College Football Teams on Upset Alert in Week 6

College football is one of the hardest sports to predict. It is even harder to predict an upset. For example, no one could predict that West Virginia would beat Oklahoma State. While the games are sometimes unpredictable, there are always teams that need to be on upset alert.

#25 Maryland at #8 Florida State

Florida State has been one of the most impressive teams so far this season. Freshman quarterback Jameis Winston may be one of the best quarterbacks in the country, but he will face the best team he has seen all year when FSU plays Maryland on Saturday. The Seminoles are fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball. The defense has been allowing 15 points per game, but the offense's average score is 51.3 points per game. Florida State is undefeated, but has shown weaknesses including allowing 34 points to Boston College last Saturday.

Maryland has come out of the gate and surprised everyone so far this season. The Terrapins are 4-0 for the first time since 2001. Maryland took a week off after beating West Virginia 37-0. A victory over West Virginia did not seem too impressive at the time, but the victory looks even better because the Mountaineers upset Oklahoma State last week. Quarterback C.J. Brown has seven passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns and will be vital for this Terrapin offense. Brown missed last year's game with a knee injury and is looking to upset the Seminoles in Doak Campbell Stadium.

Maryland remaining undefeated after Saturday's game is not out of the question. The Terrapins look impressive with C.J. Brown and running back Brandon Ross in the backfield. The defense is not one to overlook because they are only allowing 10.3 points per game. Defensively for Florida State, weaknesses may have been shown last week, but the Seminoles return Christian Jones and Eddie Goldman from a one game suspension. In order for the Terrapins to pull the upset, they must shut down Jameis Winston and control the time of possession. This will be one of the best ACC matchups of the week and a top 10 team could fall.

Minnesota at #19 Michigan

Michigan started the season with a dominating victory over Central Michigan and a big win over Notre Dame. The past two weeks, however, the Wolverines have struggled to beat Akron and Connecticut. Devin Gardner has successfully filled the untied shoes Denard Robinson left behind, but Michigan can not play as poorly as they have played the past two weeks if they want to beat Minnesota. The offense is as good as any offense in the country, but successful offensive production has not been seen since the Notre Dame game. Plus, Michigan's defense is currently allowing 21 points per game. Minnesota does not have the most lethal offense in the country, but the Wolverine defense will have to be firing on all cylinders.

Minnesota started the season 4-0 until losing to Iowa last weekend. Iowa was the first really tough opponent the Golden Gophers faced and it showed. Minnesota has a solid rushing attack and poor passing game. Defense has also been an issue allowing 20 points per game, which is especially a problem when you have played teams like San Jose State, New Mexico State,and UNLV. The Golden Gophers will have to play a solid game on both sides of the ball when they enter the Big House on Saturday.

Although Minnesota has not been very productive on either side of the ball, they are still 4-1. Michigan having home field advantage is a factor but it will not be the deciding factor. The Wolverines won by four points against Akron at the Big House. If Minnesota wants to win this game they must score quickly and efficiently on a vulnerable Wolverine defense. They must also shut down Michigan's two key players, Devin Gardner and Fitzgerald Toussaint. If the Wolverines want to remain undefeated they must not underestimate any of their opponents. Michigan head coach Brady Hoke has never lost in the Big House, but all streaks eventually come to an end.

#4 Ohio State at #16 Northwestern

Ohio State at Northwestern could be one of the biggest games of the week. Ohio State is on a stretch of dominating wins. Last week's game against Wisconsin was not quite as big of a beat down as the Buckeyes are used to, but a win is a win. The defense has played weak at times allowing 17 points per game, but Ohio State has not had to rely on their defense too much this season. Braxton Miller made his return last week and did not disappoint with 198 passing yards. It has been really tough for any team to slow down this offense and it will be interesting to see if Northwestern's defense can prove to be a challenge for Miller and company.

Northwestern could be a real challenge for Ohio State. The Wildcats are undefeated and had an extra week to prepare for this game. Before the bye week, Northwestern played two easy games in Western Michigan and Maine which makes you believe they have been giving themselves at least three weeks of preparation for the Buckeyes. Ohio State may get recognition for their offense, but the Wildcats are scoring 41 points per game. Home field advantage is important in this game. The last time Northwestern beat Ohio State was in 2004 at home.

This is one of the toughest games remaining on the Buckeyes' schedule. Both teams are undefeated and both have weaknesses. The obvious key to victory for the Wildcats will be shutting down Braxton Miller. Northwestern tends to allow too many points in certain situations, but they can not do that unless they win in an offensive shootout. If Ohio State wants to keep their national title hopes alive they must continue to play solid football like they have all season long. If the Buckeyes do not treat this as big time game, Northwestern could pull one of the biggest upsets in their school's history.

West Virginia at #17 Baylor

Last week, West Virginia upset Oklahoma State. They will look to try make this a habit by beating Baylor this week. West Virginia has not gotten a lot of credit this season. That is exactly why no one could have predicted their upset over the Cowboys. The Mountaineers squeaked out an opening game victory over William and Mary and gotten beaten like a drum by Maryland. Head coach Dana Holgorsen's coaching style of not playing a lot of defense and scoring a lot of points on offense has not really been working for him. Defense wins championships. West Virginia's strength the last couple of seasons has been their passing attack. They will need both their passing attack and rushing attack when they travel to Waco, Texas this week.

Baylor has destroyed every defense they have played so far this season. Statically, the Bears have the number one offense in the country despite having last week off. Although they have yet to play a quality opponent, the Bears defense has only allowed 7.7 points per game. Quarterback Bryce Petty might be the best quarterback in the Big 12. Running back Lache Seastrunk is a darkhorse Heisman contender that has put up some crazy numbers this year. Baylor will meet their first true challenge when they face West Virginia on Saturday.

Last year's Baylor versus West Virginia game was one of the highest scoring in NCAA history. In order for West Virginia to make this a game there will have to be some sort of defense played. Baylor has to continue to dominate on offense and keep West Virginia's offense off the field. Last week, Oklahoma State was knocked off by a West Virginia team no one has even thought about since last season. If Baylor wants to keep their Big 12 title hopes alive they must not play poorly against the Mountaineers.

#15 Washington at #5 Stanford

Washington has slowly started to climb their way higher and higher in the polls. The Huskies are 4-0 and are looking to knock off Stanford. Washington is led by quarterback Keith Price and running back Bishop Sankey, who is one of the nation's leading rushers. This includes rushing for 165 yards against Arizona last week. The defense has only allowed 10 points per game which is not too shabby considering this has been mostly an offensive team the last couple of years. The Huskies are underrated and are looking to make a splash in a conference that is dominated by Oregon and Stanford. Unfortunately for Washington, they have to play both of those teams in back-to-back weeks. Can Keith Price and the Huskies upset at least one of the top two teams in the PAC 12?

Stanford got off to a slow start this season. The Cardinal did not play very well in games against San Jose State and Army. Last week was their most impressive win of the season with a 55-17 win over Washington State. Quarterback Kevin Hogan is they key to Stanford's offense because running back Tyler Gaffney has been slow to produce big numbers. On defense, Stanford has struggled at times including allowing 20 points to Army and allowing 19.5 points per game. Stanford is getting better every week, but this is their first real challenge. They can not afford to play poor defense against the Huskies.

When looking at this game one must not forget that Washington beat Stanford last year. One could make an argument that Stanford had a better team last year than they do this year. One could also make an argument that Washington has a better team this year than they did last year. Does this mean Washington is an automatic favorite? Not necessarily but Stanford can play poorly in this game or we could have a repeat of last year. The Cardinal will attempt to avoid having their national title hopes crushed for the second straight season.