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NCAAF Advertisement live Updated 3m ago The No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores and No. 20 Texas Longhorns are facing off in a huge SEC game today. Follow along for the latest play-by-play, analysis, reactions and more from our team of reporters at The Athletic. This week’s live schedule at The Athletic Vanderbilt and Texas are facing off in a huge SEC game today. It could/should be a College Football Playoff elimination game. Advertisement The Athletic has live coverage of No. 9 Vanderbilt vs. No. 20 Texas. We’ve entered the home stretch. Spooky Season is over, and with a month left in the regular season, it’s time to take stock of the chaos. Indiana, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt are in the top 10; Penn State, LSU and Florida have already fired their coaches. Strange days, indeed. November is a chance to find out which of these surprise teams will impact the postseason, with a number of this weekend’s matchups offering insight into the crowded conference title and College Football Playoff races. Don’t expect the chaos to slow down, though. The SEC race has been brutal this season. There are only two teams remaining undefeated in conference play: Alabama and Texas A&M. Four other teams have one conference loss (Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas). And three more teams have two overall losses (Tennessee, Oklahoma and Missouri). Which teams will survive and reach the College Football Playoff? That's what we will find out in November. Texas’ defense has generated a combined 17 sacks during the Longhorns’ current three-game winning streak, but Vanderbilt ranked No. 10 in Nick Baumgardner’s updated breakdown of the best offensive lines in college football. Here's what Nick had to say: The Commodores claimed a spot on this list in September, and they’ve been the real deal since. Vanderbilt ranks No. 3 in EPA/rush attempt (. 24), and its offensive line, anchored by center Jordan White, has given up just three sacks. Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers have been electric, but the rejuvenation of this program under Clark Lea absolutely has included improved offensive line play. It’s probably no coincidence the Commodores have gone 14-6 since Lea hired veteran O-line coach Chris Klenakis. Fernando Mendoza extended his lead, and Diego Pavia narrowed the gap on fellow SEC quarterback Ty Simpson in the fifth edition of The Athletic’s Heisman Trophy straw poll of writers and editors. Mendoza, the Indiana junior, was a relative unknown two months ago. He shined in a duel against a preseason contender, UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava, as the Hoosiers throttled the Bruins 56-6 on Saturday. Mendoza was efficient if not flashy. He threw for 168 yards on 15-of-22 passing with three touchdowns and one interception before giving way to his brother, Alberto Mendoza, the Indiana backup. Fernando Mendoza’s 24 touchdown passes through eight games leads FBS quarterbacks. Most important on his resume: The Hoosiers are winning big with him at the controls. Indiana is 8-0 and ranked No. 2 as it enters a road swing over the next two weeks at Maryland and Penn State. Vanderbilt leads the SEC in scoring defense in league games (17. 8 points per game). The Commodores have allowed seven touchdowns in four SEC games. Two years ago, they allowed 41 touchdowns in eight league games en route to an 0-8 SEC record. Advertisement What are the odds for Vanderbilt and Texas to get into the College Football Playoff? Our Dan Santaromita updates the College Football Playoff chase here. GO FURTHER College Football Playoff odds: Texas A&M, Ole Miss further secure spots The college football coaching carousel has been wild, and November is just getting started. But many coaches are thriving at their alma mater, and that includes Clark Lea at Vanderbilt. So why is this a trend? Our Seth Emerson takes a look at Lea and others who are getting the job done at their alma mater. GO FURTHER For Brent Key, Clark Lea and others, will the alma mater outweigh the coaching ladder? Another upside-down weekend for a shaken-up FBS season. Vanderbilt’s quarterback is drawing Heisman hype. Utah’s campus hosts “College Game Day. ” Power conference coaches are getting midseason pink slips as the sport’s intelligentsia tries to model Indiana’s sideline. When the going gets weird, the weird get … into shotgun with Trinidad Chambliss. This weekend has entertainment value and chaos potential on its horizon. Both befit the unhinged trip that is 2025. Come Saturday, Diego Pavia’s Commodores are the main attractions at Texas Memorial Stadium, while Georgia has a marshy trap game with rival Florida. Nos. 1 and 2 are both active in the Big Ten slate. Two rising ACC programs go on the road to risk undefeated conference records. There’s a possible “Mr. November” lacing up from Berkeley to Denton. Week 10 lines up games from Tuesday through Saturday. As we’ve done all season, we’re sorting the broadcast windows by headliner status (“best on paper”), weirdness in the air (“chaos potential”) and low-key appeal (“sleeper pick”). Texas does have two losses this season, but both came on the road and one was against Ohio State to open the season (yes, the other loss was against Florida). But the Longhorns do have a win over Oklahoma, and they have plenty of chances for marquee wins, starting today against Vanderbilt. In two weeks, Texas plays at Georgia, and it finishes its season vs. Texas A&M with a game against Arkansas between those two games. Vanderbilt opened its season with five wins before dropping a hard-fought loss at Alabama. The Commodores bounced back nicely with seven-point home wins over Missouri and LSU. After today’s game, Vanderbilt hosts Auburn and Kentucky before finishing up on the road against Tennessee. Advertisement The injury report is out for today. The Athletic has live coverage of No. 9 Vanderbilt vs. No. 20 Texas. Now that Matt Rhule has signed a contract extension to remain with Nebraska and the most obvious candidate for Penn State’s head coach vacancy is off the board, the other options for Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft could be trickier to spot. Rhule and Kraft are close friends from their days working together at Temple. Rhule is also a Penn Stater, having walked on to Joe Paterno’s team after going to high school in State College. In his second season as the starting quarterback at Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia continues to turn heads and turn around the Commodores’ program. After passing for 2, 293 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, he has passed for 1, 698 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. Pavia rushed for 801 yards and eight touchdowns last year and has continued that this season with 458 yards and five touchdowns. Plus, Vanderbilt is winning. The Commodores are 7-1. Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 8-4-1. The first meeting was in 1899, with Vanderbilt winning 6-0. The teams did not face off for 96 years before meeting last year when Texas won 27-24. If Manning is unable to play today or gets injured again, Texas likely will turn to Matthew Caldwell at quarterback. Caldwell did throw the game-winning TD pass last week against Mississippi State, although he has thrown only eight passes this season. He spent the 2024 season at Troy and passed for 1, 608 yards and 13 yards. Advertisement Arch Manning’s first season as Texas’ starting quarterback hasn’t gone as planned, but the Longhorns still have College Football Playoff hopes with a 6-2 record. Manning has thrown for 1, 795 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions. He has rushed for six touchdowns as well. Manning was banged up in overtime of the Longhorns’ win last week at Mississippi State, so we’ll see if he is available today. He practiced on Wednesday and was listed as questionable. The Week 10 college football slate doesn’t have any clear bangers on tap. The biggest games on paper from before the season haven’t turned out the way they were expected to, and there are no top-15 matchups. However, that just means there are more chances for upsets and surprises. So far this season, those have been in ample supply. Our staff has picks against the spread for the biggest games of the week. Before getting into what’s at stake in those games, here are the picks. Picks standings and wild-card picks for the week are at the bottom. Where do Vanderbilt and Texas rank in our Athletic 136 this week? Our Chris Vannani shares his thoughts. GO FURTHER Ranking 136 college football teams after Week 9: Oregon sliding, Memphis makes its move