The first college football weekend of November is going to be a doozy.We have four games between ranked teams, all of which have could have some bearing on the College Football Playoff. Those games are No. 12 West Virginia at No. 15 Texas, No. 14 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Georgia at No. 11 Kentucky and, the headliner, No. 1 Alabama at No. 4 LSU.MORE: Like we said, its a doozy and Sporting News will try to make sense of it with our Week 10 picks.Sporting News is 50-22 in our picks this season after going 6-2 . With that said, here are our Week 10 picks (lines reflect Consensus picks from as Darius Leonard T Shirts of Monday):Temple at No. 9 UCF (-10.5)UCF remains the best Group of 5 get to break into the Playoff, but the Knights should get a good test out of Temple, which gave Maryland at Cincinnati their first lo ses of the season. A suming he plays, the battle between McKenzie Milton (1,797 pa sing yards, 16 touchdowns to four interceptions) against Temples sixth-ranked pa s defense should be interesting as well. Well go with the home team that knows how to win in close games. UCF 31, Temple 21Stanford at Washington (-10.5)Prior to the season, this game looked like it could decide not only the Pac-12 North representative in the Pac-12 championship game, but also the conferences best bet to make the Playoff. Even so, this is an interesting matchup for teams that will jockey for better bowl position. This one could come down to quarterback play; at this point in the season, that seems to favor Stanfords K.J. Costello. How will Jake Browning react after getting benched in a 12-10 upset to Cal? Stanford 35, Washington 31MORE: Cal at No. 10 Washington State (-10.5)Washington State is in the drivers seat in the Pac-12 North, but cant overlook a Cal team that just scored a big upset over Washington. Still, theres no reason to think the home-team Cougars will fall to Cal, especially with Gardner Minshew Alexander Myres Jersey (3,183 yards, 26 touchdowns, six interceptions) looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. Hell go against a tough Cal defense that ranks eighth nationally in pa sing defense (165.5 ypg) and interceptions (12). Washington wins, but its closer than expected. Washington State 38, Cal 30No. 3 Notre Dame (-8) at NorthwesternThe Irish come into this game having Mark Glowinski Jersey lost two straight to the Wildcats, and Brian Kelly will find a way to use that as motivation for a team that has every intent to . Even with three lo ses, Northwestern sits atop the Big Ten West rankings, so you cant take this team lightly. That said, Northwestern hasnt been overly impre sive on defense this year; expect Ian Book, Dexter Williams and Jafar Armstrong to lead a balanced offensive attack in what should be a handy win. Notre Dame 35, Northwestern 14MORE: No. 12 West Virginia at No. 15 Texas (-2.5)Texas against Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Saturday. That begs the question of how the Longhorns, which have surrendered 34 or more points three times this season, handles a West Virginia team that scores nearly 40 a game. Texas may no longer be able to compete for a Playoff berth, but the Big 12 championship game is still very much on the table you can expect to see the Longhorns play that way on Saturday in a just-short effort. West Virginia 38, Texas 35No. 14 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan (-10)Can Michigan keep its Playoff and Big Ten title hopes alive against Penn State ? The Nittany Lions scored a hard-fought win over Iowa on Saturday while Michigan took the weekend off. Itll be interesting to see how Penn States offense go up against a Michigan defense that ranks in the top 10 of every major defensive category (rush defense, pa s defense, total defense and scoring defense). That said, as long as the Nittany Lions have , theyll be in the game. Thats enough to keep it close, but not quite enough to pull out the win. Michigan 31, Penn State 27MORE: No. 6 Georgia (-9.5) at No. 11 KentuckyLets get straight to the point: The winner of this game clinches the SEC East title. Both teams are riding high off big wins in Week 9 . Jake Fromm in an efficient win over Florida. Kentuckys top- Matt Ryan Jersey ranked scoring defense (13.0 points per game) held the high-flying Mi souri offense to just 14 points; more impre sively, Kentucky did not surrender a single first down in the second half of its 15-14 win, forcing eight straight three-and-outs and a measly 34 yards. The Wildcats will need a similar opponent if it wants to keep in striking distance of Georgia but we think the Bulldogs have a little too much firepower for Kentucky to handle. Georgia 28, Kentucky 13No. 1 Alabama (-14) at No. 4 LSUWelcome to the of the week: a matchup that not only could decide the SEC West champion, but also one () Isaiah Rodgers Jersey of the SECs representatives in the Playoff. Alabama led by Heisman front runner Tua Tagovailoa and his 25-0 touchdown-interception ratio is torching opponents to the tune of a nation-leading 54.1 points a game. LSU is tied for the nations lead with 14 interceptions and gives up a paltry 15.1 points per contest. Something has to give. The difference in this game could come down to how LSUs offense handles a Tide D that has seemed vulnerable (comparatively) at times this season. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they rank outside the top 40 in every major offensive metric (including 86th in total offense and 102nd in pa s offense). Alabama might not have the same dominant defense, but if it can fluster Joe Burrow, this game should go the Tides way. Alabama 35, LSU 20