CFB Week 7 Open Thread: Auburn v. Mississippi St; TCU v. Baylor; Texas v. Oklahoma and Georgia at Missouri

The Bruins will be hoping to shake off last Saturday's loss this afternoon as they host Oregon this afternoon at the Rose Bowl (12:30pm, ESPN). As Joe wrote yesterday, this afternoon is a MUST WIN for Jim Mora and his coaching staff as much as for setting the path through the end of the season for our Bruins. But there is plenty of other college football to help stay occupied today.

Today's action starts off with the first all-ranked matchup of the day, when #13 Georgia travels without star RB Todd Gurley to #23 Mizzu. Syracuse hosts #1 Florida State while Texas and #11 Oklahoma face off in their annual Red River Shootout rivalry game at Dallas's historic Cotton Bowl stadium. The Longhorns are rebuilding and the Sooners are coming off of a disappointing loss, but the passion of this rivalry never dies, as former Texas player/current Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford showed in this quote published earlier this week by SI.

"To me it was always personal," Bedford said. "As a football coach, it’s still personal. I just can’t play anymore. I wish I could bring my Louisville Slugger from Louisville and see what happens. But in this day and age, you can’t have a Louisville Slugger, so I put it away because I’m in the state of Texas. Now they have gun laws. You can carry a gun, but Coach Strong says core values, no guns."

While the Bruins and Ducks are playing at the Rose Bowl in the early afternoon slot, there will be another pair of games making the 12:30 slot a simply massive three and a half hours for college football. #2 Auburn makes the same trip to #3 Mississippi St. that tripped up Texas A&M last week - with a chance of leapfrogging FSU for the #1 spot in the balance - and #5 Baylor hosts #9 TCU for ultimate bragging rights in the Lone Star State (has there ever been a top-10 game involving 2 Texas teams other than UT and A&M before today?). #6 Notre Dame and #8 Michigan State will also be playing in this slot.

#3 Ole Miss at #14 Texas A&M headines the night shift, #10 Arizona hosts Southern Cal in the late Pac-12 game and Wyoming travels to Hawaii for the benefit of folks on the east coast stumbling home after last call.

Here are the previews and viewing guides from ESPN, SI.com and SB Nation, and the full schedule of today's games courtesy of the SBN mothership.