pitching advantage, home field, and this lineup has the edge in this one and I don't think it will be close.

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Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., is asking the Atlantic Coast Conference to disclose its policies governing online sports betting by conference employees, referees and other individuals connected to its competitions.

In a letter sent Thursday to ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and the conference's board of directors, Patronis said the request was prompted by the ACC's support for the Protect College Sports Act, a sweeping federal proposal addressing NIL rights, revenue sharing, athlete health and safety, transfers and other issues in college athletics.

"Seeing as the ACC is asking Congress for help with NIL, I believe we must have transparency regarding each body's policies and how they navigate online betting," Patronis wrote.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: COUNTDOWN IS ON AS SENATE RACES TO PASS CRYPTO, COLLEGE SPORTS BILLS

The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act, S. 4668, by a 77-22 vote on Sept. 28. The legislation now awaits consideration in the House. Supporters describe the bill as an effort to establish national standards for NIL compensation, revenue sharing, scholarships, medical coverage and the preservation of women's and Olympic sports.

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Patronis asked the ACC to provide its online gambling policies before Congress returns in November, including rules governing staff members, officials and "other interested parties." He also questioned how the conference is protecting the integrity of college sports as sports betting becomes more widespread.

SENATE MOVES TO REIN IN COLLEGE SPORTS 'WILD WEST' WITH SWEEPING NEW RULES FOR PLAYERS, SCHOOLS

The NCAA has continued to enforce restrictions on wagering that could affect the integrity of college competition. The association says violations can result in severe penalties, including the loss of athletic eligibility, while warning that betting-related harassment and pressure can affect athletes, coaches and officials.

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At the same time, the NCAA's Division I Administrative Committee has moved toward allowing athletes and athletics staff to bet on professional sports, while preserving restrictions involving college competitions. The NCAA said conferences and schools may impose additional rules of their own.

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The ACC has been involved in lobbying efforts surrounding the Protect College Sports Act, which conference leaders have described as a way to create more consistent national rules for college athletics.